SEBASTIAN
My fangs tore through limbs as though they were made of paper. Ciro was the first to die, but not the last. Every single vampire in this temple was going to fall to me. Their strength was nothing compared to mine.
Not when I had my Bound Partner’s blood pulsing through my veins, fueling the fire of my rage. I descended into that quiet place within me, where only darkness and shadows reigned. Nothing else mattered. There was no sound here. No light.
Only death.
The People of the Night had crossed me, and now they were paying the price. That they ever thought they were going to get away with this was mind-boggling.
I would destroy them, and when I was done, I would make sure no one in Eleyta ever tried to do something like this again. My mind emptied as I gave into the death that was Isvana's gift to me.
Shadows flooded out of me, blocking the light. It didn’t matter. There was no need for light. Not right now.
I ripped my way through the vampires until blood coated the stone floor and walls. The metallic taste of the blood of my kind was on my tongue as I lurched forward, grabbing yet another vampire and tearing into their throat. They trembled in my hands; the life leaving their body as payment for their crimes.
And then I heard it. A scream broke through the quiet, killing calm, striking me like a dagger right in my heart.
I knew that voice like I knew my mind. Nothing else mattered.
Tearing my fangs out of the last vampire’s throat, I spat their blood on the ground and released them. They fell to the floor with athudas I followed the sound.
Luna was in danger.
Primal rage ran like fire through my body, and my heart pounded as the Binding Mark on my arm burned. The altar was empty.
Fear pulsed through the bond, and it was a vise around my heart. I ran with the speed of my kind, moving past the pile of dead bodies. A hallway carved out of stone and lit with purple orbs greeted me.
Pulling my shadows back into myself, I moved swiftly as Luna’s scent grew stronger. My entire body shook and fury pulsed through me. My shadows writhed in my veins, urging me forward as I sought my bride.
Where was my wife?
I turned a corner, barely noting the blood streaking the floor as yet another scream ripped through the air. This one sounded different. Fainter. My wrist burned as though it was on fire, and fear came flooding through the bond.
Right then and there, I knew. My wife was dying. Iroaredas my wings ripped out of my back. I turned another corner, and then I saw them.
Roman pressed Luna against the cavernous wall, his wings out of sight as he fed from my wife’s neck. His blond hair was askew, and she was limp in his arms. A trail of blood ran down her skin, over her ruined garments, and onto the floor.
The same killing calm took over my entire body. It became all I knew. All I heard. All I saw.
“She ismine,” I snarled.
Roman’s eyes flickered over to me, but still, he did not release his grip on my wife. In the space of one breath, I crossed the distance between us. By the time another breath left my body, Roman’s fangs were out of Luna’s neck. I held him in a one-armed headlock, pulling him away from her.
She crumpled to the ground in a heap, her head landing on the stone with a sickeningcrack. A scorching pain ran up my arm from the Binding Mark.
“Go ahead,” Roman said through gritted teeth. “Kill me. You think it’ll solve all your problems, but it won’t.” My nails sharpened into talons, and I angled Roman’s neck as he continued to speak. “Ithiar will curse you for this. The Tether between the two of you is the least of your worr—”
Darting forward, I grabbed his throat with my sharp fangs and ripped it out in one bite. His words ended in a bloody gurgle as the iron-laced taste of blood filled my mouth. I spat out the disgusting liquid, ripping Roman’s head from the rest of his body for good measure.
I didn’t even wait to see his headless corpse fall to the ground.
Already, I was moving toward Luna.
My wife.
I fell to my knees, my wings fanning out behind me as I dropped the stake on the ground beside her. The moment my eyes landed on her broken form, a strangled moan rose in my throat.
Blood poured from Luna’s throat, the jagged tears left by Roman’s fangs not healing at all. Her face, usually tanned as though she had been in the sun, was as white as a sheet of parchment. Her eyes were shut, her lips parted as her heart beat in an erratic rhythm.