Page 68 of Born Chaos

I surge off the floor with a gasp, oxygen flooding my lungs.

“Holyshit!”

My eyes slide over to see Sebastian’s shocked expression. He’s chalk white. And he blinks at me like I’m the ghost he’s just seen.

Oh. Damn. Somehow, I just died again.

“How… how?” he stammers for words. “You were dead. And Roman, he was dead.”

I look to my side and find Roman there, barely propped up on one elbow. But he’s not dead. How is he not dead? Iknowhe was just dead.

But he glowers at Sebastian, holding a hand to his chest where Sebastian just staked him. “You’re going to answer for this.”

“How…” Sebastian stammers again.

“What’s…” I try to find words. Everything is moving too fast and my brain can’t make sense of what just happened. “Roman, what just happened?”

“I’m not sure,” he answers, his eyes sliding back over to Sebastian. “But this one was different. You were only out for five minutes. Probably less.”

What? Just… what? How?

“You shut your mouth,” Sebastian hisses at Roman, taking one aggressive step toward him. “Don’t you speak another word.”

And here it is. The full fulfillment of Archer’s prophesy. Because as I climb to my feet, as I stare Sebastian down, it’s hate now. After all he’s done, he just took it farther by trying to kill Roman.

“How could you do this, Sebastian?” I ask in a disgusted whisper. I climb to my feet. It feels like there’s a weight growing inside me. It feels vengeful, angry, deadly. “To Tabitha. To Elena. To Warren and Sigrid.”

“What are you talking about?” he sneers. “Juliet, I never said I was all black or white, but you can’t just go throwing accusations around.”

“There’s a difference between being broken but trying, and spiraling all the way into the dark,” I say as I step forward. “We all make bad decisions. But this isn’t one of those things you come back from, Sebastian.”

“Juliet,” he says, ignoring what I’m saying. “How are you alive? How is Roman alive?”

I take another step forward. “You’ve lost your damn mind,” I hiss. Sebastian’s eyes fall to my chest. What he sees there, I don’t know, but it draws even more confusion and disbelief into Sebastian’s eyes. “You can try to claim you did it all for love, but this is nothing but possession.”

“Don’t say that,” he growls, his eyes darkening. “Everything I have done has been to keep you safe, to give you the life you deserve.”

“That isn’t up to anyone but me, to determine what kind of life I deserve!” I bellow. I take another step forward, sending Sebastian a step back. “And you hurt so many others in the process. I found your research,” I say, my tone dropping in volume. “Iknowit was you.”

Sebastian’s expression slackens just a bit.

“Juliet,” Roman warns from behind, but I can’t stop now that I’ve started.

“I know you’re the reason all those vampires are in a coma, why Sigrid and all the others can’t access their gifts.”

“Before you point fingers in only one direction, I’ll point out this,” Sebastian says, his tone hardening. “You’ve lied to me again.” The change in his demeanor is almost like a physical thing. Like I can see him turning the tables. “You never needed a necromancer to bring you back from the dead, did you? I did what I did with Markus for you. You could have told me, but you didn’t.”

My blood chills.

Because I know I’m not innocent.

“You never told me how you and Sigrid became so close,” Sebastian continues. “Seems she isn’t always honest either. Seems she has more gifts than we ever knew. How did she do it?”

I cock my head to the side. Huh. Well, he’s figured a tiny bit of it out. But he’s far, far off base with most of his assumptions.

“Juliet,” Roman warns again. But I hold a hand out at him, a message that I can do this myself.

“What’s the antidote, Sebastian?” I ask, my tone demanding. “How do I wake the vampires up? How do the gifted get access to their gifts back?”

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