Page 128 of Cruelest Kiss and Fairest Blood
Cassius is dead.
Relief cuts through the smallest edge of my anxiety. Angel did his job. Lenore is safe. Now I just have to do mine.
Using the monster itself, I grip it by the haunches, trying to ignore the way my fingers burrow into the faces and bodies of its victims. If there were a way to free them before I banished the monster, I would. There’s nothing I can do for them. My shadows help, lifting it off the ground and hauling it toward the mirror. Swinging the creature with all my strength, fighting until it feels like my shoulders have torn free from their sockets, I fling him. The mirror monster’s hard, exposed skull crashes into the glass and the whole thing cracks.
Catreena’s scream pierces my ears. The monster is sucked inside the mirror, body disappearing into the darkness. Glass rains down around it. Every piece disintegrates as it hits the floor. The jagged shards become piles of glittering silver dust. The mirror itself shrinks down, becoming a small two-foot oval. It falls from the wall, hitting the ground with a percussive clatter.
I did it. The sounds of Catreena’s whimpering fuels my victory. Darkness lashes out, tying the dark queen and covering her face once more. She barely fights me.
“Are you harmed, Beast?” The scent of blood surrounding the Beast tells me he’s sustained some sort of injury.
“Nothing I won’t heal from with time. I am more than fucking ready to be out of this fur.”
“But this is such a good look on you.”
His glare is sharper than the shattered mirror. I understand his fears. It’s time for him to go home.
My hand buries into his shoulder. “Let yourself back out.”
Magic drips down every syllable. Renard would be perfectly capable of transforming on his own if he weren’t so riled up. With a small hint of coercion, the shift sweeps through him.
Fur shifts to knotted muscle beneath my fingers. Horns give way to golden hair. He and Catreena could almost have been related. They both possess looks that don’t quite fit with this world. The glow of magic gifted them both an angelic beauty, though neither is an angel in any sense of the word.
“Now that I’m human”—Renard quirks an eyebrow at me—“and naked, maybe you could let go of me. Return me to my bed where I might make use of these lack of clothes.”
“I thought you had a thing for powerful men.”
Renard chuckles. “I enjoyed fighting with you, but blonds aren’t my type.”
Grinning, I slap him on the shoulder. I’ve seen his type.Types, I should say. The brown-haired flower and the black-haired hunter. After snatching him from their sights, they’ll be all too eager for his return. “Let’s get you home.”
Renard glances toward the mirror. “Is it dead?”
“No. But it’s gone.” The mirror lies dormant. Not a flicker of energy pulses around it.
“Will it be stepping through any other mirrors anytime soon?” He’s thinking of home. Renard’s cursed mirror is imbued with its own magic.
“Your castle is safe. Catreena summoned it to our world. Without her, it has no way back.”
“But she’s still alive?” He looks to where she’s quietly sobbing in a heap of shadows.
A grin splits my features. “Still alive, yes. But not a resident of the mortal realm for much longer.”
Chapter 38
Harrow
My wings sweep outward, flitting with joy when I’ve finished with Catreena. I held my word. Drusinnia was thrilled. She won’t be collecting a damned thing from me or my kingdom ever again. Renard has been ferried back to his kingdom where a joyous and highly carnal reunion is likely unfolding. There’s a lightness in me. As if I were flying even though my feet are planted on the ground. My walk to the courtyard is one filled with satisfaction and excitement for the future.
The sound of flapping draws my gaze down the path. Mytha shifts, her voice sharp. I’m by her side in an instant. “What has happened?”
Her Serpien body takes shape as I scoop her into my arms. She’s covered in bruises and open wounds. “I tried to fly to you. Lenore needsss you. Courtyard.”
“You must return to the Underworld at once and heal,” I command. Mytha nods, turning to smoke in my arms. She’ll heal faster once she’s back in our domain.
I don’t waste a moment more. Shadowing forward, I manifest on the edge of the courtyard. Remnants of a fight to the death appear all around me. I should have hurried here. I was too confident in her safety. The stones have been sprayed in blood. The pattern spreads across the courtyard as far as I can see. Angel’s doing, no doubt. He loves to make a spectacle of his kills.
Aside from the bloodstains and bits of flesh, the courtyard is empty.Where is my lost Lenore?
