Age: 241
Crimes: Convicted of three murders, suspected of a dozen more.
Brynleigh kept reading, her eyes growing incrementally wider as she scrolled through the pages.
Tathdel Crystalis was not a good Earth Elf. If anything, he might be one of the vilest creatures she had ever gone after.
A macabre slideshow filled the screen, but she didn’t look away. These victims deserved to have someone witness what had been done to them.
Vines bound corpses to the ground. Thorns ripped through flesh. Trees grew out of cement, their limbs choking those trapped in their branches. Blood coated everything in sight.
Earth Elves, more than their Light, Death, and Fortune Elf counterparts, were meant to use their magic for good. For life. After all, long ago, the High Lady of Life had restored the balance using her earth magic.
But this?
It was wrong on so many levels. What would the High Lady of Life have done if she knew one of her descendants would becomethis?
Brynleigh shuddered. Maybe it was a good thing vampires couldn’t physically bear children. At least she would never have to deal with an errant descendant many centuries down the line.
The proof was undeniable: Tathdel deserved the death coming to him.
By the time Brynleigh had read all thirty-two pages, cool relief ran through her. Part of her had wondered if Jelisette would test her by giving her a target who wasn’t her usual type, but thank Isvana, she’d been wrong.
And then she looked up.
The fae captain was still watching her with that same expression on his face.
The relief vanished as though it had never existed.
“Before you judge me for what I’m about to do, take a look at this.” Brynleigh thrust the phone at him, leaving the file pulled up, and went to the bathroom to get ready.
She shut the door behind her and turned on the tap. Shivering at the icy water, she scrubbed her face and hands.
A strange sense of peace filled her as she twisted her hair into a braid. For years, this had been her life. She’d get a name, read a file, and kill the criminal. It was what she did.
Some people were good at mathematics, others were skilled at the arts, but Brynleigh?
Death was her calling, her talent, and for many years, it had been her reason for being.
So why, when she gripped the counter and met her gaze in the mirror, didn’t she recognize the woman looking back at her?
Her eyes seemed darker than usual, filled with shadows and secrets. Her lips weren’t as red as they used to be. Tiredness was written into tiny lines on her face.
That Isvana-blessed otherworldliness that all vampires had was still present, but torment was a shroud over Brynleigh’s features. Even her necklace, a gift from her parents before they died, seemed dimmer.
It was as though a light had been snuffed out inside her. For years, she’d been living for revenge, and now, that was gone.
Who was she without the driving force of her vengeance?
Swallowed by the darkness in her eyes, Brynleigh lost track of time. She stared into those endless depths until a knock came on the door, startling her from her thoughts.
“The sun is setting.” Ryker’s voice was gruff and low, not unlike the first time they’d spoken in the Hall of Choice.
Despite everything that had happened, something deep within her sparked at the sound of his voice.
Even now, he called to her like no one else.
“Oh.” She released the counter and exhaled. “I didn’t realize so much time had passed. Tonight?—”