“Jules… please—” Eva began.
“He’ll be fine, Evangeline.” He looked down at her and kissed her forehead. “Let’s get you to the hospital.”
“I’m coming with you,” I said, straining against the men holding me until the cords burned my skin raw.
“No, you’re not. You’ll never see her again.” He looked down at Eva and said with a hard voice, “This ends tonight.”
“No,” Eva whispered, arms straining to reach me. “No, Jules, you can’t. This is my fault. I stepped in front of him. Please let him come, I?—”
“I saidno, Evangeline.”
“But… But I love him.” Her voice broke, and something in my chest broke with it.
The men tried to drag me back, but I fought with everything I had. The beast of darkness roared inside of me. They could not keep the Reaper contained for long. “Eva! Eva, look at me!”
Her eyes found mine instantly. Even like this—hurt, shaking, terrified—she still listened to me. Still trusted me.Good girl.
“You’re mine. Do you remember what I told you in your bathroom?”
You are mine. Nothing can keep you from me.
Eva nodded, and I forced the next words past the invisible iron fist wrapped around my throat. The one made entirely of fear. “I meant it,” I said.
“Okay,” she whispered, smiling like she didn’t believe a single word. That fake fucking smile of hers.
“Eva, I?—”
“Get rid of him,” Jules snarled. One of the men slammed a fist into my ribs, knocking the air from my lungs. The familiar taste of blood came flooding into my mouth. I coughed some onto the precious Vallen dining room table.
“Alek,” Eva sobbed. “Alek.”
She weakly reached for me, and I tried one more time to get to her. I yanked against the ropes again, skin tearing this time. I didn’t care. I would have ripped my own arms off if it meant getting to her.
“I will fucking find you, Eva,” I vowed darkly. “That’s not a promise. That’s athreat.”
Because, as they dragged me away from her—away from the blood, away from her broken little sobs, away from the life I had almost believed I could keep—I knew one thing with clarity:
This was no longer a generational war between families.
This was a war over Evangeline.
And I would burn this world before I let it take her from me.
January 12th
Aleksandr
Prepare for war on Julian Vallen.
I want him gone. Dead or alive. Whatever gets him away from Evangeline.
Nikolai
So…
I take it the dinner went well.
Why are we going to war again, boss?
