And Luka was the fabric of my being. I wanted to scream it. Let her know what she was threatening to take from me. But would be no use. She didn’t care about me. She didn’t care about me and Luka and everything we had overcome to make it here.
“They will remain a part of Lethenia’s history as the species that was eliminated because of their deadly nature.”
We needed to end this today.
Where was Luce? She should have been here by now.
I looked at Luka out of the corner of my eye.Luce, we need Luce.
Luka dipped his chin and winked.I’ll go find her,he mouthed.
My eyes darted to Keziq as she knelt on the blood-soaked ground.
“What will it take to stop you from doing this?” I knew there would be nothing, but I needed to distract her—I needed to distract both of them while Luka snuck away. I couldn’t do anything with Keziq still linked to Luka.
“Nothing. And besides, I already learned how futile it is to make a deal with you, Lennox Adair. Your word is worth next to nothing,” Adreona all but sneered.
She turned her attention to Keziq as she continued to prepare the spell.
Slowly, Luka started taking steps back, one at a time, until he met the trees. I didn’t dare turn my attention to see if he had disappeared.
He had to get to Luce and get started on the spell so we could finally kill this Goddess-forsaken witch.
“Do you want my crown? Because I’ll give it to you if that’s what you want. The Vanir want it—give it to them if you don’t want it.”
“As enticing as that offer is—I want vampires gone more.”
Keziq struck two stones together, sparks tumbled from the stones as she repeated her movements until she sparked a flame to light the candles surrounding her. One by one the candles lit, encasing her in a ring of fire.
“You want your death?”
“Like I said, it’s a small price to pay—besides, I will get to be reunited with my love.”
“How do you think she will feel about this? About finding out her partner is a murderer?”
“You little—” Adreona leapt for me, her nails clawing for my face. I winced as one of Adreona’s nails met skin, scratching a line across my face.
I drew my flames to my fingertips before pressing my hand to her chest. She hissed as her flesh burned. She stumbled away from me and threw out her hands.
I braced for the impact, but it never came.
Adreona tried again, thrusting out her hands, but no magic came out.
It was working. Luce’s spell was working.
68
NICO
The sounds of battle surrounded me. The wolves accompanying me murmured to one another from behind me.
But I didn’t pay any of that any attention.
My focus was fixed solely on the witch on her knees in the snow before me.
The black vein in her arm pulsed. I had nightmares about that mark. About it working its way up her arm until it covered her entire fucking body and rotted her from the inside out.
Luce’s hands dug deeper into the earth. The words coming from her lips made no sense to me, but they were harsh.
