Isabelle frowned. “Mother always believed I would fall into darkness. I knew she thought there was something wrong with me. I didn’t know what it was. Now I do. I’m just fulfilling the prophecy. She was right.”
“Did you read the diary? Really read it?”
“Over and over again. That’s how I realized my destiny.”
“No, you didn’t read all of it. Because if you did you would have read the part where Mother said she loved you. She didn’t fear you. She didn’t wish for your destruction or your downfall. She wanted to save you. She. Loved. You.”
Isabelle blinked. Were those tears glistening in her sister’s eyes?
“Mother foresaw the darkness within me.”
Angelique shook her head, refusing to give up. “I’m not buying this. Deep inside I know my sister. You want light, not darkness. Now enough of the dramatics. You want attention. You always have. But not this way.”
Isabelle’s eyes narrowed. “You have no idea what you’re talking about.”
Angelique knew that attacking Isabelle would rile her. It also might snap her out of this. . whatever kind of spell the Sons of Darkness had her under. Fighting with her might just do the trick.
“Don’t I? Knock this off, Izzy, and quit acting like a child. Game over. Let’s go home before you really embarrass our family name.” She jerked Isabelle’s hands, pulling her toward the other hunters.
Isabelle squeezed her hands. It hurt. Angelique gasped at the pressure, the pain, horrified at the transformation on her sister’s face, the pure demonic visage that now appeared before her. Where once stood beauty there was now ugliness, a horrible face, a widening forehead, red eyes, and, as she opened her mouth, dripping fangs.
Angelique wanted to scream, to pull away and run. This was not her sister.
“No. You will come with
Rage and frustration at her inability to reach Isabelle burst within her. She called up strength she didn’t know she had and dug in her heels, burying them in the dirt until Isabelle couldn’t pull at her any longer.
Her sister turned, her gaze one of murderous rage. “Don’t fight me, Angie.”
She jerked back, and it became a superpower tug-of-war, both of them yanking on each other, reaching out to grab at skin and clothing. Angelique didn’t even know where Ryder or the others were. She had completely tuned out the battle behind her. She hoped and prayed he was all right, that the hunters had held their own with the demons.
She intended to win this battle with her sister. She needed there to be hunters still alive to bring Isabelle back to when this was over.
Izzy was strong. So damn strong. Angelique was having a difficult time keeping up with her. She felt the rage within her sister, the sense of fury. And she knew where it came from.
Because she’d chosen a slightly different path from their mother’s and Angelique’s, Isabelle had always felt less than worthy in their mother’s eyes. And Tase had played right into Izzy’s insecurities, calling her his queen.
To Tase, Isabelle was worthy of worship, of his love.
“He doesn’t love you,” Angelique said, digging her own claws into Isabelle’s skin in order to capture her sister’s attention. “He’s using you. The Sons of Darkness aren’t capable of giving you what you need, Isabelle.”
“You’re wrong,” Isabelle said, using her strength to whip Angelique around so her back pressed against Isabelle’s chest. Izzy laid her palm against Angelique’s throat, her long claws so near Angelique’s carotid artery that Angelique stilled, holding her breath, no longer certain whether or not Isabelle would hurt her.
“I am everything to the Sons of Darkness. I am unique, their queen. No one else is like me. I can have whatever I want.”
Would her sister really do this? Good God, had Isabelle really left her?
“Do you need to kill me to prove your loyalty to them?” she asked. “Is that the kind of love you’re looking for, Izzy? You have to kill your sister?”
“I don’t need to kill you, Angelique. Unless you refuse to become one with us. Then you’re of no use. I’d rather see you dead than fighting against us.”
No matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t break the hold Isabelle had on her. Her demon strength was growing, but no match for the darkness within Isabelle.
Angelique had lost.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
Dalton pivoted and fired a silver bullet into the chest of a charging demon, feeling a sense of satisfaction when smoke poured out of the wounds and the demon dematerialized.
He hadn’t yet figured out if those silver bullets killed the new demons, or if they just disappeared to regenerate. That was for the Realm to figure out, not him.
When the smoke cleared, he charged forward, lasering and shooting demons in his wake, until he moved to the front where the line of the Sons of Darkness stood, unmoving, their arms crossed.
In front of the demon Lords was Isabelle, holding Angelique against her chest. Her claws were nearly embedded in Angelique’s throat.
Shit. Not good.
