When I finally turned around, and a pair of blue eyes found mine in the rear view mirror, then shifted to Draven’s as she spoke. “You look a little shaken.”
Draven released a heavy sigh and looked at me. “Yeah, I’m fucking shaken. What the hell was that guy?”
My arms instinctively rose to hold myself. “I have no idea. All he ever told me was that he served an old god.”
Ella, the omega, shook out her wings as she shivered. “Well,that’snot creepy. Anyway, it’s nice to meet you, Sage! Mates with Ronan, that’s… wow, you have my condolences. He’s a moody fucker.”
I laughed. “He’s not so bad.”
The sisters looked at each other, identical, knowing smiles on their faces, and I tried and failed to smile back.
I was leaving. And Ronan… my mate… was still in there. I wouldn’t,couldn’t, relax just yet.
48
Anything But Jazz
Ronan
Draven’s fingers closed around Sage’s wrist, and I saw the exact instant her terror shifted into hope.
It hit me harder than any blow Victor had landed, a combination of relief that she was getting help and regret that it couldn’t be me leading her to freedom.
I knew she was in good hands, though. Draven was the only vampire I’d ever trust to take care of my mate.
He guided her toward the door, his body angling just enough to shield hers, and she followed without hesitation, looking back only to check on me before she was whisked away to safety.
Good girl.
That was the last clean thought I had before everything inside me fractured.
Victor tore free of the demons restraining him with a roar that shook me to the marrow of my bones. The air distorted around him as he crossed the space between us in a blink, his shoulder slamming into my chest with enough force to lift me off my feet.
We went through the couch together, wood exploding and fabric shredding. The impact drove the breath from my lungs as my back met stone, pain flaring white-hot across my ribs.
Fuck. I knew he would be strong, but this was on another level.
Forced or not, he’d clearly benefited from the mate bond, stolen the strength Sage and I should have shared.
That thought was enough to rally me, because I wasn’t giving up. There was no way I was leaving this world with Victor still alive, free to torture Sage for the rest of her life.
If I was going down, I was burning Victor to ash with me.
I rolled before he could pin me, fire bursting from my palms on instinct, licking across the ceiling and walls. Heat flooded the room, smoke clawing as I dragged myself upright.
Victor smiled at me, his mouth smeared with blood and his eyes incandescent.
“I don’t know what you’d hoped to accomplish by coming back,” he said, voice thick with hunger. “Because you certainly aren’t leaving here with my mate.”
I laughed, the effort scraping my throat raw.
“You’re fucking delusional.” Fire curled around my wrists. “She was never your mate.”
He lunged again, and this time I met him head-on.
Our collision cracked the marble beneath our feet. His fist caught my rib in a devastating strike. Something inside me splintered, sharp pain stabbing deep with every breath.
I welcomed it, though. Pain meant I was still conscious.
