That was considerably more polite than what Cora had been thinking.
“I’m so sorry that happened,” she said, sinking down next to Raven on the bed. “Saiden told me how important they are. It must have been awful to lose yours.”
Raven’s eyes pinched shut for a moment. “It was. I would do anything to have him back. Anything, Cora. It’s the reason all of us understand why Saiden did what he did. We hate him for throwing his life away, but we also understand.”
Cora scoffed. “I’m sorry, but you thinkhethrewhislife away? I’m the one who freaking died.”
Raven shifted to face her and raised one perfectly sculpted eyebrow. “Did Saiden not tell you all the rules of our kind? Turning a human against their will is punishable by death. The Ruling Coalition is coming for Saiden.”
“What?” Cora squawked, jumping to her feet so she could pace around the room. She didn’t like the feeling in the pit of her stomach. Not one bit. She despised Saiden for what he’d done, but she didn’t want to see him die. Not for her.
“Then why the hell did he turn me?” she demanded. “I thought a vampire was supposed to hold out for their mate?”
“They are,” Raven replied, far too calm for the situation.
“Then why?” Cora argued. “Why would he sign his own deathwarrant for me? He should have waited for his mate.”
“He did,” Raven stated patiently, and Cora halted her pacing as everything suddenly clicked into place.
How Saiden couldn’t compel her. How he reacted to finding out she was dying. How he tried so hard to take her on a perfect date. Even the pie he offered her at the diner. His favorite pie. Strawberry. The very scent she could now smell embedded in her own skin, mixing with the sweet pastry smell of Saiden’s sheets.
It never once occurred to her when he was talking about mates by the waterfall that he had a reason for saying all that.
“What are you telling me?” Cora asked, her voice shaking more than when she’d asked Saiden if she was a vampire. That had only been her life on the line. This was her heart.
“I mean, Cora Lee,youare his mate.”
Chapter forty-three
Saiden
The Aston Martin would have been better,Saiden thought, racing down Highway 299. Not only was it faster, but the sports car’s convertible top would have allowed him to better hear any upcoming dangers on the road. When you were doing 135 mph, every millisecond counted. Even with his threat awareness he could still end up in a wreck at these speeds.
Since Bianca stole the optimal vehicle, though, he would just have to make do with the Porsche 911 Carrera. It wasn’t a bad second choice, especially given the number of weapons he’d loaded into the more spacious trunk.
Regardless of what car got him there, it would still take an agonizing three and a half hours to reach Sacramento and even longer to establish a plan once he reached the warehouse and did recon.
“She rests in the indomitable city with the many headed monster.”
It was all Donna gave him. All she’d been compelled to give him, more likely.
It had become clear to Saiden that Bianca had never intended to kill him at the compound. She only wanted Cora. Then she escaped backinto hiding so they could play out the final scene in her lair. The whole setup felt just like one of his mate’s beloved horror films, and for the first time ever, Saiden wished he’d paid attention to them.
Bianca’s trap was laid bare, just waiting for him to walk right in.
Not that he cared about whatever twisted scenario she’d devised. He wasn’t living past Sunday morning anyway. So long as he took Bianca down with him, that was all that mattered.
And he would take Bianca down. She could throw anything at him, and it wouldn’t make a difference. One way or another, Bianca was dying a permanent death in that warehouse.
His only regret was not saying goodbye to Cora. He’d snuck by her room only to see her crying on the floor with Raven trying to comfort her. It killed him to see his love like that. To see his mate in so much pain yet unable to help. He would endure any level of creative and painful torture she could think up if it just meant he could take her suffering away.
But he had nothing to offer her except revenge. Violence, pain, and death were all he could ever offer anyone. He’d been a fool to think otherwise, to imagine a life filled with love and laughter with Cora at his side. A naïve dream for someone like him. Someone who had taken so many lives. Unstable and violent rogues every one of them, but it was murder all the same.
He was a reaper, a monster, and there would be no happily ever after.
Pushing the pedal down even further, Saiden coaxed the car up to 140 mph.
He should have died with the rest of his kin a long time ago. Fate had saved him back then, but it was always going to end this way. He’d known that fate would come back for him eventually.
