"No need to finish that thought, my queen. Your point has been successfully made and if I have any control over it, you will still be able to—"
A guttural roar sounds ahead of us, a roar of straight up anguish and despair, one so loud the walls on either side of us crumble a little.
We start running, run as fast as my short little legs will carry me and when another roar is followed by so much screeching I have to cover my ears, I run faster.
Only to have my heart stop the minute the tunnel spits us out into a huge cavern.
There are still dozens of vampires inside, hideous looking creatures with long, talon-like fingers, sickly bodies and faces twisted in deranged masks of blind anger and bloodlust.
And in the center, on some kind of pedestal or platform, is Nero looking far more terrifying, far more demented than I remember, hovering over a pile of his minions of death.
Terror grips my chest, takes root so deep that it physically hurts, and sends my mind into complete panic when I don't see Havok.
"Where is he?" I whisper, grabbing onto Zan so I don't keel over. "Where is Havok? Where is—"
One final roar accompanies an explosion of body parts, the once-living shrapnel sent flying through the air from the pile at Nero’s feet.
He stumbles backward, the sick and satisfied smile on his face turning into a look of fear.
Havok, my mate, my everything, stands amongst the mostly lifeless remains. His eyes are crazed, body poised for a fight, and his clothing is torn to expose hundreds of bite marks all dripping with what I smell to be Havok's blood.
"Oh no..." I whisper. "Oh no, Zan, Zan he's going to—"
"Cora, to your left!"
Zan practically throws me out of the way as several nasty New Ones run at us, but they don't get too far. Not only is Zan draining the life from them, sucking their vitality right from the source, but they also shield their eyes, crouch and shrink backwards when they try to approach me.
Ok cool.
I guess the fact that I'm still glowing is going to work in my favor.
"Go!" Zan yells just as Havok's eyes snap to mine. "Go to him now! I will hold them off the best I can, but go now!"
So I nod, shoot Zan my bestthank you, I really do love you and will make sure you get all the banana and honey sandwiches when we get homesmile, then run down into the pit toward the platform.
The New Ones that were climbing toward my mate stop abruptly, sniff the air then spin toward me, attempting to change directions, but each time they get close they start to blister and scream in pain.
Havok growls, growls low and menacing, and when more New Ones change course he lifts his hands, flicks his wrists, and sends them all flying back against the walls of the mine.
My lovey is obviously channeling all of his powers right now and I'm not sure if that should be a relief or cause for concern.
But then I hear a voice that haunts my dreams.
"It appears as though I was correct in assuming you were the light to my grandson's darkness," Nero hisses as a few of his cretins jump on Havok. "I was merely unaware of how literal that truly was… fae.”
I slide down into the pit, use my hand for guidance, my ass for support, and when I finally reach the bottom I look up in time for my mate to shake off the last of the vampires attempting to hold him back, then watch in complete horror at what happens next.
Havok looks at me for a beat and my chest floods with so much love, so much fucking love that my eyes well with tears, but just as quickly it's replaced by guilt, by remorse and a silent plea for forgiveness.
Then he moves, moves faster than my eyes can track.
Havok lunges toward Nero, grabs him by the throat and starts to squeeze.
"This is for my Cora," he growls right before he rips his grandfather’s throat out, tears it wide open while his shriek dies in the air.
Havok's essence, that beautiful warm white light begins to swirl black and that's when I see it. I don't know how I didn't before but that's when I see the two little blips in his essence.
Two barely defined patches of color in his gorgeous light.
