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“Too late for that, Kitty-Kat,” he whispered. Broken. Cold.
And in that moment, I knew I’d lost him forever. The friendship and love we once had were now just cinders and ash.
“I don’t want to hurt you.” My chin quaked, my voice weak. “But we’re leaving with the nectar—no matter what.”
Killian watched me; the threads of who we were to each other, centuries of being friends, had burned up in a blink.
Hate replaced love. Cynicism replaced hope. And disgust replaced me.
Then Killian’s body jerked, and he fell to the ground, shuffling me back with a cry.
Cooper stood behind him, the end of his gun still up in the air, a smirk on his lips. “Thank me later, asshole!” He dropped his arm, nodding to where AB stood waiting for us. “Come on!”
My heart wrenched at seeing Killian lying there. This adventure led us back to each other, and I was not on the side I imagined I would be.
“Kill,” I muttered his name to myself. Squatting down, I knew he was alive, but I still sighed when I felt his pulse strong under my fingers.
“He’ll be fine.” Croygen pulled me back up, his attention on Killian. He let out a heavy sigh, his throat bobbing. “You were meant to rule. You always were.” Croygen spoke softly, but I could hear the pride and love in his tone for Killian before he huffed. “Still think you’re a huge douche, though.”
Snorting, I took a few steps and stopped, my heart rate spiking, the back of my neck prickling with fear. It was so fast I was sure my eyes were playing tricks on me, and I narrowed them on the dark corner.
“What’s wrong?” Croygen picked up on my shift instantly, looking around.
“Thought I saw…” I swore I saw a woman with long dark hair standing against the wall like a ghost, watching us, but when I blinked again, she was gone. “Nothing.”
Taking off toward Cooper and AB, Cooper yelled for Croygen to follow, turning me to the pirate.
Croygen stared into the darkness as if he also experienced something before he shook his head, jogging for us, the four of us running out of the tunnels.
I felt it happen. The door closed on my past, as if I had chosen my path without even knowing I had. My heart still broke at losing Killian because this time I knew it was for good.
It seemed I still preferred the devil.
Deep chills skated over my skin the moment we stepped outside, heading down the steps for the river. Commotion from the prison and castle soared down to us, a hawk squawking loudly over our heads as if calling out our location. But the noise wasn’t what chilled me to the bone.
My fur prickled along my back, and my defenses rose as I picked up on a subtle whiff.
Death.
New death smelled of blood and rotting corpses, but old death was a dusty decay of bone and dirt.
Cooper pulled AB in close, his head whipping around, his teeth growing longer.
“You feel it too?”
He nodded, his nostrils flaring.
“So do I.” Croygen yanked out his gun as we inched closer to the river. The boats meant freedom, and we had to escape before Killian’s men got to us. Yet I could not move.
A panic I couldn’t explain had me circling, feeling like I was surrounded in despair, absorbed in soundless darkness, robbing me of all my senses.
I was being swathed by doom… consumed by death.
Yells from guards from the roads leading down to us were getting closer.
We had to go. Now.
But the moment we moved, a hooded figure stepped in our path. Stringy dark hair extended out of the hood, as did a bony hand holding a sharp scythe blade. I sensed the absence of life. The deprivation of compassion and humanity. It devoured power, consumed life, and fed off your soul.
