Blood rises up my throat, choking me with its metallic taste and causing me to sputter and cough. The snow around me is dotted with red—my blood—and it drips down my chin and coats my hands.
To my surprise, the pain ebbs and dies away quickly, and I’m warm all over, tingling even. I hope Avrum can forgive me for this, but for now I’m tired. So tired.
There’s an angry shout from close by, accompanied by the sound of snow crunching under boots. As I look up for the last time, a dark figure hovers over me, and even though their features are meshed into a blur of color and shapes, I know it’s Henri. I wish I could see the pure horror on his face and the realization that I’d finally found a way to escape him, but I need to close my eyes.
More hot fluid hits my lips, filling my mouth and sliding down my throat. But the comforting heat of it sends me deeper into sleep.
Finally, I’m free of him.
Avrum
“Haven, no!”
I watch her collapse, see Henri run to her side and kneel there. I yell again, but my voice is muted bythe thudding of my own heart in my ears. Tears burn my eyes, out of anger and grief.
Beyond Haven, the shadow of Emma gets smaller and smaller as she nears the forest line.
“I’ll follow the maid,” Lysander says. He breaks away from me and sprints after her at full speed.
The snow around Haven is stained a brilliant red, the smell of blood overpowering. The raw, feral anger in me pushes at my control, and my vision sharpens against the darkness, my fangs releasing.
No more fear or hesitation. This is it. I’m going to kill him.
Henri seizes Haven by the arms and shakes her violently, trying to get her to wake up, but her head whips back and forth, her face pale, her bloody lips parted.
“Wake up!” he shouts. “You think you can get away from me that easily? Now, wake up!”
I rush at Henri’s turned back, grabbing him by the shoulders, and rip him off Haven with a vicious growl. He flies several feet away, rolling in the snow, before collapsing into a heap.
I catch Haven’s body as it drops and lay her gently down. Pain, like nothing I’ve ever experienced before, slices through me at the sight of her. Everything—her ivory gown, the ground around her, the sword nearby—is soaked with blood.Herblood.
My entire body trembles.
She’s gone.
I run a hand over her beautiful face, my heart clenching painfully in my chest.
“Haven,” I whisper to her, my throat tight. “It wasn’t supposed to end this way. I was supposed to save you.”
Suddenly, a hard kick to my back sends me stumbling forward. I fall face-first into the snow with a grunt.
“You fool!” Henri yells, as I push myself to my feet again. Blood paints his teeth, lips, and chin crimson, and he holds a sword at the ready. “I gave you everything, and you think you can turn on me?”
I yank out my own and glance toward the forest’s edge. Both Lysander and Emma are nowhere in sight. It looks like I’m on my own this time.
I rise to my feet, my hatred of this man—this monster—fueling me. “Everything you told me was a lie.”
Chuckling, one black brow raises in interest. “You think you can fight me?”
I whirl my sword at him, but he blocks it without effort.
“You do!” The amusement in his eyes reminds me of a child. “How funny!”
Remembering Lysander’s teachings, I strike again, this time low. Again, Henri blocks it, laughing.
“Imadeyou,” he hisses, and takes a great step toward me. “Haven was a human, insignificant. What could she possibly have meant to you?”
I grind my teeth. The rage inside me swirls around like a river current.
