He crossed his arms and tilted his head. “How about this: You wanted your girl, and I want mine. Give me Catina, and I’ll give you the traitors. But I keep my position. Fair is fair, and you should understand wanting what was taken from you.”
I wanted to leap across the table and tear out his throat, but I didn’t need to. Catina had already sprung to her feet. “I am notanyone’sto be given away, you fucking pig.”
Edward grimaced. “I loved you, Catina, which is more than you deserve. Come home and stop this bloodshed.”
Catina laughed, her head falling back until her cropped brown hair tumbled around her shoulders. “Lovedme? You made my life a living hell! Forced me to relive what that monster did to me, night after night in those entertainment rings, while other girls were raped and killed. Forced me totorture peopleto earn my keep!”
Now he stood, hand reaching for the rapier at his hip. His eyes had gone completely black as he threatened to shift. Yet when he spoke, his voice was deadly calm, making every muscle in my body tense. “I saved your miserable life when I found you in the street. I taught you the workings of my house—my people—and you threw it all back in my face. Yet here I am, offering to throw it all away for you. If that isn’t love, Cat darling, then what is?”
Catina’s eyes glistened. She shook her head. “You don’t know what love is, Eddie. You are incapable of such a thing.”
His snarl tore through the air as he shifted. Spikes erupted from his back, shredding his decorated jacket. His lieutenants stood ready beside him, preparing for what was to come. It was as though time frozen, the world holding its breath in anticipation. Then Edward spoke, his voice rough and cold. “Then kill me, Cat, because I will not yield.”
The world sped back up, and my mind didn’t have time to process what was happening. I had to rely on instinct as Edward and his two lieutenants leaped over the table at Catina and me. My mind blanked, my predatory drive taking over in place of rational thought as Xavier plowed into me, throwing me back several paces.
The Javali were fighters, and I barely managed to stay standing as Emiliano rushed to Xavier’s side, battering me toward the back wall. Catina and Edward circled each other. His rapier was unsheathed, poised at his side, while she gripped her daggers, waiting for the lunge of a beast. That cold mask had slipped from Edward’s face, leaving only the darkness and evil within.
“All this bloodshed for that general, Cat? After all I’ve done for you?” he snarled.
“You know nothing,” she hissed.
A sudden kiss of pain blossomed across my cheek, drawing my attention back to my attackers. Xavier had raked his talons down my face, cutting through flesh and spraying blood. I hurled myself into him, crashing into the table where we had just been seated, its legs collapsing with a loud crunch. I managed one good punch to his face before he reeled backward and got to his feet. I scrambled up after him, only to find Javali members encircling me. The house had flooded with a sea of sun-kissed skin and weathered faces, all ready for the kill.
Desperately, I searched the room for Catina, finding her locked in a bloody brawl with Edward, their blades slicing both vampires to ribbons. Her eyes still blazed with hatred and fire, but she was covered in cuts and was losing blood. Panic crept in. We needed to escape before we were overwhelmed. I looked back at the horde of vampires advancing on us, unsheathing my karambits as I unleashed darkness upon them all.
Chapter 45
ESTRELLA
Ipaced the outskirts of the camp, as close to the wall surrounding Molvon as Sorin would allow. I was still furious that Roman had the audacity to ask me to stay behind—and that I had actually agreed. We hadn’t even spent a full day together before we were swept into this war, and now he was deep in enemy territory without me. The thought of never seeing him again gnawed at me; we hadn’t had enough time.
“You’re kicking up dust,” Sorin grumbled from his perch atop a wyne barrel, a scuffed canvas tent blending into the parched landscape behind him.
I stopped and glared at him. It wasn’t fair to take my anger out on him, but I was furious, and he was here. “Why didn’t you go with them? You should be watching their backs right now,” I snapped.
“Because Roman asked me to stay behind to protect you, sweetheart,” Sorin retorted.
Incredulity washed over me. “He didwhat?”
“You thought he’d just let you stay with the Fjällräv army unprotected? Don’t be ridiculous.”
I was about to tell him exactly who was being ridiculous when a thundering echo sounded, shaking the ground beneath our feet. Ispun toward the sandstone wall at my back, hardly registering Sorin leaping to my side. A flock of birds took flight from the center of the city, their panicked cries mirroring the rapid beat of my heart. “Something happened,” I breathed.
“You don’t know that—” A deep rumble echoed once more, followed by the distinctive crunch of stone and timber. A plume of dust shot up like smoke, accompanied by a blood-curdling roar.
“Shit,” Sorin murmured, but I barely heard him. Panic surged within me, driving me toward the wall that stood between me and Roman. If he died before we had a real chance together, I’d never forgive him—or myself. My fingers brushed the dagger strapped to my thigh over the linen pants he had given me, the loose fabric pooling around the sheath. It wouldn’t end like this. He wouldn’t die while I stood by helplessly. I refused to be useless this time.
My stride shifted from a steady jaunt to a full-blown sprint. Around me, shouts erupted; Ylva was barking orders at her troops to prepare for a siege. Apparently, she came to the same conclusion I had—Edward had ignored the white flag, and our tsar was in danger. Within a breath, soldiers armed to the teeth raced past me like a pack of wolves homing in on their prey.
Sorin was at my side in an instant. “What the hell do you think you’re doing?”
“Roman and Catina are in trouble,” I responded, not bothering to look at him.
He cut in front of me, halting me in my tracks. I screamed and slammed my fists into his narrow chest. He was so slight I almost thought I could push him aside, but he remained an annoyingly steadfast barrier.
“MOVE!” I shouted.
“Pretty sure Roman would want me to stay right here.What are you trying to prove, sweetheart? You’ll get eaten alive.”
