The blade sank deep. She felt it slide into her. Devon stared at her with his enraged eyes, and she remembered another time. Another place.
When he’d held her back…When he’d stopped her from saving Tomas…When he’d changed all of their lives.
She could see his fury. His jealousy. He’d wanted her for himself, and he was one of those fucking twisted pricks. The kind that thought if he couldn’t have a woman, then no one could.
“He’ll never touch you again.” Spittle flew from Devon’s mouth. “You’ll never have the power you wanted, you’ll—”
A shifter’s claws tore through Devon’s chest. Ripped straight through it as his eyes widened in horror. Even though pain racked her body, Valerie smiled. “I could bring you back…” Her hand lifted. Touched his cheek. “But I fucking won’t.”
Griffin’s claws jerked out of Devon’s body. He fell, blood pumping from him. His body was jerking and twisting.
“H-help me!” Devon’s pain-filled shouts drew everyone’s attention. The leading council elder was dying.
Who would help him?
Valerie glanced down at her body. The knife was still in her. One that had been enchanted by Genevieve so it packed a deadly punch. If she pulled it out…no, not going to think about that right now. She knew what would happen when that knife left her. She’d seen Genevieve use this particular trick on other enemies. As soon as the blade stopped touching her body, Valerie would die.
“Baby?” Griffin reached for her. His claws were gone. His gaze was stark. Scared. His fingertips trailed over her cheek.
She turned her head and pressed a kiss to his hand. “I have to finish him.” Did Griffin understand? It was her kill. Her time.
“Baby, you’re…you’re hurt badly.”
She didn’t want to think about how badly. “It’s okay,” Valerie lied. “If I die, I’ll just bring myself back.” Had he seen the vampire bite her? Did he realize how weak she truly was?
Don’t show weakness. The witches watching wouldn’t respect weakness. Only strength.
Her gaze slid around, searching for—
“Do you need this?” Rio’s voice. Rio—her henchman was right there. He’d shoved through the crowd, and he bent to pick up the torch that Tomas had used to light Valerie on fire.
She took the torch from him. It wasn’t lit any longer, and dammit, she didn’t have enough power to even spark the flame. The first thing a witch learned was how to make fire, and she couldn’t. If she couldn’t make fire, the others would know—
Griffin opened his mouth and let out a breath of fire. The torch burned bright and hot.
She stepped toward Devon. Stumbled. But Griffin was right there. He caught her left arm. Rio took her right. They moved together until she was over Devon’s body.
He glared up at her even as he put a hand to his gaping chest.
“How are you even still alive?” Valerie asked him. “Griffin should have taken your heart.” She swallowed. “Guess you don’t have one.”
“Because…gave it to you…long ago. Only…y-you…”
Seriously? “Guess what? I don’t want it.”
He lunged up at her, but she shoved the torch down. The fire burst over him, taking him away, burning him in an instant until the only thing that remained of him was…ash.
“Was he supposed to burn that fast?” Rio whispered.
She still gripped the torch. Valerie wasn’t sure she could let it go. “I…may have cursed him a long time ago. Made fire his weakness. If he ever got too close…bam.”
Rio cocked his head. “How long ago?”
The day that Tomas had died. Well, his first death, anyway. Since he was a vamp, she knew he’d at least died twice.
“How long have you been planning all of this?” Rio’s eyes were huge, as if he’d just realized that maybe…maybe everything that had happened had all been anticipated by her.
Almost everything had.
She eased out a hard breath. “Since the day my two friends stopped me from saving a human I loved.”
Griffin stiffened.
Griffin was still at her side. Griffin was holding her up. Griffin had given her the fire she needed to destroy Devon. She turned her head and smiled at him. “It’s always…you.”
“Your neck is bleeding.” Griffin’s eyes were on her throat.
“Right. V-vampire bite.”
His stare shot back to her face. “That knife is in you so deeply, baby.”
Too deeply.
“R-remember what I told you…about vamp b-bites?” She was shaking.
Torment. Terror. She could so easily see what Griffin felt as he said, “You’re as strong as a human.”
Right then, yes, she was. She was living only because of sheer damn determination.
Stefan leaped from the crowd. Stood in front of her. “You’re not dying.” His words were a bellow.
Jeez, way not to keep a secret from the witches. From all the eyes that were watching and waiting to see who would come out as the winner in this battle.
“I brought your former henchmen.” Stefan knelt before her. “I’m in your service. The helpless kid you saved when I was just ten years old.”
The kid she’d saved…and the boy who’d helped her to become immune to Medusa venom so that she could fake her paralysis when the time came.
“And I’m in your service.” A tall, golden skinned vampire flashed his fangs as he took his position near Stefan. Like Stefan, the vamp took a knee before her. Magnus. He’d never wanted to become a vampire, and he’d been half-mad from hunger when she found him. She’d helped him, given him her magic blood, made him stronger, and in turn, he’d helped her to eventually turn her blood toxic to vamps. Because Magnus had wanted to fight the bastards who’d made him. She’d been his weapon. Magnus had cut through the worst of the vampire dens, with her help.
“And I still owe you, witch.” A woman with jet black hair, dark mocha skin, and golden eyes appeared near Magnus. Whispers floated in the crowd because the witches could feel the magic pouring from her. A djinn. Ellya.
“It’s been a…long time, Ellya,” Valerie murmured. A murmur was kind of all she could manage.
Ellya didn’t take a knee. The woman had never bowed to anyone or anything.
“A long time?” Ellya’s smile was brilliant. “Yes, I guess it has been a long time…since you pulled a desperate djinn back from death, making her swear that she’d grant you one wish…any wish you wanted.”
Yes.
“You planned this all, didn’t you?” Ellya gave a quick nod. “I admire that. You knew you’d need me to heal you, if things went south in your big battle. Fine, I’ll do it. I’ll—”
“Cut the mating bond.” There. She’d managed to do it. Managed to get out those desperate words.
Shock stiffened Griffin’s body. “What?”
“I’m dying.” She could feel Death clawing at her, from the inside out. “I’ve been dying for a very long time.” A secret she’d kept. Now she made herself stare into Griffin’s brilliant green eyes. Screw the audience watching. It was all over, and only he mattered. “From the first time I tried to trick Death. He’s been trying to get me ever since. That’s why I scream at night. That’s why you see the claw marks that appear on my skin. A price has to be paid for the magic I used.” She could barely talk. Her whole body was ice cold. “I’m the price.”
“No!” Griffin thundered. “You are not dying! You’re staying with me. If this woman can heal you—”
“The wicked ones don’t get…happy endings.” She’d always known that. “But you’re…not like me. You shouldn’t suffer when I’m g-gone.”
“Valerie.”
She only had seconds left. She could feel it. Her head turned toward Ellya, and Valerie could have sworn the djinn had tears in her eyes. Impossible, of course.
Everyone knew the wicked didn’t love. Didn’t care.
But I love. I love Griffin.
“Cut the mating
b-bond.” If she didn’t, Griffin would go mad when Valerie took her last breath. “I wish…to…cut…”
She didn’t get to say anymore. Because the heart that had been struggling so very hard to beat, it just stopped.
When she fell, Griffin was still holding her.
And she could have sworn that she heard Death laugh with delight.
Yeah, bastard. Laugh it up while you can…I’m coming for you.
Chapter Twenty-Five
He caught her as she fell. The knife clattered to the ground. Griffin scooped Valerie into his arms even as he bellowed his pain and anguish. Claws burst from his fingertips. Talon-tipped wings sprang from his back. Flames blew from his mouth—
“He’s losing his mind,” Carmichael yelled. “Cut the mating bond. Cut it!”
Griffin’s head whipped to the right. He saw his brother staring at him with pity in his eyes. Carmichael clutched the hand of the witch, Calliope. How was she alive? And Calliope was crying as she stared at Valerie’s still body.
“My debt will be paid…”
That was the other woman talking. The one Valerie had called Ellya. She lifted her hands into the air. Lightning crackled overhead.
Hell, no.
Griffin put his precious mate on the ground. Then he sprang for the woman who would try to sever their bond. “Don’t even think it.”
Thunder echoed.
“It was…her wish,” Ellya snapped back.
“Screw that. You’re not granting her wish.” He could barely breathe. Pain was splitting him apart. “You’re granting mine.”
“I owe you no debt. I don’t even know you.”
“I’m her mate.” His bones snapped. His muscles bulged. “And if you don’t bring her back…”
“I don’t respond well to threats!”
“I will destroy everything!” Didn’t she see what was happening? He could barely keep his dragon contained. The beast was maddened. Suffering. Wild.
Ellya’s smile was sad. “That’s why she wanted the bond severed. To protect you. To protect everyone.”
“I need her.” There had to be a way. Had to be. He whirled back to Valerie. Her hair had fanned out beneath her. Her skin was too pale. Her body too still.
Devon had done that to her. He’d destroyed the most beautiful creature in the world. The strongest witch to ever walk the earth. The strongest. The most conniving—
His head whipped up. That was it. He just had to think like Valerie.
“I have to grant her wish,” Ellya told him, voice tight. “I’m bound by my debt to her.”
“She just said—the only words Valerie actually said were that she wished for you to cut.” She hadn’t finished her sentence. “So cut the tie—cut her tie to Death.”
Rain fell down on them, erupting from the sky. A soaking wet raven flew down and landed on Griffin’s shoulder. He lifted Valerie back into his arms, his desperate gaze on her face. “She’s been linked to Death since Tomas died. He started it all. She said she felt him die.”
Ellya bit her lower lip. “I’m not sure about—”
“I wish you’d cut her tie to Death! Cut the fucking tie!” It was a dragon’s roar because he could not hold his control any longer. Valerie was gone. Cold and still in his arms. She was gone. And the world was going to suffer. There would be hell. He’d bring the fire and the destruction and—
“I cut her tie!” Ellya screamed.
The rain fell harder. Heavier.
Ellya ran forward, and she pressed her palm to Valerie’s cheek. “I cut her tie with Death!”
A blast of lightning hit Valerie in the chest. Her body jerked. The force of the blast raced through Griffin’s body, separating him from Valerie as it sent him flying back through the air and crashing into a crowd of gawking witches. The raven shot away from him.
Fire ignited from that blast, sweeping over Valerie’s body. Consuming her.
“No!” Griffin heaved toward her.
But the flames had already died away.
Thick smoke filled the air.
Rio coughed.
“Witches burn so fast,” Calliope’s sad voice drifted to them.
Griffin’s shoulders hunched. “Carmichael…lead our people.” Each word was a struggle. “Get everyone else…out of here…”
Madness. The fate he’d always known he’d suffer without his mate. Because of one witch’s curse so long ago. The witch who’d taken his parents. At just thirteen, he’d hunted her down. He’d used the poison on her, poison he now knew was Medusa venom. But before he’d given her the poison, she’d laughed and told him…
“When death takes your mate, you’ll make this world into hell.”
He was in hell. Without Valerie. Without her laugh, without her smile, without her incredible strength. Without her.
He had to get her back. Had to fight Death. Fight the witches. Fight anyone and everything. He’d find a way. He would not lose her. Not when he’d only just gotten her in his life. And he hadn’t appreciated her enough when she’d been there. He wanted to go back, back to that first meeting in the dungeon. He wanted to tell her he’d love her forever. That she’d always be his queen, that she was—
All of the witches had lowered their heads. They weren’t running away. They weren’t whispering or even screaming. Everyone was dead silent.
“Hello, Griffin.”
Shock rolled through him. Because the smoke had cleared away, and his witch stood there. She wore a fiery red dress, and she looked like the best sin in the world. Her dark eyes gleamed at him. A wide smile curved her lips as her dimples winked. “Did you miss me?” The raven on her shoulder let out a triumphant cry.
Griffin bounded toward her. He yanked her into his arms and held her tight.
“Guess what? I don’t think Death liked having me around.” Her arms curled around him. “Because he sent me back to you.”
Griffin kissed her. His mouth slammed down on hers, and he kissed her like the absolutely desperate, delirious man that he was. He kissed her deep. He kissed her softly. He kissed her tenderly. He kissed her.
Valerie. Alive. Warm and soft. In his arms. With her wicked smile. Her dark and dangerous gaze. His mate.
His life.
He put his forehead against hers. “Ellya cut your tie with Death. That was the wish she made.”
“Really? That was possible? Huh. I distinctly remember telling her to cut our bond.”
“Don’t ever pull that shit again.”
Her smile faded. “I did it for you. I didn’t want you to be in pain without me.”
It hadn’t just been pain. It had been hell. “You die, and you take my heart with you.”
Her lower lip trembled. “You can say the sweetest things.”
“I love you.” There. Not sweet. Grim. Primal.
“And I love you.”
Now there were murmurs from the crowd. Gasps of surprise. What? Like the baddest witch to live couldn’t love? She did love. He knew it. He thought she might love more, and deeper, than anyone else.
“You’ve got a kingdom to rule,” he whispered.
“The kingdom can wait.” Her gaze was on him. “Something else is more important.”
“Valerie—”
“You are.” A pause. “But for the record, Ellya didn’t cut my tie with Death.”
Fear clawed into his heart.
Ellya stepped forward frowning.
“You are awesome, Ellya, and I totally consider your debt paid, but I cut the tie. I told that SOB if he didn’t let me come back to you, if he didn’t give me the one man I needed more than anything else, then I would raise every single dead witch in his realm. I’d raise every dead shifter. I’d raise everyone. There would be no line between life and death. There would be no need for grim reapers to carry the souls to the other world. I’d freaking destroy everything.” Her lashes fluttered. “But if he let me go, if he let me be with my mate, then maybe I wouldn’t be quite so bad.”
She’d scared
Death into letting her go?
“You were worth fighting for. We are worth fighting for,” Valerie added.
Hell, yes. Yes.
“Now, though, you have to promise me one thing…”
He’d promise her anything.
“Love me forever?”
“Forever is just the start.” He kissed her again. When the witches cheered, he knew that Valerie had won. She’d be the council elder. She’d rule the witches and the shifters. She’d have everything that she wanted.
And as long as he had her—warm, alive and safe in his arms—Griffin would have everything, too.
His perfect ending. Not exactly a happily ever after.
But a life with Valerie—that life would be wicked and wild. Everything he’d ever wanted. Everything and more.
***
The dungeon was dank and dark, and it was the perfect place to trap an evil witch.
Valerie stalked toward the cell bars. She exhaled slowly and said, “Bet you didn’t think it would end this way.”
Genevieve lunged toward the bars. “Get me out of here!”
“I will, soon enough.” She glanced down at Genevieve’s wrists. “Love the new jewelry. Those bracelets are killer.”
“You put them on me.”
“I did.”
“And only you can take them off!”
“That is how it works.”
Genevieve was panting. “You’ll never take them off.”
“I don’t know. Never is a very long time.” Valerie tapped her chin. “I will say, though, that I don’t plan on removing those lovely bracelets anytime soon.”
Genevieve let out a high-pitched scream of frustration.
Someone was dramatic. Valerie put her hands on her hips. “At least you’re still alive. That’s more than I can say for Devon.”
“He’s the one who put me up to all of this! He was obsessed with you! He was—”
“Devon is gone. You’re still here. Maybe try taking responsibility for your own shit.” She glanced to the cell on the right and to the shifter imprisoned there. “You might want to start by apologizing to Elliott. After all, you did screw with his life.”