If only Roman knew.
A growl ripped through me as I snatched the walking stick from the ground, gripping it like a bat. My vision tunneled, focused only on Marcellious.
I charged.
Balthazar merely chuckled, waving a lazy hand through the air.
The stick flew from my grip, spinning wildly before crashing uselessly into the mud.
I gasped.
Emily let out a wretched, grief-stricken howl. “You’re a barbarian! A savage!” Tears streamed down her face. “You’re nothing but evil, Marcellious! I hate you!”
Marcellious threw his head back, laughing, his mirth blending seamlessly with Balthazar’s.
The sound made my skin crawl.
My throat burned with fury. “What would Roman say about you?”
The laughter stopped.
Marcellious’ expression hardened, his eyes turning ice-cold. His head snapped toward me.
I took an instinctive step back.
“I don’t give a fuck what Roman thinks,” Marcellious shouted, his arms flailing wildly. “I was supposed to kill him on the battlefield in Rome. But then you happened.”
His words sent a fresh wave of fury crashing through me.
“So, you lied to Roman. To me. To everyone.” My voice was cold, edged with steel. “Nothing you ever said—none of it—was real. I knew you were evil. I knew the bastard you are would never change.” I turned to Emily, my voice filled with anger. “He’s been lying to us, deceiving us all along. He is his father’s son—a monster. And a monster born from darkness will die a monster.”
Emily clutched Rosie tighter, her body racked with sobs.
I lunged for the walking stick again?—
But before my fingers could close around it, a hand snatched my wrist, nails digging into my skin.
A soft, sultry voice cooed in my ear.
“Don’t hurt my lover.”
I jerked my hand away, whipping around to stare into Dahlia’s cold, gleaming eyes.
Marcellious let out a cruel laugh. “Why did I waste my time with you?” he sneered at Emily, “when the darkness could have pleasured me?”
His gaze slid hungrily to Dahlia, and she strutted toward him, her lips curling into a seductive smile.
Without hesitation, she draped her arm around his shoulders.
Marcellious grabbed her jaw, tilted her head, and crashed his mouth against hers.
The kiss was exaggerated, and loud.
Dahlia moaned into it.
Emily wailed. “Don’t do this to me, Marcellious! I loved you!”
Something inside me snapped.
