Not Zane. Not my brother. Not the pest, the menace, the fireweed who’d been by my side cracking shitty jokes since we were infants. This couldn’t be happening.
Koa roared with grief and rage, charging at Amabel with reckless abandon. For a moment, I thought he might reach her, might avenge our brother, but Amabel was ready. The third card flew from her fingers with deadly precision, and I watched in helpless horror as it snapped into Koa’s open mouth mid-shout.
The effect was immediate and horrifying. Smoke poured from the card down his throat. His charge faltered as he choked, eyes wide with surprise. He dropped to his knees, hands clawing at his face, at his mouth.
“Koa…” My voice broke as I watched my youngest brother struggle, the dark cloud filling his lungs, suffocating him from the inside out.
Furious, I kicked and clawed and gnashed my fangs until my lips and chin were as shredded as my chest, but the pain was nothing compared to the agony in my heart.
His eyes found mine in those final moments, those deep brown eyes that had always been so full of passion and intensity. Now they were clouded with pain and despair. As if he couldn’t believe we’dfailed so completely. Then they glazed over as his body collapsed forward, sprawling over Zane’s.
My brothers. Both of them. Gone.
“How?” I choked out, tears streaming down my face.
“Mother’s been teaching me things you couldn’t imagine. Ancient magic. Forbidden spells.” Amabel crouched beside me with that same cold smile. “Did you really think I wouldn’t be prepared? After you stole both Serafina and Eluned from me?”
At least Seri’s safe.Tears streamed down my face as I looked at my brothers’ bodies.At least our beloved will live.
Then I heard it. A light tread coming closer from outside. A soft shuffle I’d recognize anywhere.
No. No, it couldn’t be.
She promised. Shepromisedshe’d stay in the SUV.
“No, no, no!” I screamed hoarsely.
“Koa? Zane? Casimir?” Seri’s voice called from outside, hesitant and worried.
“RUN! SERI,RUN!” I bellowed with everything I had left, praying she would hear me, praying she would turn and flee.
But it was too late.
Seri came tripping over the threshold into the foyer, her gray eyes widening as she took in the scene. For one terrible moment, she froze, processing the nightmare before her. My brothers’ bodies, me pinned to the floor, Amabel standing victorious.
Brummy?I thought vaguely.Where is he? Why isn’t he with her?
Then Amabel pounced, tackling my wife to the floor. A cold-iron blade appeared in the Dark witch’s hand as if conjured from the air itself, pressing against Seri’s delicate throat.
“No! Take me instead!” I begged brokenly. “Kill me, torture me, whatever you want! Just let her go!”
Amabel’s laugh was like broken glass. Grabbing a fistful of Seri’s honey-gold hair, she twisted until my beloved stared at me.
“Like for like, dhampir,” Amabel smirked. “You took Eluned from me. Now I take Serafina from you.”
Hysterical with rage and fear, I fought with renewed desperation, tearing muscles, dislocating my own shoulder in my frenzy to free myself. Blood leaked from the corners of my eyes, my nose, my mouth, as I strained with all of my strength.
It wasn’t enough.
With one swift, deliberate motion, Amabel drove the blade into Seri’s jugular, and bright crimson spilled down her neck in a violent waterfall.
With her last breath, my love, my life, looked right into my eyes and whispered, “Casimir? Why didn’t you save me?”
Something broke inside me then. Something irreparable. The fight drained from me just as the light faded from Seri’s eyes.
My beloved. The one I’d sworn to protect.
Gone, just like my brothers.
