Page 90 of Claim the Twilight
“You’re fucking delusional,” Ordell growled.
The robed vampire made a break for the exit, but Sin grabbed him by the back of his robe and threw him to the ground. “Stay down.”
“Leave him alone!” someone from the pews cried out.
“Looks like we found our faith warriors,” Nyx said, striding to the main doors to close them.
“What are you doing?” Willa demanded, her eyes lighting with the first inkling of fear.
“Detaining you all until we figure out how to remove Loviator’s mark from your body.”
She smirked smugly. “That’s impossible.”
My heart sank. “I’m sorry to hear that.”
Her brow creased as she studied my face. “What?”
“Because now we will have to kill you,” Sin said bluntly.
Willa blinked sharply, then let out a bark of laughter. “I’d like to see you try.”
Anger flared in my chest, and I made a grab for her, only to be cut off by a gust of icy air. I staggered back a step, blinking moisture from my eyes to find a spectral figure standing between me and my target.
Her ballgown was stained and torn, her heart-shaped face smeared with dirt and blood. “Remember me?” she crooned.
How could I forget the specter that had attacked Ezekiel and me on our way to Dracmore Castle for the summit a few months ago?
Emilie was one of Ezekiel’s many victims. She’d been hellbent on revenge, and now she was here, along with her specter buddies. My gaze dropped to her chest, to the mark that glowed there—a weird symbol that looked like a capital R withlines coming off it. A silver thread extended from it to connect to Willa.
In fact, every specter around us was marked in the same way, and some were connected to the humans in the room.
“Emilie…What are you doing here? What’s going on?” The specters were marked by Loviator and bound to these humans, but why?
“You’re smart enough to figure it out, I’m sure,” Emilie said, her form rippling to wash away the evidence of Ezekiel’s attack, leaving her in an immaculate ballgown with neatly styled hair. She clasped her hands in front of her waist. “I see you broke the bastard’s curse.”
“I did, but what I want to know is what you’re doing here. Why are you helping Loviator?”
“You know why. Come on,Little Silver,” she mocked, her mouth twisting bitterly. “Think. What do the restless dead want,hmmm?”
Peace came to mind, but it didn’t fit Emilie. No. There was only one thing that would appease her. A chance at life. “Whatever she promised you, it’s a lie. She can’t resurrect you. You know that.”
Emilie smiled sweetly. “Resurrect? No. But she can give us new life.” She glanced over her shoulder at Willa. “In a new body.”
I looked to Willa to find her peering up at Emilie as if she was the goddess herself.
“Hey!” Nyx snapped her fingers to get Willa’s attention. “You do realize what she’s saying, right? She’s going to take your body.”
Willa nodded. “An honorable end.”
“Willa is marked for justice,” Emilie said. “Her path is dark. This way, she will be absolved and freed. Her soul cleansed.”
Around us, the other humans began to murmur in agreement.
Nyx moved lightning-fast to grab a nearby man, her blade at his throat. The man let out a yelp. “In that case, we kill the humans and sever the connection.”
Emilie shrugged. “The human is irrelevant. Loviator will gift us new humans. It is our power that fuels her.” Her eyes glowed white. “We have faith, and we worship her.”
Nyx dropped her blade and shoved the guy away from her. “Fuck, did you just pee yourself?”
