Wrath

and let it wash over me, calm me, bring the relief we deserved. Relief that we had our son, and we’d rid the world of an evil sorceress. Relief that although we’d lost Rina, she’d no longer be sick and weak. Relief that the fighting had ceased, and we would lose no more. At least not tonight. For the moment, anyway, we could live with a little peace.

But hot tears streamed down my cheeks as I took in the scene surrounding us.

Blood soaked into what once had been sacred grounds. Several Norman soldiers lay bloodied and dead after taking hits from their own men. Others stood like statues, no life in their eyes. Noah lay on the ground, though not dead. Blossom tended to Jax’s injuries off to the side of the circle of men, while Vanessa and Sheree helped other hurt Amadis. Charlotte and Owen remained unconscious, but their chests rose and fell, so I knew they weren’t dead.

But Winston appeared to be.

And Rina definitely was. My grandmother was . . . gone.

A familiar, icy voice resonated from the dark on the other side of the abbey: “Such a shame, all of this destruction because of a mother’s wrath.”

Chapter 24

Tristan and I both stiffened.

Dorian, get back to the abbey, I mentally yelled at my son. He flew overhead, his form disappearing into the dark ruins right before another emerged from the shadows.

Lucas walked out to where we could see him, and he stood with the toes of his black boots inches away from the far side of the abbey proper, inches from the line of the sacred grounds. His white-blond hair was pulled into a ponytail that draped over his shoulder. His brow was scrunched together over his eyes that looked dark now, but I knew were ice blue like Vanessa’s. And he held Sasha in his arm, his other hand slowly petting her.

He had been behind Dorian’s kidnapping all along. Behind the mages’ deaths and Sasha’s injuries. And her disappearance, too, apparently. He’d orchestrated it all. And he was ultimately responsible for the destruction around us. Including my grandmother’s death.

My eyes cut to Tristan.

His cut to me.

We both lifted our chins in a slight nod.

And we charged the fucker.

My hand held my dagger as I streaked toward my sperm donor.

In the two seconds it took to cross the lawn, however, Noah and several of the Norman soldiers gathered around Lucas. And they were huge. Their muscles bulged out of their clothes, ripping them into shreds, and they grew two feet as we watched. Fire filled their eyes, and as one, they all let out a terrifying growl.

Tristan suddenly stopped in front of me and threw his arm out. I slammed into it as though it were an iron bar.

Lucas snickered from behind the wall of men. “Too bad you can’t hurt them, eh? They’re only human, after all. There’s nothing you can do.” He lifted his lip in disgust as he surveyed Tristan. “All that power we gave you gone to waste because of your beliefs. Sure, you could probably kill me—I guarantee there’s no hope for my soul—but who are you willing to lose in the process? Alexis?” The guns all pointed at me. “Dorian?” Some of the soldiers aimed toward the abbey. “I won’t need them anymore, so why would I let them live?”

Tristan let out a growl.

“That’s what I thought. Your Amadis vows won’t let you do anything. Not with human lives at stake.”

“Those things don’t look human,” Tristan snarled, although we both knew they were definitely Normans.

“Ah, yes. They do have some of Noah’s blood. Oh, and some of your lykora’s.” Lucas’s icy blue eyes glanced behind me to where Owen’s and Charlotte’s bodies lay, and then came back and pierced into me. “Thank you for that, by the way. I’d smelled lykora on you when you came to visit me and sent Victor to get her. But Kali took the opportunity to send warlock-boy in to snatch your son and make me look like the bad guy. Imagine that.” He rolled his eyes and let out a mocking laugh. “Because of that damn warlock, Victor didn’t get the lykora, but he was able to collect some of her potent blood. A whole wing, actually. Enough to see that it worked. And now I have the dog herself.”

“What?” I seethed.

“Oh, yes, indeed,” Lucas said. “These soldiers here—all of them—have some of Noah’s inhuman speed and strength, but his blood was too diluted to give them much else. The stones were a nice touch, too, I’ll give Kali that. But the lykora . . .” He said the word with a glee that sounded odd in his voice. And evil. Very evil. Sasha growled under his hand. “Her blood gave them the ability to grow, to fight ferociously, and to be extremely loyal. Kali’s little stones were nothing compared to this. They’re almost as loyal and protective as a mother. But not quite. What, exactly, would you do to keep your son, Alexis?”

“I already have my son,” I said through clenched teeth.

“Only because I allow it. I have no use for him until he comes to me on his own. Do you know why I let you go when I had you in Hades?”

I glared at him, refusing to indulge him with a guess because I still didn’t know. Yet, I remained quite curious.

“For the same reason. I have to admit, I still have hope for your potential. And I know one of these days, you’ll come around and see things my way when Katerina and Sophia never would. They live in a sugarcoated, lovey-dovey world whereas you, Alexis, my daughter, you know differently. You’ve had your own dark thoughts. You know that some people do deserve to die.”

His words were like a knife in my heart. The truth of his words cut deep to the bone. I couldn’t deny them. Because at this very moment I was thinking he certainly deserved to die.

“I have no qualms about killing my own when they betray me. In fact, I thank you for taking care of Kali for me. She’d become quite the hindrance. You shouldn’t have such qualms about killing either. You should be able to kill your enemy. You should be able to fight this war that’s brewing without having to hold back. You, my daughter, might still have that in you. You better—that’s the only way you’ll win.” His tongue slid over his lips as he considered me. He must have seen the hatred in my eyes. The willingness to fight. He nodded. “This world is about to change, and I want to see you and Seth ruling it. You deserve it. So does Dorian. And when that happens—when you are in power—I will happily descend.”

“I’ll never fight for you,” I said, my voice quiet but full of determination.

“We’ll see about that. You are your father’s daughter, I do believe.”

“Never!” I screamed as I lunged for him, my dagger out.

One of his soldiers snarled and snapped, and when I didn’t back off, he threw himself at me. My hands flew up. I stopped him in midair, and his face filled with surprise. I hadn’t even set him on the ground, though, when his body flew at me. Lucas laughed as his soldier landed on top of me, my dagger piercing straight through the man’s body. He immediately became dead weight.

No! Oh, no! By the time I pushed him off and scrambled to my knees to inspect him, he was already dead. And I’d killed him. I sprang to my feet, my heart pounding, my stomach a small pit.

“So what will you do for your son?” Lucas asked. “How far will you go for those you love? What will you do to keep him alive?” His eyes darted around the scene before they came back to me. “Does Dorian understand all that’s been lost for him? And when he doesn’t deserve such protection from these people he’ll only abandon?”

“Leave him out of this,” Tristan seethed.

Lucas ignored him, and called out, “Dorian? Come here my boy.”