“ButthatRyker did,” the Dark Witch interjected calmly, hurt and disbelief marring his sculpted features and mirroring D’s expression. “Perhaps he was just great at manipulating you. Showing you what you wanted to see, so you never saw the real him.”
“I don’t-I.” I couldn’t answer that. “Still, he doesn’t deserve to die.”
“Doesn’t he?” Dante seethed, losing his cool, and something in his eyes said he would end Ryker the second he got the chance… without a single regret.
“How can you still defend him? He tried to kill you,” D demanded, his statement thundering in unison with the storm.
My heart ripped a bit more with the reminder, and it took every ounce of strength I possessed not to fall apart from the pain. For so long, I’d thought Ryker loved me. Now, I realized that I had no idea what love was.
“It was not his fault. It was his Alpha’s command,” I excused weakly, desperate to believe it myself. “He was forced by my uncle’s power; all the Hunters were. We are helpless against our Alpha. We can’t fight it, he couldn’t?—"
A strangled gasp swallowed my words when D erased the space between us in the blink of an eye, pinning me againstthe wall of the building. Lightning cut across the sky in that moment, illuminating his sharp profile.
“There isn’t a single power that exists—no sire bond, no Witch, no spell, or curse—that couldevermake me hurt you,” D vowed, his lips an inch away from mine as his fierce gaze held me captive. “I would burn down the world first, Natasha. I would burn the entire world for you.”
He took a step back and his wings extended behind him, lifting him into the sky while powerful thunder marked his vow as true.
Trying to calm my ragged breaths, I looked up into the space where he disappeared.
“And on that note…”
The statement called my attention back to the Dark Witch as my being ached with D’s declaration, and I found it difficult to regain my breath.
“Granted,” Dante continued, “D has a flare for the dramatic, but I couldn’t agree more.” Extending both hands toward me confidently, he glanced into my eyes. “If you want to leave, no one will stand in your way…”
The action slightly contradicted his words, yet his gesture was becoming more inviting and reassuring each time he did it.
I glanced at the glimmering street behind me, wondering where the path would take me if I left. I wanted to find Isis more than anything, but something told me that if she were here, she would tell me to stay. Somehow, she knew these people, and she had trusted Dante with healing me throughout my life. The feelings inside of me were confusing AF—my wolf urged me to stay, regardless of how desperately the other part of me wanted to leave.
When my gaze returned to him, I found his hands still waiting for mine, his bottomless stare on me. My wolf’s emotions were clear though, she missed the warmth and reliefshe knew his touch would bring, and the truth was, I did too. Although it took a few moments, I could no longer make my feet move away from him… fromthem.
Glancing down at the Dark Witch’s offered hands, I placed mine in them.
A relieved smirk stretched Dante’s lips, as though a part of him feared I might not accept him. Pulling me in, he wrapped both arms around me, cradling me against his chest before his shadows took over, engulfing us.
“Isis is alive, by the way…” he whispered in my ear as the world blurred before my eyes, forcing me to shut them tightly.
When I opened them again, we were back in his home, but the dim atmosphere of greys, creams, and black hues was not the one I recognized as “my” room. It was his. Except, we weren’t exactly standing in it.
The firmness of his mattress spread under my body, mixed with the velvety softness of the thick blanket draped on it. He smirked naughtily at me, still holding me in his arms as we fully “blended” into the space. I had no idea how he did it, but right now, I knew no other way to describe how he had transported us.
“Isis is alive?!” I screeched, heart pounding against my chest as I sat up, immediately regretting it. My hand flew to my rib.
“Careful,Cuore mio. Let me finish healing you first.”
I swatted his hand away, which brought a full smirk to his face. “Isis is alive,” I repeated, processing his words, but still not letting myself believe. “How do you know? How do I know you are telling me the truth?” Dear Goddess, she was still alive… “You could have told me!” I reproached.
“You could have asked…” he replied, earning a death stare from me.
“I swear to the Goddess, I have no idea how to kill aLord of Twilight, but I will find out just for you.”
A sinful smile stretched his pouty lips corner to corner with my warning. “A death threat on our second date. Now,that’smy kind of woman.”
“Dante!”
Sighing heavily, the Dark Witch sat up too, pointedly watching me. “I could have told you. Of course, that would require you to trust that what I have to say is true. Can you do that, Natasha? Can you trust that I won’t lie to you?”
His question immediately crushed any protest I had, because that was the truth, wasn’t it? Could I let myself trust these strangers?
