“Did you not hear me? I’m Kael’s better brother, Jude. Jude Forrester.”
Keeping one hand pressed against my side, I lower the other to the floor, cool blood beneath my fingertips as I try to sit myself up taller. The room feels like it’s growing smaller and smaller, the lack of windows and the one door making it worse.
To my surprise, Jude watches, waiting, intrigued instead of intervening or ignoring me. I’m sure my positioning hasn’t changed by more than an inch when I narrow my eyes at him.
“Excellent. Another disappointment.” I glower, grief and failure etched together, but I swallow it down like razor blades, refusing to give either of them the satisfaction. “Why are you here?” There’s no poison in my words, no resounding fight that self-motivates me through the pain, there’s just… loss. Not that Jude seems to care or notice at all.
He smiles, tilting his head at me again. “I’m here for you, of course. Isn’t it obvious?” He says it so lightheartedly and playfully that it leaves me disoriented.
“Why?” I grunt, my vision sharpening to the point that I’m certain my time has come.
Death is upon me. I can feel it. I just can’t decide what’s worse, knowing Willow was the one to make it happen, or having to listen to this ass drivel on until the time comes while Kael watches.
“I’d rather show you, Little Weapon,” he insists, the glee clear in his voice as a sense of calmness washes over me.
“I’d rather you didn’t,” I breathe, happy for those to be my last parting words as I let my eyelids fall closed, knowing it’s for the final time.
A part of me aches inside, wanting one last glance at the vampire who has consumed my thoughts since the moment mylife changed, but the hatred that’s tearing through my limbs is uncontainable.
“Has she been this snarky the whole time?” Jude asks, amusement lacing his voice, and I feel myself grow weaker and smaller as Kael hums in agreement. “I thought you would have beaten it out of her by now. I gave you plenty of time.”
“I don’t lay hands on women, you know that,” Kael mutters, each word a dagger to the heart as his brother scoffs.
“You’re also too soft.”
If I could huff, I would. That motherfucker just lied to get me here. I wouldn’t call that soft.
“Can you just get on with healing her?” Kael grumbles, a hint of urgency in his voice, but it’s too little too late for that.
I’m going to die now, and I hope he’s riddled with guilt for all of eternity because of it.
“She doesn’t want help, didn’t you hear her?” Jude retorts. I can almost envision that uppity air he has, and despite the darkness that grows thicker around me, I roll my eyes behind my lids.
“I think she’s about to lose consciousness,” Kael mutters, his words barely more than a whisper, or is it me struggling to hear? Regardless, his assessment is correct, and I hate that he’s right about it.
Two whispered footsteps, and I can sense someone close beside me a moment before a hand grabs my cheeks, pushing them together to part my lips. A rancid liquid burns down my throat, but I can’t fight it. The taste makes me recoil as I feel it take weight in my stomach, and the moment it does, my eyes burst open and a whoosh of air parts my lips.
Disbelief consumes me as I blink up at Jude, who grins at me.
“Better?” he muses, and I grunt, shoving at his chest as I rush to my feet. My chest heaves with every breath I take, too overwhelmed by the fact that I’m not dead right now to takeaccurate stock of the pain that no longer claws through my limbs. “You’ll do well to remember who you’re in the presence of, Little Weapon. That was your one allowance since you’ve been through a traumatic time, but don’t let it happen again.” His gaze is like ice, his deep green eyes almost a replica of Kael’s, and I hate that I never noticed it before.
This is our third meeting now, yet it’s only in this moment that I can finally see a resemblance between them. I hate it. It burns my retinas.
I let his threat linger in the air as I chance a glance at Kael, but it’s no surprise to find him looking anywhere but at my face. The room we stand in is still as white washed as it was before, but now that my senses are coming back to me, I can hear the cries of the rebellion coming from the other side of the walls.
I need to get out of here now.
“Stay away from me and no one gets hurt,” I warn, taking a side step toward the door to my right, but Jude moves faster than I can even comprehend, blocking the door with ease.
“Oh, breaking you is going to be almost as much fun as ruling the world with you by my side,” he mutters, licking at his bottom lip as he rakes his gaze over my blood-stained clothes.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about, but I’m not ruling anything with you. Let’s just go ahead and put the kibosh on that now,” I declare, and he smirks as he takes a step toward me.
“Ah, Little Weapon, what fun you will be. Let me show you,” he says, taking another step forward, and I shake my head.
“I’d rather you di?—”
Before I can finish my sentence, his hand is on my arm and the room shifts around us.
