Page 55 of A Throne of Blood & Vengeance

“I’d offer to make you a list of all the ways you fail to measure up to Kieran, but it’s too lengthy, and you’re not going to live long enough to read it.”

Demetri gave me a patronizing look. “I broughtfortyrangers with me.” He gestured at the trees surrounding us. “Right now, the rest of them are killing whoever helped you break out—I’m guessing your pretty courtier and that surly advisor. I’ve only tolerated your pathetic attempt at stalling because I was hoping they would drag the broken bodies of your lovers out in front of you, but it seems they’ve abandoned you. No matter. My rangers still have orders to kill them.”

Two bloodred ropes slowly slid from the trees above the heads of the rangers standing on either side of Demetri. Thanks to the thick foliage, nobody seemed to notice but me. A feral smile spilt across my lips.

“You want me?” I bared my teeth. “Come and get me.”

Demetri narrowed his eyes, but like the coward he was, he didn’t take a step forward. “Get her. Make sure she’s tied up good for the journey back to House Laurent. I don’t want to hear another fucking word out of that mouth.”

Four rangers stepped forward with their weapons bared and a swirl of two different colors in their eyes as their bloodlust rose. These ones were clearly excited about the idea of hurting me, a cruelty that had been allowed to fester at House Laurent.

That would fucking end now.

The ropes that had been slithering their way through the branches shot forward and wrapped around the necks of two of the rangers moving to apprehend me before yanking them up into the trees. The other two rangers barely had a second to cry out in alarm before they dropped to their knees, screaming, courtesy of my daggers now protruding from their right eye sockets.

Demetri and the other rangers stood frozen in shock.

That was another difference between them and the House Harker rangers; Vail’s people would have never hesitated.

I tugged on the magic connecting me to my daggers, and they ripped free of the rangers’ eyes and flew back into my hands. Both rangers let out twin shrieks of pain before scrambling back as two bodies thudded to the ground, their throats slit and bodies disemboweled.

The two rangers with eye wounds were cut down by Alaric and Kieran as they leapt down from above us.

Roth’s family melted out of the surrounding forest and cut through the remaining rangers like they were out on a morningstroll. A few Laurent rangers tried to flee once they saw that the Devereux clan was here, but their retreat was thwarted by Nyx, Adrienne, and Emil, who took care of them with ease.

Demetri stood frozen in the center of the chaos as his rangers were slaughtered. The undead hounds didn’t react at all to the bloodbath around them either. They just stood perfectly still like statues. I got the sense that my earth magic didn’t like their presence.

Things that were dead should stay dead.

I stalked towards Demetri, and whatever he saw in my face seemed to snap him out of it because he held up his hands and started backing up. “Samara, wait! We can negotiate a dea?—”

Warm blood sprayed across my rain-soaked face as I slammed one dagger into his throat and the other into his groin. Demetri’s hands weakly clawed at one of my wrists, but dark red ropes appeared and brutally pulled them away as he gurgled and I ripped my blades away.

The broken scream he released was music to my ears as he fell to the forest floor. Moroi were tough to kill—it was a blessing and a curse.

I watched as my former husband tried to crawl away from me, a cold satisfaction filling me. Kieran and Alaric appeared at my sides, the rain doing its best to wash the blood off their clothes. I sheathed my daggers and held a hand out, then Kieran placed his sword in my hand, and the two of them kissed me on the cheek before stepping back.

Around me, Roth’s brothers were gleefully hacking off heads to ensure all the Laurent rangers wouldn’t heal and come after us.

Demetri’s fingers moved feebly as he drew a healing glyph on his neck, but he stopped when I closed the distance between us and slammed my foot into his ribs. He let out a strangled screamas he flipped onto his back. Blood soaked his shirt and pants, and his usually tan skin was pale.

“Deal,” he rasped. “Make . . . deal.”

“Oh Demetri,” I purred. “The only thing I want from you is to bleed out at my feet.” Then I swung the blade, and his scream abruptly ended as his head rolled off his shoulders. “And I can handle that just fine on my own, asshole.”

Chapter Fourteen

Samara

“Thanks, love,”I told Kieran when I tossed him back his sword.

“No problem, sweetheart.” He flicked the blade to the side to get some of the blood off before resheathing it across his back.

“What should we do about that?” Alaric pointed at the three statue-like howlers as he sauntered over and crouched down to wipe his blade clean on the bottom corner of Demetri’s pants.

The three of us slowly approached the howlers, who didn’t react to our presence at all.

“That’s creepy,” Desmond said as he moved closer to Roth.

---