“She’s mated to my son, so of course I’d never hurt a hair on her pretty little head,” the mage spluttered.
“Really? That’s why you kidnapped and performed inhumane experiments on me?” I couldn’t resist stirring the pot. “Oh, and that son you profess to care about, you FUCKING KILLED HIM!”
Shadows burst from my chest, swirling around the room in search of more enemies to kill. When they reached Brianna and Tiberius, I yanked them back. As much as I wanted to wreak vengeance on the pair of them, I wasn’t sure I had enough juice left in the tank.
My father bared his teeth in a smile so hideous I gulped. His nails lengthened into claws, and for the first time since he appeared in theroom, I fully understood why magicals had fought so hard to keep him locked away in the demon realm.
“We made a deal, Brianna Montclair. You wanted power and immortality, and I granted you both. But in harming my blood progeny, you have broken the terms of our deal.”
Brianna paled. “But my lord, I gave you the witch’s mother!”
Dad and I needed to have words about that. My mother deserved vengeance.
“I’ve changed my mind,” I called, my pettiness knowing no bounds. “I want to kill the bitch.”
Shadows lashed out, only this time they belonged to my father, not me. Brianna wailed as the shadows bound her limbs and snaked around her neck. I watched with a mixture of horror and fascination as her looks faded and her body shrank until nothing remained of the stunning witch she’d been a few minutes earlier.
“How freaking old was she?” I gasped as she turned into a shrunken crone.
“More than a century,” Kenji replied with a yawn.
Brianna collapsed as the shadows retreated. I might have felt a teeny bit sorry for her if she hadn’t been so awful to Alaric and me. Or tortured poor, defenseless magical creatures in the pursuit of power.
“Are you not going to kill her?” I asked my father, grimacing at the feeble creature drooling on the floor, her joints withered like dried sticks.
Dad shrugged. “Why bother? She’ll be dead soon enough.”
While his wife got what was coming to her, Tiberius had edged toward a door at the back of the room, probably hoping to creep out via a fire exit.
But before he could make his escape, a huge eagle landed on the terrace. My eyes widened as the eagle shifted back into Alaric’s mother.
“Mom?” Alaric croaked.
“Oh, I forgot to tell you, your mom survived.”
Adam sat up, confused, scrubbing his face as he tried to process what the fuck was going on. The poor guy looked as shell-shocked as Alaric when he realized his new lover had arrived.
Nula yanked the sliding door open and stormed over to Tiberius, slapping him across the face so hard I winced.
My dad didn’t appear at all surprised. Had he known this would happen?
Before any of us could say or do a thing, Nula’s nose and mouth shifted into a vicious beak. She plunged that beak into Tiberius’s chest and tore out his heart.
The mage’s eyes widened in horrified surprise before he choked and collapsed, blood spewing everywhere.
I averted my eyes for fear of vomiting at the gore. It was a wonder the mage’s seer hadn’t warned him of his impending demise. Or maybe she had, and he’d not believed such an awful fate awaited him.
“Nula!” Adam cried. She fell to the floor unconscious. Or dead. I wasn’t sure which.
It was as if she had saved her last burst of energy for a final fuck you to the male she hated. And who could blame her? Feminine rage was a dish best served cold.
If anyone deserved to have their heart ripped out by a freaky bird woman, it was Tiberius fucking Vane.
Adam pulled his jacket off and flung it over the female he cared so much for, but from the way she lay still, her mouth and chest caked in blood, I wasn’t certain she had long left. Her aura slowly turned gray, a sure sign of imminent death.
“Can you bring her back if she passes?” Alaric whispered.
“She’ll be fine,” I lied. “Adam can heal her.” And if he couldn’t, then it was the end of the road. Yes, I’d brought my soul-bonded mate back from beyond the veil, but it was a one-time thing. Any more gargantuan efforts like that and it might kill my beloved Kenji.
