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“Time to get down to business,” Mona whispered.
A shiver went through me.
She opened the door to my armoire without making a sound, the oiled hinges silent and winking in the firelight. Reaching inside, her fingers clasped around the hard metal handle of a weapon I knew only all too well. It was the dagger I’d plunged into my own stomach when battling the deceiver demon, Margaret Thatcher. My blood still resided in the tiny embellishments on the hilt. Gabe had given it to me after I’d left the infirmary. It’d remained in the armoire all this time, a sharp reminder of the life I’d almost lost.
“How fitting.” Mona held up the dagger to the light. “This knife was nearly your undoing once before. Now, it’ll finish its mission.”
I growled in response. She laughed lightly, her mirth cruel and unfeeling.
“And now, for the unveiling of my Prince’s plans.” With the dagger held tightly in her hand, she tip toed across the plush carpets toward Raquel’s still form.
I froze, panic rushing through me. This couldn’t be happening.
Raquel slept on the right side of her face, her red lips parted slightly. A s
oft snore came from her mouth as her chest rose and fell with the sweet blissfulness of deep sleep. Her skin was always milky pale with dark splatters of freckles, but in the semidarkness she appeared as white as death. A princess, already deep in a deadly slumber. Mona reached out with her free hand and softly moved the mass of red curls from her cheek, revealing her slender neck.
No, please don’t do this. I trembled as Mona shift the knife to her other hand. Not Raquel. She’s just a kid. Please don’t kill her.
“She would’ve done the same to me.” Mona’s lips barely moved as she muttered a string of curses. “What is it the humans say? It’s a dog-eat-dog world. You can’t blame me for doing what I must to survive.”
But what do you get out of this arrangement? You already have control of our body. Why are you still here?
Her hand paused above Raquel, her fingers loosening on the blade. “It’s a debt I must pay.”
Forget the debt. I pushed forward in my mind, reaching out to touch her. Forget the killing. Let’s leave. Tonight. Pack a bag and never return. You can have my body. Just don’t hurt my family.
She stared down at Raquel’s form, her head tilting to one side as she considered my offer. I hadn’t even thought about making a deal with her up until this point, but I knew with all my heart I’d follow through. I’d give up my life for theirs, in an instant, if that’s what it took.
“You don’t understand.” She withdrew the dagger to her side and paced to the other side of the room.
I sighed in relief to see the space between her and my cousin.
Understand what? You’ve got what you want. Don’t risk it all now.
“But the Prince is mighty. He would hunt me down to the ends of the Earth.” Fear constricted her throat as she said the words aloud. “He’d make me pay for my sins. You don’t understand what he’s like. What he’s capable of. There’s a good reason he and his brothers parted ways. He has always taken things to the extreme. Never forgets. Never forgives. He would have me sentenced to a millennium of torture.”
Our body quaked in fear as Mona pressed her hands to her cheeks. Her chest rose and fell in shallow breaths.
Then we’ll hide. He’d never find us.
“Maybe that would work if it was just me. But he would never stop looking for you. You’re the key.”
I brushed off the impatience I felt at hearing that name once again. Being the key had brought me nothing but pain and misery. I hated it.
We’ll make it work, I promised. I’ll help you. Don’t stay here and throw it all away. We could die tomorrow in this war. Take this chance to get out. To get away. It might not come again.
She paused abruptly in her pacing and for an exhilarating moment I thought I had her. Her grip loosened on the dagger and her shoulders slumped in defeat. I might have given up any chance of my own future, but I’d fought hard for those that I loved. I just hoped they would realize that some day.
“No!” Her voice rang out, causing Raquel to stir in her sleep. “I will not turn my back on my Prince. She has to die.”
With that sudden announcement, she sprang forward, her grip tightening on the blade with deadly intent. At the same time, something inside of me snapped together. It was as if all my training as a Nephilim came into utter clarity. Despite the fact that I didn’t have control of our body, I pushed forward with my mind as if I were on that battlefield once again, facing down an enemy.
Energy poured into me. Intense focus drove my mind to combat Mona’s moves, to fight back. If I had been running through the forest, I would’ve been a blur of speed and agility. Instead, I pushed through miles and miles of mental space in a matter of an instant, no longer content to hide at the back.
Mona leaned down to drive the blade into Raquel’s neck. Inches away from plunging the dagger into soft flesh, I reached out to stop her. Maybe it was in vain. I hadn’t had control of my body for so long that I’d forgotten how it felt to swing an arm or loosen a grip on a weapon. But my instincts made me try.
A familiar warmth filled my body. I hadn’t felt that strength in a long time. It leaked through the pores of my skin, like a million tiny stars embedded in my arms. With it, came an intense pain that wracked my body, inside and out. Mona screamed and dropped the knife as she clutched at her arms. The blade bounced harmlessly to the floor and disappeared under my bed.
