Her eyes once again found mine over his shoulder, and if looks could kill, I’d be dead. Visceral hate shone in her eyes as she attempted to speak around his hand and her pain, “B…B…Bi…tch.”
She really was out here tempting fate after Drake’s ultimatum. He moved to make good on his promise, a knife suddenly appearing in his hand, gleaming from the light in Lo’s torch.
“Stop!” I ordered, knowing in my gut that this wasn’t the right move.
I could almost feel an invisible hand shoving me forward, pushing me toward my revenge. I had to do this—to make sure nobody else suffered under Jeoffrey's cruelty and deceit.
Cutting her tongue out would ensure she couldn't speak her secrets, no matter what we did, but I wasn't ready to give up yet. Not when I had deaths to avenge, mates to protect, and a blood oath to fulfill.
He immediately halted at my order, straightening and turning to look at me. I held out my hand for the knife, my movements sharp and sure. His grip on the hilt loosened until he relinquished it to me. I stood tall in front of Silvyn, menace radiating from every movement, and narrowed my eyes as I gazed upon her mangled face.
I leaned in, pressing my face near hers, and spoke in a low and deadly tone that promised retribution. “You see, your first mistake was thinking that I would be the one you could play, due to weak, soft emotions.”
Twirling the knife through my hand for a second, I saw her nostrils flare as her eyes glanced at the weapon. I wrapped my fingers around the hilt tightly a second before sending it through her left eye, but not far enough to hit her brain. She screamed as eye matter and blood dripped onto her cheek, but her wails didn’t stop me from twisting the knife as I spoke over her piercing screams. “Youwantedyour tongue removed to prevent yourself from talking, but I figured I’d take your eyes instead. You don’t need those anymore.”
For the first time, I understood what Drake truly meant when he said heavy is the head that wears the crown. Having to question and hurt those that were supposed to be loyal was a horrible situation to be in, and I didn’t enjoy hurting someone, but he was right—someone had to do it. I wouldn’t allow Drake to take this on alone anymore, not when it was so obvious how much it pained him to be in this situation with his board members.
He tried his best to hide it, but I knew his soul.
I had no allegiance or fondness for her, and this wouldn’t even come close to being on the list of shit that kept me up at night.
I felt stone cold at the thought of hurting her more to get what we needed—like nothing could tether me back to reality as I gave into the festering rage I’d tucked away since arriving at DIA.
“Stop screaming or I’ll give your right eye the same attention,” I snapped, grabbing a fist full of her hair and yanking her head back, leaving the knife in her eye. “Give me names.”
She attempted to clamp her mouth shut but didn’t get very far with her fucked up jaw.
I yanked the knife out of her eye, ready to cut into her more to see just how far she needed to be pushed until she broke. A hand caught my wrist, stopping me from stabbing her right eye as she screamed in pain from the removal of the knife.
“She’s too high to even think rationally,” Drake muttered. “We won’t get anything out of her right now. Leave her to sober up, and we’ll come back and try again.”
My jaw clenched as I tried to let go of the aggression that had snaked its way up my spine. Soft fingers trailed down my back, but they did nothing to calm me.
Come back to me, Comoara. This isn’t the end. We will get our answers, just not right now.
Feeling the bloodhaze was like I’d tapped back into the burning thirst for retribution that I’d had the night my family was murdered.
Dev broke her silence then, trying to coax me back down alongside him.I swear to you, Alina, we will get vengeance. I don’t care if it takes us years to hunt down each fucker that had a hand in that night—we will make sure each one of them pays.
Slowly, my grip on the knife loosened and my shoulders sagged. Standing up straight, I blew out a breath, letting my rage leave with it to the best of my ability. Turning around, I felt the shift in air as Silvyn moved.
She didn’t get far, though. Drake’s hand shot out to grab her throat, squeezing and twisting until a loud crunch echoed through the room. Letting go, she slumped to the ground, her neck broken and twisted as she stared up at us.
“Piece of shit,” Drake spat down at her, disgust filling his tone as he clenched his hands tightly at his sides.
I felt hurt flowing through our bond, like a small trickle he was trying to hold back from me. He didn’t want to hurt anyone. The pain of all those he’d hurt in his past followed him daily, like shackles he’d never escape.
It’s okay to feel hurt by her betrayal, Drake. You thought you could trust the vampires around you. It would shake anyone’s foundation to learn those you gave everything to were actually plotting to stab you in the back. While you say Lo is your only family, I feel in your soul that you considered each board member an extension of that.
“Put her in one of the cells and chain her to the wall,” he instructed Lo before turning to face me. My eyes dropped to Silvyn’s battered and broken body as Lo dragged her into the nearest cell and did as instructed.
What did I do wrong for them to feel like they had to dispose of me?
The pain in his tone crushed me. I hated that he was putting the actions of a mad man on his own conscience.
I’ve prided myself upon being a just ruler. One who cares about all of my people. I might appear cold and calculating to them, but it’s just because to show weakness would be to invite even more people like this to think they could usurp me.
Tossing the knife to the ground, I pulled him to me, placing my hands flat against his chest and peering up at him. “You are an amazing king. You’ve done what’s needed to protect your people and ensure prosperity in Sanguis. There will always be assholes who want power that was never meant for them. That doesn’t mean you did anything wrong—it just means they are pieces of shit.”
