Chapter Twenty-One
As I walked away, my legs numb, my heart gone, Svana and Viktor took their places on either side of me, not speaking. I saw Stella and Harmon limping toward us, holding each other up. They were both battered and bloody.
“You’re a vampire?” Stella asked, her voice dismayed and accusatory. “How? You shifted into a wolf with us. You hunted with us.”
“I’m both,” I said, a tear leaking down my cheek though I’d thought I couldn’t cry any more. “I’m so sorry. I didn’t know… I had no idea they’d come here. I didn’t know they were following me. But I’m leaving now. I know I can never make up for what I did, for bringing death to your peaceful valley. But I won’t come back. I’m so sorry.” I choked back a sob and walked away before they could tell me what I already knew—that their blood, all this blood, was on my hands.
I saw the crumpled form of a girl, her bare back pale and her hair spilling forward over her face as she sat over a wolf, keening softly. As we passed, I realized who it was. Brooklyn sat mourning the mate she’d been told she’d never have, the mate she’d found only the day before, now lost forever.
In that moment, my resolve returned. I would not live under this evil. I would not be part of a people who wanted to annihilate an entire species, who wanted to enslave humanity. I had chosen to take Mr. Ravenwood’s blood, to continue living. But if this was the price I paid for that choice, it was too high. I had made the choice to live on when he’d tried to kill me. Now, I could make the choice to stop, to refuse to be a tool in his arsenal. It was my life to end.
As we left the clearing, leaving the wolves and shifters and witches who had taken us in and welcomed us, only to be repaid with bloodshed and death, a crackle of magic swept over me. We had passed through the wards, the spells that hid the valley from us. I knew that if I turned back, I would still remember where it started and how to get back, though no one else would. They would be sure it was in another direction, and they’d walk through the woods confused and lost. But they had me, and I could lead them back. They would force me to go back until every wolf was gone, and then what? Would it stop there, or would the vampires decide that shifters were also a threat? What about the other supernaturals?
Ahead, I saw a small group of vampires. I felt strong and calm. I reached up and broke a sturdy, thin limb from a tree as we passed. I would end Mr. Ravenwood, or I would end myself. I wouldn’t participate in the demise of the wolves or anyone else.
Mr. Ravenwood stepped forward, a haughty, amused smirk on his face. “And what is that for, little lamb?” he asked. “Do you think you’re going to kill me?”
Hell, yes, I did.
“Go on then,” he said, spreading his arms wide and leaving his heart unguarded. “Try it.”
I clutched the splintered wood in my grip so tight I could feel it creaking. Swallowing hard, I stepped forward. Hatred like I’d never felt before burned through my blood, through my limbs. It wasn’t rage. Rage was wild and chaotic. This was cold and deadly.
I didn’t stop until I was right in front of him. I stared into his eyes, and I knew my own gaze was as pitiless and inhuman as his. I might have chosen to drink his blood, to become like him, but I hadn’t chosen to be this monster. He had made me that way.
I raised the branch, ready to drive the stake into his cold, dead heart. But I couldn’t. As much as every impulse in my body, every thought in my head, every desire in my heart wanted this, instinct refused to let me. I stood frozen, my body refusing to obey my mind. I was bound to this asshole for all of eternity.
“Just as I can always find my flock, my flock must always protect its shepherd,” he said with a chuckle, dropping his arms to his sides.
“That’s bullshit,” I said. “Sheep don’t protect their shepherd. You’re supposed to protect your flock, not send them to die fighting wolves while you hide back here in the woods like the cockroach you are.”
“Such harsh words,” he mocked. “I’m hurt. Truly hurt.”
“Fine, so I can’t kill you,” I said, gripping the branch with impotent rage, my hands shaking with it. The coldness in my heart was gone, replaced with a blaze of fury so hot it nearly choked me. “But my compulsion to protect you ends with that. You can’t compel me to do your bidding like some sick puppet. I still have my own will. So know this. I will never be your weapon. I won’t help you destroy anyone.”
“You know, I thought you might say that,” Mr. Ravenwood said. “I’m a smart man, Timberlyn. So I thought to myself, what could I give you that would make you change your mind?”
He turned to the group of vampires behind him and snapped his fingers. “Bring the girl.”
My heart stuttered in my chest when I saw them begin to lower a cage from the trees above. Had they saved Amy? Caught Brooklyn? The only other girl I cared that much about was Svana, and she was standing right beside me.
As the cage lowered,
