"I thought it was good," she says, smoke curling from her lips. "Now? I'm not so sure."
We pass the joint between us, silence stretching, heavy and strange.
Then she breaks it. "This isn't just about Darius, Sage. You didn't only run from him. You ran from all of us. I treated you like a little sister. And now…" Her voice cracks, grief seeping through the steel. "Now you're married to one of the wildest, bloodiest vampires we ever hunted. And Johnny—"
She chokes, the words catching.
The smoke burns deep in my lungs as I whisper, "I'm sorry. About Johnny. About Konstantin. About all of them. I know it's my fault."
Darlene's eyes shine with unshed tears when she turns to me. "We did great things together. For nature. For our purpose. And then you—" Her voice hardens, grief twisting into anger. "You betrayed us. Betrayedme. After everything we taught you. After everything we went through."
I falter, lost for words. "I… I don't know what to say."
I hand the joint back to her, my fingers trembling.
Darlene's hand snaps out. Not for the joint, but for my wrist.
I tighten my grip on the gun, but she's faster, her centuries of training crashing down on me. In one motion she wrenches my arm, pain flaring white-hot, and the weapon goes spinning across the concrete, clattering uselessly into the shadows.
Before I can catch my breath, she's already drawn something from inside her coat.
The blade.
Last Song of a Satyr.
Slash—
It drives into my stomach, the steel tearing through flesh. The pain explodes, sharp and searing, a fire that rips me apart from the inside. My scream tears out raw and strangled.
Darlene yanks me closer, holding me with an iron grip, her breath hot against my ear. "Darius knows what can kill him. We collected every knife we ever found." Her voice is calm, almost tender. "It's not meant for nymphs, but it will bleed you out all the same."
She twists the blade. Agony floods me, unbearable, and another scream rips from my throat, choking into a wet gurgle. My knees buckle, but she doesn't let go.
"I'm sorry it came to this, little sister. But I have to protect him. Even from himself. Even from his love for you." Her voice wavers, but her grip doesn't. "I have to protect his legacy. He'll kill me when he learns what I've done… but at least I'll know I did what was right."
Another twist. The pain is blinding. My body convulses. The edges of the world blur black.
"Goodbye."
She presses a gentle, devastating kiss to my forehead and then shoves me off the blade.
I collapse onto the concrete, my hands slipping over the blood soaking my stomach, spreading too fast. My vision wavers, the ceiling spinning above me.
Through the haze, I watch her walk away in a steady, certain gait.
She never looks back.
CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
Kayden
I'm out of the car before it stops, boots hitting gravel, something tight and painful flaring in my chest. Some dead-end nowhere place, concrete husks and shadows, like the set of every bad horror film.
I don't yell for her. I'm not an idiot. Predators don't announce themselves.
I clear the perimeter first—eyes scanning corners, ears tuned to every creak of metal and crunch of stone. If someone's lying in wait, they won't get the jump on me.
Asher's right behind me, silent, scanning with the same focus. We move like we used to in bloodier times: a glance, a nod, a wordless agreement.
