Page 78 of Midnight Queen

“I aim to please,” Lucy spits at her.The skinny guard cuts the zip ties off Lucy’s wrists., and motions for her to stand from the chair. Once she’s free, she pushes at his boney hands. “Get the fuck away from me,Skeletor.”

I don’t know what Rowena’s grand plan is, but it makes me uneasy that she’d so willingly allow Lucy to be free.

Rubbing her wrist, Lucy shifts closer to me.

Standing from the stage, Rowena begins to weave through the small tables placed about the room. “You’re here because Quincey had to come in andfuckeverything up. You see, I had a plan. I was patient foreightyyears. I bided my time, but then he met you, Quincey, and you destroyed all of that hard work.”

“So, that’s what all this comes down to? A fucking cliché? You didn’t get the boy, so you lost your ever-loving mind over it?” I knew she wanted Silas, but I didn’t think she’d go through such drastic extremes over it. “Rowena, I have to believe that you’re above such juvenile behavior.”

“It’s not about a boy!” she shrieks, sounding almost witchlike. Which, given the current vibe of the room, is fitting. “That’s what makes you so wrong for him. You’re with him because youlovehim. Love is a useless emotion that will only get in your way and hinder you.” She paces between two tables like she’s too restless to stand still. “I have no interest in love. Only power. Specifically, the kind of power Silas could have granted me. All he had to do was see me and see how good we are together, but no.” Her eyes lock on me like a predator looking at its prey. “All he sees is you. All he wants isyou. A pathetic, weak human.”

As she paces, I continue to move my body so that I remain a barrier between Lucy and her. I’m now sure exactly how I will stop Rowena if she lunges for my friend, but I know I will do whatever it takes for Lucy to walk out of here.

“You think he will have any interest in you if you kill me?” I question.“Killing me would automatically enroll you into a life of torture.” I won’t be here to act as his moral compass. If I thought what he was doing to the man whofailedat killing me was bad, I can’t imagine what he’d do to the woman who succeeds at killing me.

Rowena lets out a loud cackle-like laugh. “Silly girl, I no longer care if he willingly hands me the power. I’m well past that. Like I said, I’m done waiting. I’m taking what I want.” From the pocket of her skirt, she pulls out an ornate dagger. The green gems that are embedded in the hilt reflect in the soft light of the room. “But I’m going to destroy him on my climb to the top. I’ve already started by wounding Silas’s businesses, but the final nail in the coffin will be when I take you from him. That will surely wreck him. I mean, honestly, who will want to listen to him when he’s an emotional wreck over a worthless human? I warned him that he was embarrassing himself by being with you.”

I think of all the humans that died because Rowena didn’t get her way. Each one of those deaths was so pointless. I watch the news reports about the bus explosions after I was told about it. The footage was devastating. The same anger I felt watching it is the same anger that flares up inside me now.

“I think your behavior right now is embarrassing, Rowena.” I never take my eyes off the dagger she wields. “What will happen when word of what you’ve done gets out? You think the other vampires will respect you enough to follow you?”

Her lips pull back in a sneer. “You seem to be under the impression that I plan on leaving witnesses.” Her green eyes lock on Lucy. “They will believe whatever tale I decide to spin them.”

“They’ll see through your lies,” I warn her. “They will smell the crazy on you and they will—”

My threat dies on my lips when the back of her hand connects with my face with so much force it sends me flying backward.

I land on my side on the unforgiving tile floor and skid through several feet of spilled blood. Dazed and concussed from the blow to my face, it takes me a second to pull myself back into a sitting position.

With slightly blurry eyes, I look up at Lucy and my heart turns to ice when I find her being held in place by Rowena’s guard. She’s fighting him, her body thrashing harshly against his to get free, but it’s no use. She will never be strong enough to break free.

Rowena gleams at me as she stalks toward Lucy with her dagger held up. “I told you I’d make you watch them all die,” she sneers.

I know what she’s going to do and because of it, my world slows to a crawl.

My blood rushes in my hears so loud it’s deafening and adrenaline shoots through my veins, giving me the strength and speed I need.

I don’t think twice about my next moves. Even if there was time to thoroughly examine each of my choices, I would make the same decision.Every timeI would choose this.

Silas calls me recklessly fearless, and I guess in this instance he’s right. I don’t feel a single drop of fear as I race toward them.

“Quincey!” I hear Lucy scream, but it’s too late.

Acting as her shield, I throw myself in front of Lucy at the same time Rowena’s blade thrusts forward.

I’m still not sure if I believe in fate, but if it does exist, I think I’m okay with this being mine.

My entire life has revolved around saving people. It only makes sense that it would end that way too. If dying is the price I must pay to save the life of someone I love, I will do it without fear in my heart and a smile on my face.

“Duke?”

“Silas, something is really wrong.”

One phone call and five words. That’s all it took for my world to come crashing down.Again.

She’s missing.Again.

And this time she wasn’t taken, she left voluntarily.

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