Page 65 of Born Free

It takes everything I have to keep myself from bursting out of this cabinet, launching myself over the railing, and raining down on Sebastian with claws and fangs. I want to pummel Sebastian’s stupid face right then. If I were down there, I’d snap, no matter the fact of who is watching.

“And now we see what you really think of Juliet,” Roman says with disgust, shaking his head. “You say you know her better than anyone, but you don’t know her at all if you think status had anything to do with it.”

“Juliet and I wereperfectfor each other!” Sebastian shouts. He grabs a glass off the bar and hurls it across the space to shatter against the far wall. “She was happy, and we were going to have the perfect life together. But you…” Sebastian’s voice quakes with anger.

I truly can’t tell if this is real or an act.

“You never deserved her,” Roman says darkly.

“But Roman De Luca, council member and damn Royal does,” Sebastian says, sealing the deal. “You say you love her. But loveisdoing whatever it takes to protect them. So take a look in the damn mirror. Whose fault is it that she’sdead? Huh?” The words grow louder, shouted in emotional rage. “It wasn’tmybrother who killed the woman we both loved. Her death is on you!”

And the scream nearly rips from my lips when Sebastian draws something from his coat. He drives it downward, and buries a stake in Roman’s chest.

There’s a fraction of a second of utter silence.

Blood stains Roman’s shirt as it seeps around the stake sticking out of his chest.

Roman sucks in a wet gasp that’s choked off with a bubbling gargle.

His body slackens, and then the spark of life disappears from his eyes.

“Choose Roman,” Sebastian says, cutting through the silence.

And then all hell breaks loose.

An unearthly roar fills the entire space as Orlando explodes from the shadows at the exact moment Roman’s body hits the floor.

Orlando collides with Sebastian, the both of them smashing back into a wall. “What have you done? Andres! You filthy bastard, you’ve killed my brother!”

I’ve never heard such manic rage as what I hear in Orlando Badillo’s voice. He shoves Sebastian back, snapping Sebastian’s head against the wall again, buckling the drywall.

“But now you know the truth about him,” Sebastian says with a coy smile pulling on his lips.

Orlando snarls, the sound entirely inhuman. He grips Sebastian by his coat and hurls him across the space like he’s a rag doll. Sebastian hits the ground and slides across the floor on his back.

I’m holding in so many screams.

Adrenaline is burning me through.

Tears are streaming down my face.

Roman is lying there dead.

Sebastian has betrayed us.

And Orlando knows the truth now.

Fear and panic, complete and utter terror have a choke hold on me, keeping me momentarily silent.

An animalistic roar pours out of Orlando. He once called the Badillo family one of war.

I see it on every inch of his enraged expression.

“Choose Roman,” Sebastian says as Orlando leaps through the air, every inch of him the vampire predator he is.

And the world comes to a screeching halt when there’s a hard, wet crunch as Orlando lands on Sebastian. He sucks in a wet gasp, his body curling inward.

“I hope you rot in misery together in hell,” Orlando says, venom dripping from his words as he stands. He brushes his hair back from his face, streaking blood into it.

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