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Killian’s eyes flickered. “That was my destiny. And you’re about to help me fulfill it.”
CHAPTER6
Dannika stepped away from Killian, needing the distance. The shadows created by the fire flickered in his eyes, making him look every bit the demon he was. She searched his face, but there were no remnants of the father she should have grown up with. Reid had given up. He’d handed off his daughters like they were garbage and killed his own son. Julius was a reaper, and his contempt for her was beyond sibling rivalry. There was more to that, but she couldn’t stick around to discover what it was. She had to accept her family was gone.
“How am I supposed to help you fulfill your destiny?” she asked.
Killian smiled. “I’ve been trying to figure out how to activate the chalice. It requires both shadow and priestess blood. That combination didn’t exist until you.”
“You’re going to kill me.”
Killian grabbed her chin, pulling her face closer. “So dramatic, my child. I explained you would be by my side when I fulfilled my destiny. You can’t do that if you’re dead. Your blood will power the talisman. There’s something I need in the demon world. You will help me acquire it.”
She slapped his hand away from her face. “I won’t help you open a portal. That’s suicide. The demons would jump at the chance to invade us. They would enslave you along with the rest of us.”
“I don’t plan to open the portal. Just make a little crack. I have a specialized reaper. He will slip in and retrieve the item and return to our world before the demons know they were breached.”
Dannika held up her hand. “No one can control the portal. No one should. I won’t help you.”
Killian’s smile was predatory and vicious.
“There you go again, thinking you have a choice.” He dissolved, forming behind her. His breath crawled against her neck. “This will hurt you more than it will hurt me.”
He bit into her neck.
Fire raced through her blood as black veins streaked across her chest. The smell of burning flesh permeated the air as Killian growled in her ear. He pushed her away, and she stumbled, falling to the ground.
She put her hand to her throat, flipping onto her back so she could look up at her father.
Killian’s face was mottled with open wounds, dripping silver-laced blood onto his chest. He had known the consequences of ingesting her blood, yet he had done it. Whatever the reason, it didn’t bode well for the shadow clans.
“That was more painful than expected, but necessary to destroy the shadow warriors,” he said.
The fire in her neck receded, but the slither of oil inside her bloodstream remained. This wasn’t like other reaper wounds. The lacerations healed, but Killian left something behind. An insidious piece of himself, lurking beneath the surface. A brand that she belonged to him.
“What did you do to me?” she asked.
Killian licked his reforming lips. “I took your blood. Gave you a taste of what it’s like to wield power. To be a princess in the shadow shifter world.”
Her eyes stung from the effort to hold back her tears. She’d played into his hands and was the catalyst for the shadow clan’s destruction. There was no going back. For her, the fight was over. “I don’t want to be a princess. I want nothing from you. How do I save them?”
Killian touched his face as the remaining wound healed. “I will give them the opportunity to keep the clans in place, provided they acknowledge my leadership and you join me. Become a lieutenant in my army. Embrace your true family and renounce the wolf clan. Take your place at my side.”
He held his hand up to her.
Dannika’s animals growled within her head. They screamed their hatred when she took his hand, allowing him to lead her toward the small office in the center of the salvage yard. Her heart died with each step, but she would keep her word. She would do anything to save Raine.
“What do I do now?”
Killian stopped her beside a large row of crushed cars. She could feel the pull of the shadows. The pathway called her, offering comfort and escape.
“Return to the wolf clan. Say your goodbyes and return to me of your own accord. Prove you’re willing to do as I ask. If you disobey, I will send Ferguson to retrieve you. That will be far more painful.”
There was nothing to say. Killian had foretold her fate. She dissolved, allowing breaking bones and flaying skin to soothe her. A pain she could control. One that would ravage her and end, unlike her destiny.
* * *
Dannika reformed in the shadows of her and Raine’s suite within the caves. The front room looked the same. The paintings on the wall that had always brought her comfort were now a reminder of everything she’d lost.
