I loved you!he cried out from within. He wanted to scream it at Hayde in rage, but he didn’t want to give this sadistic creature the satisfaction.
As they stood there, staring into each other’s eyes, all Kinzer wanted to do was tear this cruel creature apart and yet, he hated the part of himself that just wanted to wrap his arms around him and kiss him passionately.
Hayde ducked quickly and kicked his leg out so that he knocked Kinzer’s legs out from under him.
Kinzer stumbled. It took him a moment to regain his balance, during which Hayde slipped free and headed for the window. As he reached it, he glanced back like he wanted to see Kinzer one more time before he left.
Kinzer wanted to pursue him. He should have, for Maggie. To avenge her twisted death.
But something held him back.
He would let Hayde go this time, but if he ever saw him again… if they ever crossed paths… then he would destroy him in the worst possible way imaginable. For Maggie… and for his wounded heart.
Hayde slipped out the window and raced off into the dark night, leaving him with Maggie’s motionless body.
He approached her and fell to his knees.
The pretty dress she wore seemed to accentuate the flaws that must have so rapidly overwhelmed her. Her face didn’t have an ounce of the youth he’d seen in her when he’d first met her. Her hair was dry, lifeless, shapeless.
He’d known her for such a very short time… such a tiny fragment of his life. But she had been his only friend, his only ally, when he had been so alone. She had been his only confidant. They had shared drinks and laughs. They had trained together to take on this mission, and now, like during the War between Heaven and Hell, he’d lost yet another friend.
“I’m so sorry,” he muttered.
He wasn’t just sorry for her death. He was sorry for all that she had been forced to endure. Being abducted by such crazy immortals. Being forced to give birth to a twisted monster.
He grasped Hayde’s dagger and forced it from her abdomen.
Blood gushed from her wound and tainted the dress even more than it already was.
He threw the dagger down beside her, wrapped his arms around her, and pulled her up so he could embrace her one last time. He’d never gotten to say goodbye. And he’d never gotten a chance to thank her for joining him. This was the only closure he’d ever get, and though it was more closure than he’d had with so many immortals in his past, this one meant the most to him, because it was a woman who never should have been caught up in all this… a woman who had deserved to live in the same oblivion that so many mortals lived their lives out in.
***
Neeva stepped over the loser of their immortal battle. Treycore could tell she was so proud of her victory, as she was over all her victories.
“Ah, Treycore. It’s that arrogance that’s always made you so charming.”
“Janka and Veylo are building Morarkes,” he said. “Why don’t you arrest them?”
As unreasonable as he knew Neeva could be, he figured if he could just convince her of the real evil in all this, she would at least understand why they were there, what they were trying to accomplish, and maybe even win her allegiance.
Neeva looked unimpressed with his accusations. “Yes… any other implausible charges you’d care for me to investigate?”
“I’m telling you, Kinzer said—”
“Kinzer has said a great many things, but if you haven’t noticed, Veylo is lying right over there…”
She pointed to a fallen in a nice suit. Treycore recognized those long strands of slick, dark hair.
What? Why would the Almighty have wanted Veylo dead?
“… and Janka has been dead for the past few months.”
“No, Janka isn’t—”
“Don’t worry, Treycore, we have all the time in the world to hear your full story, fantastical as it may be. And eventually, we’ll find Kinzer and get his as well. But I assure you, we will get to the bottom of this.”
“You know Kinzer hasn’t done anything wrong!”
