“Are you an angel?” I replied, my mind still fuzzy. I licked my lips, and the flavor of chalky dust filled my mouth. “Have you finally come to take me to the gods and make me pay for my sins?”
I had committed hundreds of those. Thousands. I was fairly certain there wasn’t a clause in godly judgment that read: If you were forced to do bad things by the evil queen who gave you immortal life, you will be pardoned for your sins. The seven circles of hell were real, and I would burn in them for eternity.
The angel’s mouth fell into an “O” and she shook her head. “I’m not an angel.”
“That’s a shame,” I whispered. “You look like one.”
She pulled up the sleeve of her dress, displaying a black marking around her wrist. “I’m your wife, Sebastian.”
Wife.
The word echoed around in my mind as I struggled to keep up with what she was saying.
She was my…
Wife.
Memories crashed into me all at once. Luna. Our Binding. Being Tethered. Julieta’s death. The tunnels.
Then…
The earthquake.
A dozen curses ran through my mind. The roof of the chamber must have collapsed.
Raising a hand, I cupped Luna’s cheek. “You’re hurt.”
She blinked. “Me? You’re worried about me?”
“I’ll always be worried about you.” The words were barely more than a whisper, but they rang with truth.
This female was mine, even if she didn’t know it. From the moment she first yelled at me, she was mine. No one spoke back to me. No one dared go against me.
Except for her.
Luna shook her head. Dust and dirt covered her features, making her brown eyes stand out in the darkness. “Sebastian, it’s not me you should be worried about.”
My brows furrowed, and I tried to push myself up.
“Don’t!” Luna gasped, horror filling her eyes. She put a hand on my shoulder, pressing me down. “There’s something in your chest. It’s too dark and I can’t see what it is, but I felt it.” A sob escaped her, and her voice cracked. “I don’t know what to do about that, Sebastian. Helping vampires wasn’t a subject I studied at the university.”
My hands dropped, landing on the wet stone floor. That was wrong. Nothing should be wet.
And yet, it was.
Bringing my fingers to my nose, I inhaled sharply. The scent of iron was almost overwhelming. The floor was covered in blood. If it wasn’t Luna’s…
It was mine.
Lifting tentative hands, and starting at my hips, I patted my chest until I encountered something that absolutely did not belong. A rough piece of wood, approximately the size of my forearm, was sticking out of my chest. Aimed at the right spot, it was one of the few things that could kill me.
“That’s ironic,” I whispered, a morose chuckle rising in my throat.
She gaped at me. “What?”
“I finally have a reason to live, and I could die here.”
Luna’s face paled.