“Go to hell…” Julian choked.
“Save me a seat.”
Dante twisted his body and slammed his foot down, and Julian’s skull crumbled under the pressure.
Dante watched as the scarabs crawled back into the cylinder, picked it up by the top edge and threw it into the sea.
*
Melina sat up and screamed, holding her head. Images rushed at her at a thousand miles an hour. She stumbled to the floor, unable to see from the mad rush inside her brain, until finally the images stopped, focusing on a beach. The scene was viewed sideways, looking up at Dante who walked away with a coldly satisfied expression.
Suddenly, Melina knew what had happened and screamed again. Her feet moved on their own and her body followed suit. Hurt, anger and confusion erupted within her as she made her way to Dante. The Go Deo she had made with Julian forced her to hunt his killer whoever that may be. And his killer was the only man she had ever loved.
*
Dante walked into his house and headed straight to the windows of his bedroom. He opened them and stared out into the night, straight ahead. The night was as it should be. He trusted Michelle to walk alongside Alexandra, just as she had him. The women he loved would help each other through life.
He dialled a number on his phone, holding it to his ear. Clive answered in two rings.
“Yah?”
“Are all my affairs in order?”
“The papers you wanted me to organise for you? I wanted to ask you about that.”
“Are they done?”
“They are prepped, but I need your signature.”
“There’s no time. I’ve sent you recordings of my voice.”
“Dante, what’s going on-?”
“Just do it. Please, Clive…” Dante paused for a moment. “You’ve been good to me and to Lauren. Please look after her and the girls, they’ll need you.”
Dante hung up, not letting Clive respond. How he wished he could call Alex and Michelle. To explain. To apologise. Hell, he wanted to apologise to Melina but she wouldn’t understand. None of them would. This was always his fate. To make the choice no other would make or should have to. With one gesture, one sacrifice, many lives would be freed. He could’ve had a swat team from Sovereign pump Julian full of bullets, but how to be sure he wouldn’t pop out? He could’ve used the beetles to stop his powers and then captured him, keeping him buried like Maria Drakeman for all time. Ensuring Melina would never have to enact the Go Deo. But even Drakeman managed to have an assassin come after Alexandra.
No. This was the only way. Dante had used Julian’s perception of Dante’s weakness against him. Julian would never have dreamed Dante would do this and so fell right into his trap. It hurt him so much to use Melina like this, but he truly couldn’t think of another way to save them. If the planner was dead, no more plans would be made.
He only wished he could’ve seen all three one last time. He closed his eyes and pictured them in his mind, using them as comfort in this moment. Not even the Messengers could take that from him. He crossed his arms continuing to stare out the window. Death was coming for him. Either by the way of a Falcon from the Messengers, or a beautiful redhead. It was only a question of which reached him first.
*
Clive tried to dial Dante’s number again, but it rang out for the second time in a row. Lauren walked into the room behind him. “What’s up?”
Clive stood and slowly paced for a few seconds before replying, “I think you better come with me. Something is up with Dante. He asked me to prep papers for him and he was really weird on the phone. Now he isn’t answering.”
“What kind of papers?”
“Just…weird. He’s paid this apartment off for us. He wants a fund set up for an Amy Batty, so she has access when she turns eighteen. I’ve never heard of this girl. There’s other stuff too that makes a bit more sense, but it’s almost like…”
“Like what?”
“Like he’s written the vampire version of a Last Will and Testament. Like he knows…”
“That he’s gonna die…” Lauren finished.
Chapter Forty-Three
A Step Closer
Michelle knew something was wrong the moment she stepped inside a dark apartment. Not a single light was on, yet she knew Alex was home.
“Alex? Babe?”
She placed her bag on the hallway table and walked slowly till she could see around the corner. Alex sat in full armour against the wall with her knees bent, staring out the balcony window. Trembling hands clutching underneath her thighs. Her face remained impassive yet her cheeks were shining with tears.
“Hun, what’s wrong?”
Alex gave small, wheezing breaths as if a new wave of tears were not far away.
Michelle approached her silently and lowered herself to her knees. Her silence to the question told Michelle what she needed. “How much do you remember?”
Alex’s lips barely moved, blinking and trying to find the words. She sounded drunk, tired. “A shadow…” she started. “I was in a room, no…a hallway, being dragged by my hair into a room. A bedroom. I was flung onto a bed…”
Michelle closed her eyes. If it was this painful to hear, she didn’t want to know what it felt like to say it.
“I can still feel his hands around my throat…” Alex whispered. “He had no face…but I heard it. How happy he was to hurt me. He hated me…I screamed so hard…”
Michelle swallowed. The day she had feared was here. Everything Dominus had done to her…she now knew.
“It came in flashes. Tonight. And then I heard sirens…real sirens. Outside. But
