Chapter 23

“How did you get in?” My voice warbled with the only phrase I could muster. Worlds collided with her presence, and the past me—the one who had admired and loved her—poked through briefly. But that me could no longer exist. Rita used to be the one person I would have done anything for, but she’d ruined it with her greed and lies.

“Did you forget I used to live here?” Dark shadows hollowed her face, and her eyes darted side to side.

“No.” I couldn’t articulate any more as I focused on the ax in her hands. “What are you?—”

“You ruined everything.”

I already knew she believed this of me. I’d faced it, but I couldn’t deny the sting on my heart. “So you’ve mentioned.”

Fortunately, the guys weren’t in here because they would have taken her down in an instant.

She dashed at me so fast, I didn’t have time to move out of the way as she swung the ax at my throat. The force of the blade caused me to stumble back, and I dropped to my knees, bringing the embedded ax with me. Agony rippled through my neck and spread over my skin like crawling ants.

Rita’s mouth pressed into a thin line, eyes unrecognizable. No one was home. She’d lost it.

I couldn’t reconcile this person in front of me with the girl I’d grown up with.

Rita wiggled the ax in my throat and blood filled my mouth, trickling from the corner of my lips. Pinpricks traveled over my face.

I was in shock.

Rita jerked the blade out with a wet spray of blood. I blinked at the black droplets sprinkling the ground and coating the metal. All that came from me?

A ringing echoed in my ears, and I touched the damp gash on my throat. Pulling my hand away, I gawked at the black painting my skin. Blood dripped to the ground and drenched the front of my shirt, but as much as it stung, a slight tickle accompanied the pain.

Her chest inflated and deflated in an uneven pattern.

Despite everything, how could she come at me so heartlessly?

Her arms flexed, putting strength behind her weapon. Her brows furrowed, her mouth pulling into a sneer. Resolve tightened the corner of her eyes, and the blade reflected the bedroom light as it once again arched toward me.

Before it sliced into me, it thudded into a large body that rushed in front of me. I blinked and stared down at the severed head.

No. That couldn’t be . . .

“ Lucian! ” Rita screamed, releasing the wooden handle and cringing away so fast she fell to her ass.

Everything slowed. My eyes closed and when they opened, I stared at his head just a few feet from his body.

Lucian.

My body went numb, and a quake vibrated through my torso. Vomit crawled up my throat. I gagged a few times, but they were dry heaves; nothing came up. No. No . Rita could have sliced at me all she wanted, and I wouldn’t have died . . . but Lucian didn’t know that.

He’d protected me.

Tears blurred my vision. I blinked them away, and settled my sight on Rita.

Her eyes peeled wide as she stared at the body between us. A stillness had fallen over her. I didn’t think she breathed.

Clenching and unclenching my trembling hand, I tried to get sensation flowing back through my limbs. The ax lay between Lucian’s head and body, the metal coated with his blood. A pool of red formed, the edges creeping closer to me.

She’d swung with the same force, and my body had taken it with only a cut. I touched my neck, and my fingers slid off. The end of the deep gash had started to heal.

The door slammed against the wall, but I didn’t look toward whoever burst inside.

“ Merde . Your throat, Maya.”

Yes, but it would heal, especially with how well I’d been feeding. But my finger never grew back?—

Only I and the monster who spawned me could hurt me.

Elliot called out to the other guys, but his voice fizzled into white noise.

“I’m fine,” I croaked, climbing to my feet. My brain was still scrambled in disbelief from her attack, but I clawed myself back to reality. The fuzzy edges of my vision retreated.

Rita’s tear-filled eyes focused on our uncle, and she dragged herself a foot closer.

“Don’t look at him,” I spat, slamming my heel into her shoulder. Her arm popped out of its socket, and she screamed bloody murder as she clutched the sagging limb.

Her feet shoved against the ground, and she inched herself backwards until she cringed into the wall, her eyes cinching shut.

Fucking disgusting and weak. Ending her pathetic life would be a waste of her torture. Her brain was already broken; she needed to live with all she’d done.

I didn’t have time to fall apart, nor did I think myself capable of it anymore. Another layer of agony settled on my shoulders.

My socks soaked up the pooling blood and painted macabre imprints on the carpet. Arms wrapped around my torso, and Beckett’s cinnamon scent flowed through my senses, grounding me.

“Get her out of here, I’ll clean this up,” Enzo murmured.

I shook Beckett off and grabbed Rita by the back of the neck. Her eyes squeezed shut, refusing to look at me. “I don’t want her dead. I want her to remember what she did.” I shoved her away, and she cried out, rocking as she hugged herself.

“We can turn her over to the Unnatural Bureau.” Tanner’s voice sounded far away, like I was underwater, but when my brain made sense of his words, I exhaled in relief.

They had holding cells. A prison. But from my understanding they only imprisoned Unnaturals under special circumstances.

“Will they take her?”

“I’ll make sure they do.” Tanner smoothed my hair. I bit my trembling lip. Tanner would find a way to force the UB’s hand for Rita’s intake.

“Do whatever is needed,” I croaked.

Tanner held the phone to his ear and dipped his chin in agreement. He was going to have them investigated by a private entity before we put ourselves on their radar, but we had run out of time.

I hadn’t had the chance to fully enjoy my mates. I didn’t have the luxury with him still out there.

All those who had been part of the sick plans and corruption—Cyrus, Myron, Blanchet, and now even Lucian—were gone.

Only one sick fucking demon was left.

I need to find Osmodus . Ending all of this came with his death.

I wiggled my pointer finger into the top of my sock and dragged it off, then did the same to the other. They thudded onto the ground with a wet thwack. Avoiding the puddle, I paused to look at Lucian, memorizing the slack features.

He hadn’t been good, but he’d loved me in his own way . . . and I loved him.

My nostrils flared on a deep inhale, and I forced myself to retreat. My bare feet slapped on the wood floor of the hallway and up to the third floor. Beckett stopped following me after I reached the landing.

It took a bit of effort to tug open the attic door at the end of the hall. A layer of spiderwebs clung to the doorframe. Something tickled my lips, and I sputtered, swatting at it. Damn webs. The contents of the room consisted of a few empty brown boxes tossed in the corner. Other than that, it was all dust and cobwebs.

The lopsided closet door rested on its hinges, and the ladder was exactly where I remembered—in the shadowed corner of the room. The steps didn’t seem reliable, and the creak as I settled my weight on them reinforced the observation, but at least they didn’t crumble. I gripped the next bar and climbed, pressing my palm into the rounded wood covering the exit. The board swung and fell open with a thud. Pulling myself up the rest of the way, I pushed to my toes and inched onto the roof. The divot dug into my knee. but I managed to get into a comfortable position sitting on my ass.

From this perch, I had an unobstructed view of the stars glinting in the sky. I used to sit up here when I first came to this house. Lucian had never corrected the behavior, and now that I looked back, I realized it was because he didn’t care about me breaking an arm . . . but Rita used to get on me about it. Back when she cared for me.

I sighed and swiped my hand across the tears trickling down my cheeks. So much had changed; nothing could go back to how it used to be. Not that I’d want that since everything I believed had been based on lies. But still. I mourned the passing of that fictional life.