“No! This is not how I end!” Deux shouts, protests. His denial is so thick in the water that I actually start to chuckle.
He starts trying to sketch out a rune, but Mei is quicker, moving those long, elegant fingers in a delicate movement that traces a rune into the ocean. Heavy black chains wrap around Deux and drag him down.
He struggles, but he can’t get free.
Mei stares at him.
“This is the end for you, Deux. No longer will you hunt the innocent.”
She swims forward so she’s level with my head and puts a hand on me.
A gift I never dreamed I would have and the reason I kept fighting. I refused to give in because I knew she would come for us.
She is my mate…how could she do anything else?
Deux’s black eyes widen, and for the first time, I see fear in him. True terror. He knows his end is nigh.
Chapter 45
Canto
Deux explodes out of the chains and tries to swim. I laugh as I glide in, lethal and deadly, and strike at him. The chains weren’t to hold him, they were to slow him down.
I think he’s the only one who doesn’t realise it.
The currents swirl round and round us, forming a tight wall of water that he has no hope of breaching.
Deux falls back, holding up a stump of a hand. He stares at it, his eyes wide, mouth open, and then he howls. The sound is terrible but fills me with satisfaction.
With a lazy flick of my tail, I enter the swirling stream, circling, watching for the perfect moment.
Ronit slams into him from the other side, shoving a spear deep into the gut of this miserable creature. He collapses to his knees, a cloud of black blood poisoning the ocean.
I move closer, watching, waiting, until he looks up and meets my eyes.
“I told you, I would be the end of you,” I murmur and smile.
He struggles, but he’s too injured. Too far gone.
I glance back and see Mei waiting for me. I want to go home, and my home is her. Wherever she is.
The bond flares with savage approval, stroking me like a cat.
“Are you satisfied, Strega?”
“I am. Take care of it, Canto.”
I move in, cutting and slicing, tearing this Nightmare apart as painfully as I can. It takes an hour for me to dissect him. An hour for him to die.
My shiver stay, refusing to look away as I execute our enemy.
When it’s done, Mei swims to my side and reaches for my hand. I hold her hand as I watch the dead pieces of Deux.
She ignites the water and sends it to his remains.
In the deepest part of the Black Death Oceans, we watch him burn.
I turn to her, pulling her into my arms, and I kiss her. Claiming her for us. Knowing she’s already got all of me.
