“Briar,” I call out, “use the ring. Take Callum and Dante and get out of here.” Her head snaps toward me, eyes wide, but I push on, the words rough in my throat as I force them out. “I’ll hold them. It’s the only way you all make it out. For once, don’t argue with me. Just do it.”
Her answer is immediate and sharp enough to cut through the gunfire pelting our door.
“No.”
Her eyes blaze as she jerks the pistol up and fires another round, dropping a guard mid-step. She doesn’t even look at me as she spits her next words.
“We may not be friends, Elias, but we’re on the same team right now, and I was trained to never leave a comrade behind.”
For a second, everything inside me stutters. I’ve been called a lot of things, but never a comrade.
The headlights are brighter now and the roar of more engines tear through the night. Death’s already racing down the road for us, but when I look at her, standing shoulder-to-shoulder with me, I see her conviction.
She’s standing here until the end.
My last shot cracks into the night, the bullet casing ejecting hot against my hand. As I squeeze again, nothing comes.
“Shit.” I slam the useless gun down against the doorframe. “I’m out.”
Without hesitation, Briar shoves Callum’s pistol into my palm, her fingers brushing mine only long enough to pass the weight across. “Keep shooting and cover me.”
I don’t have time to argue.
Her lips peel back, fangs flashing white under the moon. Her hair whips across her face in the wind, and then daggers suddenly burst into her hands. The blades gleam, their edges catching the glare of the headlights barreling down on us.
“Finally. I’ve missed you both,” she murmurs softly, almost reverent.
I should be terrified of the lethal vampire at my side, but what I feel instead is an undeniable burst of respect and admiration.
For her strength, her defiance, and the loyalty she’s showing us now when she owes us nothing.
CHAPTER 19
BRIAR
Ishove away from the car, shattered glass slicing into my feet as I step, but it’s nothing compared to what I’ve endured. The pain merely feeds the rage coursing through my chest.
They will not take me back.
“Go on,”Kael purrs, his hunger for their blood curling around my mind. “Show them what you are. Make them bleed.”
Lyra’s softer voice coos,“Give them back everything they gave you.”
The world sharpens around me as my hands tighten on their hilts, ready to exact vengeance now that I have my soul weapons back. The gunfire is just a rhythm for me to dance through. Every heartbeat, every footstep, every breath of the men hunting us is a note I can hear.
With every cut I inflict, the memories tear open within me.
The mist and lights.
Terrance’s laughter echoing while he carved into me.
My skin and hair burned off.
Hot tears spill down my cheeks, mixing with the blood of the men I’ve felt splattered on my skin. Fury rips through my throat on a ragged cry as I slam a dagger deep into the neck of a guard, Kael’s voice growling a savage approval.
“Never again,” I spit, my chest heaving as I wrench him free and swing at the next man.
Screams rise around me in a flurry. Men stagger, clutching their wounds, collapsing beneath the weight of my grief as much as my vengeance.
