“I want you to have your soul back,” he whispered, his lips inches from mine. “For you to be able to bind it to all of your mates. For us to befull. Is that so hard to understand?”
I stared at him. At the way his eyes had softened even though his wound was still bleeding at his side.
“Are you doing this for me or foryourself?” I asked and he reared back. “Hoping the madness will recede? Hoping it’llcureyou?”
“Is that what you think? That I've been doing all this for selfish reasons?” My silence gave him the answer he needed. “The madness is irreversible, and I’ve come to terms with it for a long time,” he answered. “I’m doing this foryou. For all of us.”
“At the cost of one of our lives? You’re not paying the price.Heis.”
Dimitri shook his head. “If I wanted to kill him, he’d be dead already. I’mtryingto find a way to get the piece of your soul while keeping him alive.”
“You’retorturinghim, Dimitri! Keeping him caged like an Animal!”
“You have to understand,zhizn moya…I swore to you I’d protect your soul. I told you, time and time again, that I’d sacrifice anything and anyone for your freedom. I don’tcarethat the world and its people burn up in flames as long asyouwalk through the ashes.”
I held back my tears, searching his face for a sign. Something to indicate he wasn’t entirely mad. Anything…
I found nothing but resolve.
I lifted a hand, my throat clogging with unshed tears and cupped the side of his face.
“I’m sorry,” I whispered against his lips before leaning in for a kiss.
He shivered against me as our tongue met, one of his arms snaking around my waist to bring me closer to him.
I kissed him like it’d be the last time. Like in a few minutes, I wouldn’t be here anymore anyway and he wouldhaveto give up his damn quest. To free Arc even if I didn’t have the time to. He groaned against my mouth as the tear finally escaped my eye and slowly fell down my cheek.
I slipped my hand down along the curve of his ass and felt my dagger at his belt. I bit his bottom lip as my hand closed around the hilt.
“I’m so sorry,” I repeated.
Carter’s grunts grew louder and Arc’s chain rattled in his cell.
Dimitri’s kisses drifted to my jaw, my neck, and he stilled. I stopped moving too, certain he’d noticed my hand bringing the blade closer.
“What is—no…” he whispered. “No. No, no, no!”
I gasped as he pushed back my hair, revealing Amyntas’ little gift.
“Fuck!” he screamed, one of his hands fisting his hair. “You shouldn’t have come here!” he repeated again.
He inspected the wound as I lifted my hand higher, aiming for his heart from behind his back. Another tear rolled down and Dimitri’s eyes turned back to me. He brought both his hands to cup my face.
“I’ll fix it. I’ll find a way, you won’t—”
His eyes widened as a sob tore free from my throat. I pushed the dagger to the hilt and he stumbled back, eyes like red pools filled with betrayal.
“You—”
“I’m sorry…” His knees buckled, trying to reach for the blade in his back and failing. “I can’t let you do that. I can’t—can’t let you hurt or kill him.”
He’d be unconscious in a matter of seconds or minutes. Long enough for me to free Arc. To call for potential back up. To maybedie.
His eyes never left mine as he nearly collided with the table at the center of the room.
“I’m sorry,” I repeated through my too tight throat. “I love you.” And I did. No matter what he’d done. I hoped that, once I was in Hell, I wouldn’t forget about him. About the good things he did. About the way he had loved me unconditionally.
The door burst open and a barely conscious Marcus barged in. His eyes took one second to assess the situation in the room before he grabbed Dimitri’s head and snapped it to the side with a sickening crack.
