“Don’t worry,”Arnoldt offered, crouching before her, a sick smile twisting his mouth.“She won’t feel any pain when I slice her head off.”He laughed.“Or who knows, she might get to live… if she doesn’t turn into a monster, like you.”
“Do not touch her!”Anastasia raged, struggling against her captors, but their boots pushed her down harder.
I wasn’t even sure how she was still conscious; her body was in complete tatters.
Fresh tears left her eyes when she realized Arnoldt had won, and her gaze went to her mate.
Dresden’s glassy eyes connected with hers, but his chest was nearly still—he was barely breathing.
“Finish them,”Arnoldt ordered.
Fucking pleasure coursed through me, knowing I had ripped him into a million pieces until he was nothing, ending his miserable life.
Turning around, he took the baby into the tree line—her despairing cries waning when she began to fall unconscious from the shock.
The images disappeared into Dante’s darkness, but the haunting sound of Anastasia’s wings being ripped from her back sliced through baby Natasha’s ears, followed by her mother’s gut-wrenching screams.
28
NATALIA
My fingertips lightly traced the claw marks along my eye as I stood before the mirror, the ones that had influenced my entire existence. For so long, they had been a symbol of pain and fear for me. Used to instill hate in me against my own kind.
It was true that a Vampir had given me this scar, but not out of rage or malice. It had been out of the fiercest kind of love.
Mom had pulled strength she didn’t have to try to save me, to get me back.
Watching a memory that my baby mind had somehow captured and repressed, only served to fill me with unshakable determination. I was going to get my mother back even if it was the last thing I ever did.
“They just arrived,”Dante let me know through our shadow link, and I turned around, leaving the bathroom.
André, Hannes, and Dante stood from my bed the second they saw me, and I was grateful for them. During the lastfew days, they had been nothing but supportive, and I truly appreciated that. “Where are they?”
“With my mom,” Hannes answered. “Just touching base.”
“Let’s go.” I nodded, walking through my door, straight for the queen’s lounge.
Silence stretched between us while the guys walked with me. Truthfully, it had been this way since we all witnessed the attack against my parents and me.
Even Starlight was nowhere to be found, remaining quiet—if anyone could believe that.
It was hard to witness that, so I couldn’t blame any of them. What could they possibly say? Still, they had been there for me, and I truly loved them for that.
I low-key missed Starlight, though. More like A LOT.
Taking a settling breath when my chest constricted with the weight of her absence, I gripped the golden doorknob and entered the space, my gaze instantly traveling toward Isis and Bjørn.
“Dearie!” he greeted loudly and filled with joy at seeing me, his arms opening wide to receive me.
I couldn’t help the smile that captured my lips; Bjørn had stolen a piece of my heart from the start. Meeting him halfway, I let him pull me into his arms. I sank against his chest, and my eyes closed, fully enjoying his embrace.
“I missed you,” he whispered in my ear, kissing my temple, and then squeezed me before finally letting go.
“I missed you too.”
“Woah, cool eyes.”
Everyone chuckled around me while I just rolled my eyes.
