I failed her. Failed them all.
Just as I always feared I would one day. I went limp, unable to think, to move, to breathe. Three pieces of my soul, ripped away.
Amabel stood over me, saying something, but her words were lost in the roaring emptiness that engulfed me. I barely registered when she knelt beside me, the same dagger now pressed against my own throat. I felt the metal bite into my skin, drawing blood.
Savoring her victory, I realized dimly.Wanting me to beg, to plead for my life.
“Do it,” I breathed, my gaze locked on Seri’s face, wanting it to be my last sight. “Before I do it myself.”
At least in death, I might find them again.
Seri, Zane, Koa. Mom. My‘ohana.
The pressure of the blade increased, and the world went black.
26. Drowning in Shadows
Koa
The plan worked perfectly.
Amabel Harrow, that soulless bitch, walked right into our trap, sneaking into Evermere through the lake entrance just as Seri had predicted.
The fact that she’d arrived two hours earlier than we’d anticipated was a minor hiccup, nothing we couldn’t handle.
My blood hummed with anticipation as we moved into position. I could feel each heartbeat in my fingertips, each breath scraping against my throat. When Casimir gave the signal, everythingwould explode into motion, and I would get to show Amabel exactly what happened to those who hurt our beloved.
I still felt the phantom weight of Seri’s hand on my arm from when we’d left her in the SUV, her fingers trembling despite her brave face.
“Come back to me,” she’d whispered before we’d left her there with Brumous and strict instructions to stay put.
Now, as I crouched on the front porch, the comms unit in my ear crackled with Zane’s breathing, sharp and controlled. Anticipation burned like electricity through my veins. Waiting at times like this had always been the hardest part for me; my emotions ran so hot and bright, they threatened to consume me from within.
Didn’t help that the?aumakuawere whispering caution. Not danger, just caution.
“Breach in three.” Cas’ countdown began, and I pulled my emotions tight, focusing them into a blade’s edge of purpose. “Two.” My muscles coiled, ready to spring. “One.”
The front door splintered inward as Cas’ boot connected with it, an entrance as subtle as a thunderclap. Zane and I positioned behind him, a practiced formation we’d perfected over years of hunting together. Cas at point, Z on his left, me on his right. Three shadows moving as one.
“Hold!” Zane’s voice came through the comms, urgent and sharp. “Web of illusion across the entry—”
Too late.
Cas crossed the threshold and instantly collapsed. His back arched off the floor, limbs jerking in violent spasms hard enough to crack the fang-rotted marble floor, a choking sound escaping his throat.
“Cas!” I lunged toward him, but Zane’s hand snapped out, catching my arm.
“No!” His eyes were wild behind the lenses of my prototype magi-goggles. “Illusion’s still active. We need to—”
A soft laugh cut through the air, turning my blood to ice.
Amabel Harrow oozed out from behind the grandfather clock in the foyer. Her dark hair framed a face that might have been beautiful if not for the cruelty etched into every line. Her eyes glittered with malice as she surveyed her handiwork.
“Three little dhampirs, all in a row,” she sang, her voice lilting and poisonous. “One down and two to go. How disappointing. I expected more of a challenge from the infamous Cimmerians.”
The rage that erupted in me was nuclear, a supernova of hatred that threatened to tear me apart from the inside. This was the girl whohad helped Arabesque torture Seri for years. Who had gleefully participated in draining our beloved’s magic through illegal siphoning. Who had stood by while her mother broke Seri’s spirit over and over again. Who had kicked and punched our love into unconsciousness.
And who had just done something horrible to my big brother.
