Her form shifted, the dark mist engulfing her until I was alone in the room.
And the simple truth was I was terrified on so many levels I didn’t know where to start.
Three
Camilla
“Camilla. We must gather what we have and flee. The island is not safe anymore.”
I tapped my finger on my glass. The soft glow of the overhead light illuminated Quincy and the other members of the coven in the doorway. All were packed and ready to leave, their bags littering the floor around them. I felt her eyes on me, the satchel she had slung across her chest full of the small skulls she collected. “Nowhere is safe, Quincy. Not anymore.”
“The Hand has already secured every other location, but they don’t know about the hideout off the coast. I mean, where else do we go?”
A soft chuckle left my lips. “Iassulyn probably.” Quincy approached the table, soft blonde curls framing her face. “Leave, take the rest of them. It won’t matter where you go. She won’t come for you.”
Quincy placed her hand on my arm, her grip light. “May the goddess watch over you.”
“All the old gods are dead, love,” I whispered. I forced a smile, and she nodded before turning away, the others picking up their bags and following her. I listened to the worried tone of their chatter, their footsteps fading as they moved toward the door.
The wind had stilled, the island the quietest it had been since I’d laid claim here. Cool glass touched my lips, the sweet, tangy flavor of the wine exploding in my mouth. I had been saving it for a special occasion that would never come. I savored the taste and stared into flames of emerald green as they danced beneath the mantle.
“What have you done?” I yanked Drake’s sleeve, making him turn toward me. Several Otherworld creatures filed out of the room, whispering amongst themselves. The corpses Tobias had used for Kaden’s little show dropped to the floor, no longer of service.
Drake glared at me, agony darkening the vampire prince’s golden eyes. “I did what Kaden commanded. What we had to do.”
“This was a mistake, and you know it. You know it. She was your friend.”
“And she was your ex-lover. You handed her over just as much as I,” he snapped, yanking his arm from my grasp. “I had no choice, Camilla. None of us do because of Kaden, because of The Order. Listen, Ethan is my brother, my only family. No matter how I feel, I couldn’t let him lose his mate.”
His eyes softened behind the monstrous mask he wore. I knew some part of him regretted what he had done, but he was family bound.
“She will come for us now. All of us. You heard the death cry and felt the world shake. Gabby was a leash that held a rabid beast, and now that tether is gone. There is no stopping her. I can feel it now. All of us can. Something shifted, something old and—” I didn’t have words to explain what I felt, but it sent terror skittering through me.
Drake only shrugged as if words failed him, too. “Maybe death will be a mercy after everything we have done.”
Before I could respond, Ethan’s voice cut through the departing crowd, calling for his brother. His face held no remorse as he clung to the wife that had condemned us all.
“Go home, Camilla. Spend time with your coven because she will come, and I don’t think Kaden or Samkiel can stop her now.”
An icy chill went through me as I watched him leave. I wrapped my arms tighter around myself and turned back to the room. I had one last thing I needed to do. Some would call it remorse or guilt, but either way, I refused to give Kaden another weapon.
I tilted my head back, folding one arm over the other, my hair spilling down my back. What had we done? Even if our relationship hadn’t ended on good terms, taking the only thing from Dianna she loved was unforgivable. Kaden and The Order were older and more powerful than all of us. They were unstoppable. My hands were just as dirty as Drake’s, as everyone on Kaden’s council. In her eyes, we were all responsible. And we were. Maybe Drake was right. Maybe death would be a mercy.
I swirled the shimmering red liquid in my glass. Thunder clapped above, but when I glanced out the window, I saw not a single cloud in the sky. I knew then it wasn’t thunder that shattered the night. I didn’t jump or move when the screaming started but only glanced at my glass, watching as ripples formed in the blood-red liquid. My heart didn’t flutter or change its beat when I felt my home shake. I felt the song of magic along my skin as they tried to fight back, but there was no fighting—not against vengeance, not against ruin, not against death.
The double doors slammed open and crashed against the wall with enough force to crack the heavy wood. Cold air filled the room, and my exposed skin prickled, my dress a ridiculous attempt to protect me from the chill that ran through me. The candles along the walls and ceiling flared and died. A hush filled the mansion. No more screams or spells, not even the sound of a heartbeat in the house other than mine. I took another sip of my wine, not lifting my gaze from the green flames in the fireplace. Even they appeared to cringe from what had just entered.
“You know.” Her heels clicked against the floor, slowly, deliberately. “I forgot all about Quincy.”
I squared my shoulders, knowing she had not spared even one of them. “She was a young witch.”
“Hmm, she was cute. Fragile but cute. I remember seeing her curls on the screen. They were always so shiny and bouncy. I need a good moisturizer.”
I knew exactly what screen she meant and remembered how my stomach sank when Tobias had whirled that camera toward us. She’d memorized every face there, and now she wanted blood. I was wrong. No one in my coven was safe. I had damned them all.
“You redid the place since I was here last,” she said, her voice hollow and devoid of emotion. “It’s nice. Well, it was, at least.”
I turned and nearly dropped my wine glass. The green flames leaped higher, my magic flaring as if to protect me from what walked toward me. Her nails scraped the table, chipping away at the smooth stone. The dark, archaic power emanating from her made my body tremble. I remembered her being a fraction of what I felt in this room, but then that was before, when Gabby was alive to drag her back from the brink. Now there was no Gabby, and that sharpened edge she’d always teetered on was a thing of the past. She had dived head first off it, slicing herself to pieces on the way down.
Dianna’s once hazel eyes now bled solid crimson, the Ig’Morruthen making its presence known, the beast no longer hiding. Her cheekbones were sharper. The pantsuit she wore clung to her deceptively lean and feminine muscles, showcasing the best of her curves. The hem of her coat waved in some unseen breeze behind her. She had been feeding. A lot.
“Yes, I had to get new furniture after you and Samkiel nearly destroyed the place.” I swallowed the last of my wine and placed the empty glass on the table before the tremble in my hands made me drop it.
She paused, and I saw it then. The rage, anger, and hate disappeared for a mere second. My magic felt it too. The harmful power she held around her as a shield fractured, as if his name was a lover’s song, coaxing a trembling beast. But my hope, along with that song, lasted only a second before she corrected herself. I didn’t think even she realized the visceral reaction she displayed at the mention of him.