My brows shot up. “Okay, well, I guess that makes sense.”
He suddenly focused on me, and my pulse jumped beneath all that intensity. “How are you feeling? Magic-wise, I mean. Any more strange dreams? You haven’t seemed like it, and I’ve watched you as you slept.”
“You’ve watched me sleep?” I asked with a snort of amusement.
I’d never known Vincent to blush, but pink stained his cheeks as what he’d said clicked.
“Well … I …” He swallowed. “Yeah. I mean, I wanted to make sure you were okay. Is that weird?”
My heart swelled. He had been so protective of me, and I wondered when his presence started to feel like a shelter to me. I stepped forward, his breath catching as I rose on my toes and kissed him. It was the first time since the palace that I had initiated this kind of contact between us, and Vincent froze. Sure, he had kissed me in the sewers after we escaped the armada, but this wasn’t passion hidden behind closed doors. It was pure, raw intimacy, a claiming between us.
Vincent eagerly accepted as if he’d been dying to do this for days. His lips met mine, and his fingers curled into my hair at the back of my head. I moaned into his mouth as he deepened the kiss, and I realized just how badly I needed him. Maybe we could ditch Elianna and take care of this heat between us.
“Really? Again?” Elianna huffed, her voice like a bucket of cold water thrown on us.
We pulled apart, and I whimpered softly. Vincent’s jaw ticked, and he rolled his eyes. “That was a very quick bathroom break.”
Her nose wrinkled in disgust as she raised her hands, waving toward us. “I mean this with all due disrespect, but ew.”
I scoffed and started to laugh. Vincent opened his mouth to no doubt retort, but then we both went silent. We felt it before we saw it. Elianna’s body jerked forward, her eyes widening as blood pooled in her mouth before bubbling from her lips. She stared at us in horror, and then her eyes glazed over as her heart was ripped from her chest. Her body crumpled limply to the ground before bursting into a bright blue light that soared into the sky. The courtyard broke out in screams as people fled, but my eyes remained locked on Dianna in all her dark glory. She stood there, staring at Elianna’s heart resting on her blood-covered palm.
Her eyes flicked up, and she glared at us through her lashes. “You know, I always wondered if she had one.” She shrugged and tossed the fleshy mass to the ground. “Guess we know now.”
Terror ripped through my veins, but not for me. I hadn’t even realized I’d stepped in front of Vincent until cold rage flared in her eyes.
“I will say.” She stepped forward, eyeing the two of us in disgust. “Elianna was right. Ew.”
55
CAMILLA
“Why kill her?” I asked as the area around us tumbled into turmoil. Was she not worried about the consequences of killing in cold blood, or did she just not care? Her hair hung far past her shoulders, the dark waves dancing around her in the wind like a veil. Her clothes indicated they had been there for at least a day. The dark leather ensemble Samkiel no doubt made for her had a few straps that encircled her waist and crossed over her chest. They were lined with sheaths, but all of them were empty. Dianna did not need a blade. She was a weapon made of pretty flesh.
“I’m sorry. Did I give you the impression that I am one to forgive and forget?” Dianna looked at me as if I’d grown a second head. “You do remember who I am, right? She had a hand in my husband’s death, a very large, manipulative hand. There is no outcome where anyone involved gets to breathe in my presence.”
My eyes widened, and I felt Vincent stiffen next to me. Husband. Samkiel. I glanced at her hand, and sure as day, a ring shimmered on her finger, the beauty and sparkle of the gem hypnotizing.
“Is that what you travelled this far for? Hunting the rest who wronged you?”
“Wow, Cami.” She whistled. “Not even an,I miss you. How have you been?”
She was stalling, and I assumed she was waiting for Samkiel to find us. I said nothing.
“Fine.” She clapped her hands together and pointed both forefingers at Vincent. “I’m going to kill him first. Well, I guess, I mean, I’m going to kill him again. Then I’m going to take you and that stupid medallion you have and get some of my peace of mind back.”
My heart stuttered. She knew of the medallion? But how? There was no way Nismera would let anyone know she had it recrafted, much less slip from her hands into another’s. She was too prideful.
My brows furrowed. “How do you know about the medallion?”
Her smile was slow and every bit the predator I remembered. “Move out of my way. Let me kill Vincent, and then we can all leave with the medallion in tow. Easy peasy.”
“No,” I said, squaring my shoulders.
“No?” Her eyes flicked behind me to Vincent and back before she scoffed in disgust. “Oh, you can’t be serious.”
“We have to fight for someone,” I said, my feet planted firmly in more than just my stance. “Something.”
The humor drained from her expression, replaced by something wild and feral. “I can’t let him live.”
