Chapter 25

TWENTY-FIVE

BASH

Collins and Ellie kept gasping and flinching. Their jaws dropped and faces scrunched up. The crystals Collins had summoned orbited them like an asteroid field. Ellie’s purple flames kept shooting up to the ceiling and popping out of their circle. There were burn marks on Peggy’s ceiling and her couches. The candle flames flickered like someone was blowing on them.

Beneath their closed eyelids, their eyes moved left to right and back again.

Stellan was pacing in the doorway to the kitchen. Behind him, Savina and Maren held on to each other tightly. Peggy had chewed her fingernails off already. Sandra looked so pale she was going to pass out. Nash and Duvall took turns watching from the couch in the other room while treating Jada.

They both jumped.

The front door flew open and slammed into the wall of the house, breaking off the hinges completely. Prince Riven barged into the room with an aura so enraged it was almost solid. His pale-blue eyes were blazing hotter than a fire. Faster than anyone could move, he charged across the room and into their magic circle. Peggy screamed. Maren gasped.

But their magic fled his presence. He grabbed Collins and Ellie by the neck and lifted them off the ground. “GET OUT! ” he bellowed.

Ellie screamed.

“RIVEN!” Collins shrieked. “WAIT!”

But he didn’t wait. He threw both of them across the room like they weighed no more than a pillow. Ellie’s purple flames shot up around his feet. He growled so loud it shook the house. Then he charged for Collins. Everything around me flipped into slow-motion. I saw Stellan use his magic to push Collins farther away from Riven and closer to me. Ellie soared into the kitchen. But Riven was half a step behind Collins and closing in.

I’d never seen rage like the look on his face.

For the first time since I’d ever met Riven, I thought he might actually rip her body to pieces if he got hold of her. I panicked. I knew my magic didn’t work on him, but I found myself throwing it at him with everything I had anyway. At the same time my black smoke hit his face, Savina’s red lightning slammed into his chest. He roared so loud the entire house shook.

Collins was still several feet away from me.

Time had frozen still except for Riven.

He snarled with both fangs, dropped down, and reached for her. His fingers were an inch away from her hair when Nash dove in front of me and tackled Collins, pushing her in the opposite direction from Riven.

There was a split-second flash of light and then Zuriel appeared right in Riven’s path. With both white angel wings spread wide, he braced himself for impact and wrapped his arms around Riven’s waist, lifting the Vampire Prince off the ground. Zuriel pushed off the ground and flew straight out the broken front door, dragging a snarling and screaming Riven with him.

The world fell silent.

We all just stared at the busted front door.

I couldn’t move yet my stomach rolled like it was going to heave its contents onto Peggy’s carpet. We all looked around the room to each other in absolute shock. Snow spilled into the house, dropping the temperature by at least thirty degrees—not that I even noticed. I gagged and bent over with my hands on my knees as I tried not to vomit.

Nashville Vauntero was the first to regain his composure. He stood up and pushed his hair back from his face. “Did that just happen?”

Duvall rushed into the room. “Anyone hurt?”

Sandra stumbled into the room with wide eyes. “I don’t understand . . .”

Ellie groaned and threw herself back on the hardwood floor, covering her face with her hands. Stellan slid to her side just as Peggy raced around them and hurried to the front door. A few flicks of her wand and the front door was back on its hinges and firmly closed. Savina and Maren slowly lowered themselves onto the scorched couch, still holding each other.

Nash cursed. “I’ve never seen him like that. What the hell did you do ?”

“ Collins, ” I whispered her name. “Collins?—”

“I’m okay,” she said between heavy breaths. “I’m here. I’m fine. Oh my God.”

Nash leaned down and helped her to her feet before I could even get myself to move. “What just happened?”

Collins squeezed her eyes shut and shuddered, her whole body trembling. That did it, the hold on my body vanished. I hurried to her, pulling her into my arms while she shook.

I looked up to Nash and shook my head. “Thank you for getting to her when I could not.”

He grimaced. “Vampire speed has its perks. I’ve never moved like that myself. Shit. I gotta tell my parents about that. Do I even want to know what you just did to him?”

Collins groaned. “No.”

I squeezed her tighter and scooped her legs up so I held her in the cradle of my arms, then I carried her over to the couch and sat down with her still in my lap. Her hands trembled but she gripped my body and held on tight.

Nash looked around the room, then nodded. “Ya, I think I’ll go back to Jada. You’ll tell me if I need to know, right?”

We all nodded.

“Cool, cool, cool, cool, cool.” He cursed and shook his head again as he staggered back into the kitchen toward Jada. “Come on, Duey, stay out of that rodeo.”

Duey cringed and scratched the back of his neck. “Peggy, my darling love, do I want to know?”

She wrapped her arms around her waist. “ I don’t want to know that one.”

“Well, there’s a new one for ya.” Duey kissed her forehead, then spun and followed Nash. “I shall focus on Jada unless new injuries present themselves.”

Sandra cleared her throat. “Not to be insensitive, but did it work? Did you get answers?”

Ellie sat up but didn’t get off the floor yet. She leaned into Stellan. “I did not see an answer to our problem, but maybe he pulled us out too soon?”

I cursed. “I should have moved faster?—”

“He was in there .” Ellie grimaced. “With us. In her mind. There was no moving faster.”

I opened my mouth, then closed it.

“Aunt Pegs, I think I’ll take that glass of wine now.”

I glanced over at the sound of Zita’s voice, completely forgetting she was even here in the midst of that chaos. Then her words clicked. I licked my lips and tried to calm my pulse to no success. “I think we could all use a drink right now.”

Maren jumped to her feet. “I can do that. Potions to . . . deal with all of that.”

“I’ll help,” Peggy said softly and raced out of the room after Maren.

Savina cursed. “Man, I can’t even tell if my magic worked on him or not. He could’ve been mad enough to power through the pain.”

“Yeah, let’s call him up and ask.” Stellan ran a hand over his face. “That was mental that was.”

I ran my hands through Collins’ hair. “Are you all right?”

She shuddered. “No, I am not sure I will ever be all right after what I saw?—”

“Ditto,” Ellie groaned. “I have no words.”

Sandra moved to sit beside me and Collins on the couch, so I slid her off my lap into the spot between us. Sandra ran her fingers through Collins’ hair. “Sweetheart?”

“Here, Collins.” Maren was back with a glass of what looked like red wine.

Collins took one look at it and squeezed her eyes shut. “Anything but red wine, please. Please .”

Maren pulled her wand out of her skirt pocket and tapped it on the edge of the glass. Light flashed and then it was a cozy cup of hot chocolate. “Better?”

Collins did a double take, then gave a small smile. “Yes, thank you.”

We all watched as she took the mug and sipped the hot chocolate into her mouth. After about three sips, she finally sighed, and I felt some of the tension leave her body. “That was . . .”

“Full of answers?” Sandra asked with a smirk.

“Yes, but not the one we need.” She frowned. “Unless . . .”

“Unless what?” I tucked her hair behind her ear.

“Venus.”

We all flinched. Ellie’s eyes widened, her mouth making an O shape.

"Venus. Riven might not hate us and be ready to kill us if we give him Venus.”

I frowned. “What for?”

“To kill her.” Collins' gaze was cold and distant. “We may be able to win him back over and get an answer out of him if we let him kill her.”

Stellan scowled. “Feels like a bit of a stretch, no?”

“Not if you saw what we did,” Ellie grumbled.

I sat up straight. “What does that mean?”

“I think Riven loathes Venus with every fiber of his soul and that might actually be the answer MoVaun was sending us to find.” Collins pursed her lips and wrang her hands. “But we need to confirm this theory.”

“Why do you think this?”

“Because of what she did to?—”

“I know it would be for me.” Collins turned and looked up at me and those turquoise eyes sparkled. “It’s Venus. The reason we’ve been fighting and wanting to strangle each other. It’s her. ”

I gasped. “What?”

“I saw it. She manipulates people and their emotions.” She pressed her palm to my chest. “It’s what she’s been doing to us. The lady who crashed into us at Riven’s club? The kiosk girl who triggered both of our jealous streaks. Then Venus herself in Third. I mean, clearly they’ve got a stash of Freaky Friday potions. I saw her doing it in Augustine’s memories.”

My jaw dropped as my breath left me in a rush.

“So, what exactly are you suggesting, mate?”

“I’m suggesting we collect Venus from her imprisonment and bring her to Zuriel to confirm if she’s bound like your mother. We all suspect it’s a lie. When he confirms that, we’ll present Venus to Riven and pray it patches things.”

We all looked around at each other nervously. Only Collins and Ellie seemed confident but they clearly knew more than we did.

I cursed and stood up. “I’m in. What do we have to lose?”

About fifteen minutes later, we were rolling up to the coast with about a hundred massive wolves surrounding us. Holden stood at the edge of the water next to Constantine—who had blood smudged across his knuckles, so I knew he’d had his fun.

He half-turned to look at us. “Everyone alive?”

“For now, yes.” I crossed the distance, then stopped at the edge of the shore to finally catch a glimpse at what my soulmate had done to my sister—and then my breath left me in a rush. “What a sight to behold.”

My sister Venus was surrounded by at least a hundred sirens and a dozen or so members of the Vauntero family, who were only noticeable because they looked identical to each other and opposite of the sirens. I looked to my sister and waited for some form of grief to hit me, but nothing came. Her face was so gnarly from MoVaun’s powder that I could barely stand to look at her.

Didn’t help that I had stolen vials from MoVaun’s in my pocket.

Don’t think about that right now. She wants us to win this too. You’re safe for now.

Collins held on to my arm and nodded. “Thank you for watching her this whole time. We appreciate it more than we have words to express.”

The wolves, sirens, and Vaunteros all nodded and smiled.

“Okay. Pull her out.” Collins gripped my arm tighter. “She’s as secure as she’s gonna get.”

“Is she?” I pursed my lips and watched my sister being lifted out of the water.

Collins flicked her wrist and Venus lifted into the air to reveal green vines coiled around her entire body from shoulders to ankles. Only her neck and face were unwrapped. Even her wings had been tied shut. She glared at me with those pink eyes that were full of hatred and rage. Thankfully, her mouth had been taped shut with some kind of leaf.

“I don’t trust that’ll hold her.”

Collins nodded. “What do you want to do?”

“This.” I reached into my coat pocket and pulled out one of the vials I’d stolen from MoVaun’s place. The blue flames danced in my direction. They twisted and moved as if calling out to me or wanting to bend to my will. There was a pull inside me that made me feel almost connected. I used my teeth to uncap it and I lifted my hand. The flames leapt from the top of the bottle and brushed against my palm. For a moment I expected them to burn but when they didn’t, I felt the cool touch of their power. I turned toward her and threw the bottle at her.

It landed on her torso and as the flames shot from the glass it spread like I’d poured gasoline on her. They grew brighter illuminating the shore in a bright blue light. The onlookers all flinched back and covered their eyes. She screamed but the blue flames moved faster. They swallowed her whole in three seconds. Her body writhed in pain but the flames left a layer of ice in their wake. When they rushed over her head and mouth her eyes were stuck wide open leaving her as a solid block of ice. When they finally stopped spreading, I found she’d been thoroughly frozen with only her pink eyes moving and following me as I hovered over her.

I grinned. “ That. ”

Stellan chuckled. “Wicked. Bloody brilliant, mate.”

Collins nodded and rubbed her hands together. “It’s about time she faced her executioner. Bash, can you carry her?”

“To The Emerald?” The thought of hanging her over to the world’s most vicious vampire shot pleasure through my body. I might not kill her myself but I was sure Riven would make it hurt especially if he hates her as much as Collins said. When she nodded, I smiled down at her.

It was amazing how just finding out why I was so angry with Collins made me less angry with Collins. She was my soulmate and I wanted to spend every moment with her I could. We were supposed to have each other’s backs and now that I knew all our problems stems from my sister we could move forward. We could be us again and that thought alone made me want to fly faster to the Emerald and get this over with. I needed to focus a bit longer, so I cleared my throat and grabbed one of the frozen vines around my sister’s shoulders and lifted her off the ground.

My wings popped out instantly. “I’d like to hold her with both hands. Sandra, can you carry Collins?”

Sandra wrapped her arms around her daughter’s waist and nodded. “Ready.”

Collins looked me in the eyes. “Land on the terrace. They’ll understand.”