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Save for the time I’d spent in slumber, it now seemed my entire life’s work had been for naught. Especially since I’d broken one of the biggest laws of all—falling in love with a human.

I wasn’t going to give her up, so what else did I have to lose?

Before he could ward me off, I leapt on Ramone, sinking my teeth into his neck. The second I took my first swallow, he began fighting me off.

My nails dug into his neck and his arm, clutching him as he swung around and roared. His life force flowed down my throat, infecting me with scraps of high-level demon and angel blood. The mixture was heady and invigorating, and I released him, shoving him into the wall.

He landed in a crumbled heap, mirrors and paintings falling from the walls and shattering across the hardwood. The foreign magic tingled in my veins and sparked in my cells, a rush the likes of that which I’d never known before. I laughed, a deep hearty sound as he tried to spring up on his feet but instead crashed his hip into the wall.

Savoring the blood staining my lips, I licked it away and faced the room again. Nobody moved.

Elijah cleared his throat. “So, um, what did you want to discuss?”

CHAPTER 25

Cassia

Selena and I had moved into the little alcove under the stairs. Well, maybe “little” wasn’t the best word, not with the cushioned benches and pretty table that sat in the space. It was almost a whole, separate room of its own.

While Lukas continued to terrorize the locals, the two of us were becoming fast friends. It was great to meet another girl in nearly the same shoes as me, but I suspected her vampire was generally much better received than my own.

“I have to tell you, just to get it out of the way, but he’s tasted my blood before. It didn’t mean anything, he was just being a dick and plus he didn’t even know who I was, but it happened,” Selena said, grimacing slightly.

I waved a hand at her. “Doesn’t matter, I’m sure there’s been thousands of women.”

An enormous crash broke up our conversation as a spinning whir of black fell to the floor. Next thing I knew, Lukas was standing over Ramone, laughing at him while blood dripped down his face.

Samantha looked horrified and her big eyes welled with tears.

Juliet slapped a hand over her face before putting a hand on her hip and turning her head. “Boys,” she muttered.

Elijah stared at Lukas and Ramone with his eyebrows stuck somewhere up by his hairline.

“Thank you for your service,” Lukas purred at Ramone while he struggled to right himself.

Ramone dipped his head to Lukas and gave him a mock salute before turning to his wife. “Grab the books, we’re leaving.”

Samantha walked into another room and came back out, carrying several leatherbound books. Neither of them looked at the rest of us as he took her hands. Suddenly, the two of them were gone.

“For fuck’s sake,” Juliet mumbled. “Elijah—this is your fault. Clean this up.”

She stomped off, letting the door slam shut behind her.

“I don’t know what to say to you. Or, what to do with you,” Elijah said to Lukas.

He walked over to the shattered debris and waved a hand over it. With fascination, I watched as broken pieces fit back together, knitting themselves into the beautiful paintings and pretty decorations they had been several minutes ago. It was a slower process than what Lukas did, and I had to assume the difference was in their power and positioning.

Unlike Elijah, I knew what I wanted to say to Lukas and what I wanted to do to him. When he stole my eyesight earlier, I was truly terrified. It was scarier than when Annalise placed the sword in Lukas’s outstretched palms.

Not only did I need my eyes just to walk around in the manner in which I was used to, but I also needed them for my drawing and painting. To make me think I’d gone blind and lost my ability to bring the beauty I saw to life was beyond fucked up.

Selena piped up, “You can always kill him. Nobody here will mind.”

“Forgive her,” Elijah said to Lukas. “She’s a little spicy.”

“Hey, was that a generalization about my ethnic heritage?”

He blew her a kiss. “No that was an observation about your tongue.”