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“What kind of future would you possibly have with him?” Selene asked.

I ignored her.

“He was made to kill you, to kill our kind,” she continued. “Now, I can see the attraction. He is beautiful. Even my head has been turned by his lovely elvish aesthetic. But it ends there. He is not a creature of love. He is spun from hate and violence.”

“Not the Paris I’ve gotten to know,” I retorted, in no mood to hear her thoughts on him. But she was also right. There could be no future for us, no matter how much I wanted there to be.

How could we exist in this world together?

I’d ruined his life, turning his head and confusing him with desire.

He didn’t want me.

Be a proper king.

Fight for your people.

“It’s almost time, darling king,” Selene said.

Greater heat flushed through my veins as the ice began to crack.

“Feel the power of the moon thrum in your veins.” It did, a gravitational tug, a brimming, electrical vibration triggering every sense to life and sending a tsunami of adrenaline rushing through me.

Incredible. Incandescent.

All for me.

Every thought collapsed, distilling everything down to one simmering orb of desire.

“Revenge,” I whispered.

“Yes.”

Aidan. Aidan. Aidan.

He would fail, and I would dance in the ashes of his defeat.

The ice cracked further, thick lines cutting through the glacial blue.

“Be swift as soon as you are free,” Selene instructed. “This power is great but will burn quickly.”

“I will.”

I felt a tingling in my gums, followed by my fangs protruding. I was sure they were glowing.

“Drink from those afflicted with Aidan’s rot, should you wish to spare them,” the deity added. “Once they are cleansed, he will not be able to infect them again.” A short pause followed. “Kill those beyond hope.”

Such as the vampire rebels?

My hands flooded with strength, as if being smothered in the strongest metal.

“Your fists will break those frostbrood,” she said.

Breakers, guns specially designed to pierce the ice of a frostbrood, were currently failing against the waterborne creatures. Mortals and vampires alike gathered here in defense, trying their best to destroy our attackers.

Leave it with me…

The ice quaked, the cracks widening, every pop like thunder. I grinned, elated by this latest development.