17. Montana

We headed through a dusty old museum inside the statue and Magnar started breaking up wooden display cases for a fire.

I was shivering more violently now that the adrenaline had worn off and Callie kept giving me concerned looks. The slayers were much less affected by the biting cold. Even in their damp attire, they barely seemed bothered. I, however, was freezing my ass off.

“You need to get out of those clothes,” Julius commented, helping Magnar to build the fire a few meters from a broken window.

“Y-you’d l-like that, w-wouldn’t you?” I teased, but my joking tone was lost to my chattering teeth.

Julius snorted a laugh. “I can always warm you up once you’re naked?” he offered, and Magnar thumped him on the arm.

“Do something useful or shut the fuck up,” he joked.

We soon had a fire going and I sat before it in my underwear, having had no real choice but to strip off. Thankfully, the others did the same so I didn’t feel alone in my nudity. We’d hung our clothes and the contents of our packs up to dry on a few glass cabinets and they fluttered in the breeze that sailed through the window.

Julius took his phone from the strap on his arm, his face lighting up as he pressed something on the screen.

“Full charge,” he announced.

My eyes dropped briefly to his golden chest as it glimmered under the firelight. He and his brother were so muscular, it was impossible not to stare. I noticed Callie’s gaze drifting to Magnar more than once too.

Julius caught my gaze, his eyebrows rising curiously, falling to my bare skin in kind, and suddenly I looked away, thinking of someone I shouldn’t have been thinking of. Julius was kind and warm and good, exactly the sort of man I should have been looking at. But the thought of letting him closer brought a solid wall up in my chest, and all I could see in my head were the intense, steely eyes of a man my heart should never have beat for. But one who was so deep in my blood, I didn’t know how I would ever forget him.

“Maybe you should check on the royals? They could have found Valentina if she ran into the city,” I suggested, hoping the real reason I wanted to do that wasn’t written all over my face.

I shifted toward Julius as he pressed something on the screen, feeling Callie’s eyes on me, her scrutiny making heat crawl up the back of my neck. She knew. She had to know. Because my twin knew the essence of my soul, and right now, it was tethered to a vampire. One I couldn’t stop thinking about, no matter how hard I tried.

“Yeah, good idea,” she said a second later and I was relieved as she dropped down on Julius’s other side, saying nothing yet again but feeling the weight of my secret sitting between us. Every time I tried to broach the subject, I choked, knowing that no explanation in the world was going to convince Callie that Erik was anything more than a heartless monster.

Magnar grunted but made no further comment. His clear mistrust of technology didn’t seem to be waning and I wondered what it must have been like for him to try and adjust to so many things changing since he’d woken. Idun had given Julius the knowledge he needed, but Magnar still eyed the cellphone like it was some kind of dark magic.

“Party boy is having fun,” Julius said, enlarging the box so that the dining room in the castle came into view. The place was thronging with people and I spotted Miles at the heart of them, grinding up against Warren as they danced together, their smiles brightening their eyes.

“He doesn’t slack off even when his whole empire is going to ruin,” Julius muttered. “He celebrates his misdeeds, the blood he’s drank this day. Look at them all dancing like they have no other cares in this world, they make me sick.”

“Yeah all those hot women must really be turning your stomach,” I jibed, taking in the party and smiling at Miles and Warren as they danced to the quickening beat.

“Vampires,” he corrected me sharply and the bottom dropped out of my stomach.

“Monty! How can you even joke about that? They’re disgusting,” Callie agreed, and my lips pursed, a flash of frustration passing through me.

“They’re just people,” the words slipped out before I could stop them, and Callie’s mouth fell open.

“What did you say?” she hissed, her eyes narrowing.

I’d rarely been on the receiving end of Callie’s anger. We’d always been on the same side growing up, and I’d been more than grateful for that. She’d once reduced Jeremy Harper to tears after he’d pushed me in the mud. But now she was staring at me with the full force of that fiery rage and it made me achingly sad. Everything that had happened to us had driven a wedge between us, and I couldn’t carve out the parts of me that had been altered by what I knew now.

“I just...” I sighed. I didn’t want to lie anymore. And I was done pretending that I hadn’t been changed by my time with the vampires. Telling her about my feelings for one of them was probably too much of a headfuck right now, but maybe I could explain myself a little.

“I just don’t think they’re all bad,” I said, my heart thumping in my ears as I stood up for the vampires to a bunch of their sworn enemies. It wasn’t like I was sticking up for the biters. They were true monsters. But Erik and some of the others weren’t like that. They lived in shades of grey.

Callie gaped at me, then her eyes softened. “It’s the mark,” she said knowingly, reaching for my hand.

I inched it away from her, the sting of her dismissing my words too hurtful to ignore. Like I was just some brainwashed idiot who didn’t know her own mind.

“What’s going on?” she asked, frowning as she sensed my pain.

“Nothing.” I shook my head as Julius glanced between us, looking awkward.

There was no point trying to explain, that was clear enough. Callie was set against the vampires, just as Magnar and Julius were. Just as I had been not so long ago. But there were clearly no words that could change their minds on that, or even open up to the possibility that maybe the vampires weren’t simply soulless creatures with no desires beyond blood. Yes, they did bad things. Fucked up, twisted things. And I wasn’t excusing that. But I’d witnessed moments of purity in them too. Of love, of devotion, of suffering.

I thought of Erik and that yearning I’d witnessed in him from time to time, that persistent desire to be more than what he had been cursed to be. From what the slayers had said, Idun had been a trickster just as Andvari had been. So weren’t the slayers and vampires just different sides of the same coin? Wasn’t the true fight between the gods, not us?

I dropped my gaze to the cellphone, grinding my teeth as I felt everyone’s eyes on me, their accusations, their concerns, I felt it all like a weight upon my back. Slowly, Julius and Callie returned their attention to the security feed, but I didn’t feel any less judged. I should have been comfortable sitting here among my kind, at home. But instead, I felt like I was sitting in a place that didn’t fit me quite right, yet everyone kept telling me it was where I belonged.

Heat crawled up and down my spine, and the guilt of what I’d become washed through me. I was a traitor to everyone in this room. My heart was crying out for someone I couldn’t have. Someone they thought was an abomination. And I would have agreed with that not so long ago, but I couldn’t undo what I’d learned. And I wanted to stand up for Erik now. I wanted to scream my lungs out until they believed me. But they never would.

“Here’s Prince Charming himself.” Julius nudged me and my eyes whipped to Erik as he strode through the castle with Fabian at his side. Erik looked miserable, his brows drawn low, his white shirt crumpled and his eyes void of light. His brother looked pale and moved with a disjointedness that said he was in pain, his hand moving to clutch his stomach.

“Thank fuck he’s alright,” Callie sighed, then clapped a hand to her mouth in horror.

Magnar grumbled something from across the fire, but she didn’t look at him, clearly pained by what she’d said. I hated that she’d been bonded to the wicked prince who ran the Realms, and honestly, could I really blame her for thinking that my feelings for Erik were driven by that same bond?

“Turn the volume up,” I encouraged, and Julius complied, filling the room with their voices.

“You don’t have to come with me, you know?” Erik said to Fabian.

“I want to be there,” he growled. “I want to rip out his fangs and see him bleed for what he did to Callie’s father.”

Erik gave him a sweeping glance. “Firstly, I will be the one to de-fang Wolfe. And secondly, you are acting like a madman since the gods bound you to Montana’s sister, so please keep it together in front of the cameras. We need to set an example to the people.”

Fabian turned suddenly, grabbing Erik’s arm and staring intently into his eyes. “I love her. I didn’t get it before when you said you had feelings for a human. But I know now. And you understand this pain, don’t you brother? You know how this feels.” Fabian pressed a hand to his heart as if it hurt.

Erik hesitated then nodded, and a darkness entered his eyes that reached right into my soul. “Yes, but we can still act like rational people, Fabian. You are behaving like a love-sick puppy. For example, did I hear correctly that you’re having a statue built of Callie Ford in Realm G?”

Fabian grinned widely. “Not just Realm G, Erik. All of the Realms! The whole of the human race will praise her name.”

“Fucking hell,” Callie muttered.

Erik’s eyes narrowed dangerously. “You are losing your mind. Don’t you think that money would be better spent improving the Realms?”

“Er- yeah. I’m dealing with that too. Plus your men are already there taking care of that. No harm in a little side project.”

Erik scowled. “If you’re going to insist on coming with me to banish Wolfe, you must keep it together. I don’t want you causing any...embarrassment.”

My heart clenched at his words, a mixture of passionate feelings passing through me over my desire to see Wolfe killed and my desire to see him lead Erik to Valentina. Regardless, Wolfe was going to be banished. Tonight.

Erik went on, “And don’t mention a fucking thing about the slayers showing up at the wedding. Or the fact that Montana and Callie left with them. We don’t need the headache that will cause.” I spied him rubbing the cross on his left palm and the bond flared, my palm igniting and sending a bolt of need through me. I clenched my fist, the desire to get up and go to him burning a passage through my chest, but I fought it away, refuting it.

“I’ve got your back.” Fabian nodded firmly, and Erik’s expression softened.

“Well, that’s the only good thing that’s come from all this. I think you’re acting more like your old self.”

Fabian’s eyes filled with light. “I have been a royal ass for more than a century.”

“More like five centuries,” Erik muttered as they headed out of sight and their voices faded away.

“They’re leaving the castle,” Julius announced. “But it sounds like they’re going to broadcast the banishing, so we can tune in.”

“I can’t believe Fabian’s building a statue of me,” Callie breathed, her eyes flaring with emotion.

“Not just one,” I pointed out and Callie threw me a grin, suddenly bursting into laughter. I couldn’t help but join in and Magnar glared at us with daggers in his eyes.

Callie reined in her amusement, immediately looking regretful. “It’s a little funny in a completely fucked up way.”

“It is,” Julius agreed. “Especially because if Fabian comes hounding after you with that doe-eyed expression, I’ll use you as a distraction to take his head off.”

Callie punched him so hard, his head wheeled sideways.

“Sorry!” she gasped immediately.

Julius rubbed his cheek, frowning deeply. “On second thought, I’m growing tired of that mark binding you to a parasite, Callie. At least Montana means it when she says she has feelings for a vamp-” he stalled, and my heart free-fell in my chest.

Asshole!

“What?” Callie gasped, glaring at him as if she couldn’t accept what he’d just implied.

My eyes burned, my throat closed up.

Callie’s gaze turned on me. “Say it’s not true. You don’t mean it. You’re bonded to Erik like I am to Fabian. It’s nothing more than that.”

I opened my mouth, but nothing came out. I didn’t want to lie to her anymore. I didn’t want to deny something that was so deep in my soul that it was driving me to insanity.

“I care about him,” I whispered, my voice cracking. “Erik isn’t good for me, I know that. But he isn’t some evil creature with no heart. I saw something in him worth saving. I care for him, Callie, and maybe it’s more than that. Maybe I’m so goddamn scared of how much more than that it really is.”

I got to my feet as Callie remained in shell-shocked silence.

“The mark-” she started again and I shook my head to stop her, snatching my shirt and trousers from the closest cabinet and tugging them on.

“Everything I feel for him was built long before the wedding,” I revealed.

“No.” Callie got to her feet, denial flaring in her features.

Magnar drifted toward her like a dark shadow, and the two of them stared at me while Julius gave me an apologetic frown.

“Look, it’s not all bad-” Julius started.

“Not all bad?” Callie snapped at him. “What do you mean it’s not all bad? She has feelings for a vampire. A Belvedere! A rapist!”

“Erik is not a rapist,” I snarled, anger burning a pit into my chest. “He’s flawed, I know that. Shit, I know he’s far from perfect. But he’s-”

“He’s a parasite,” Magnar spat, and I backed up, their combined fury suddenly frightening me. I’d been a part of their group just seconds ago, but now I felt like an outsider, unable to claim a home with the slayers or the vampires.

“You’re confused,” Callie begged, seeming desperate for that to be true, taking a step towards me as if trying to bridge this gap between us.

A tear slid down my cheek, burning a trail all the way to my chin. “I’m not. You don’t know him, Callie. You don’t know any of them. They’re not all like the biters. Erik and I found something between us that defies logic and I’m still struggling with what it all means, but I do know that I want him. And I’m afraid, so fucking afraid that you’ll hate me for it, but I can’t stop myself. I can’t sit here and let you all call him a monster anymore, because he isn’t.”

Silence stretched on, the void between me and my twin growing deeper by the second.

Julius took a step toward me, but I lifted a hand to warn him off. The disgust in Magnar’s eyes and the pity in Callie’s was too much to bear.

I turned and ran away, moving at a fierce pace through the museum and darting into a dark stairwell. I started climbing, running faster until I was panting. The stairs seemed endless, circling higher and higher and higher until finally, I stepped into a circular room. My breaths came in ragged pants as I moved into the space.

A crescent of windows looked out at the water ahead and to the right, New York City glittered like starlight.

I moved toward the view, momentarily distracted by the impossibly beautiful sight. I must have been in the crown of the statue, so far up it was dizzying.

I pressed my palm to the cool pane, surprised it was still intact. How many years had this statue stood here? What had it meant to the people who had stood in awe of its magnitude?

I thought of Erik out in the city somewhere, on his way to banish Wolfe. I wished I could be there. Stand by his side and punish the man who’d hurt me and my family so deeply, but I had faith he’d make it as torturous for him as possible. If it led to Valentina being caught and executed, it would be worthwhile keeping him alive a while longer. But if I ever got the chance to kill him again, I’d damn-well take it.

I took a deep breath as my heart rate finally settled, sadness filling me over the rift that had grown between Callie and me.

I was caught between two powerful enemies in an ancient war. And I loved people on both sides.

Shit… Love? Did I really love him? That word was weighted with too many ruinous thoughts to count.

And what did it matter anyway? I’d already chosen my sister over Erik, but the idea of living like this with Callie glaring at me every time Erik’s name was mentioned was unthinkable. I didn’t want to have to choose. But it was an impossible dream to think they could ever get along. Even tolerate one another. No… my fate was set. A broken heart and the memories of a twisted desire were all I’d have left of my time with Erik soon. I couldn’t go back. But I didn’t know what lay in front of me anymore.

Time ticked by and I wondered how soon I’d have to shamefully return downstairs and accept the berating I was going to get. I just wanted to hide from the world for a while. Drink in the silence and the beating of my own heart which told me that I shouldn’t doubt myself, even if everyone else did.

“Montana?” Callie said gently from behind me, not using my nickname for once. Which meant things really weren’t good between us.

I didn’t turn to face her as more tears tracked down my cheeks. “I just need some time alone, Callie. I know you can’t ever understand this.”

Silence fell, but I sensed she was moving closer even though her footfalls were entirely quiet.

“I just...I don’t understand,” she whispered. “We hate the vampires. They’ve controlled us our whole lives. Are you sure it’s not-”

“It’s not the mark,” I spoke over her, my voice firm.

“Okay,” she breathed and a trickle of pain ran through my veins. I couldn’t stand the idea that things were somehow broken between us. We were two halves of one whole. I wasn’t ready to lose that. “Can you try to explain?” she asked.

She moved to my side and I forced myself to look at her, finding her dressed in her almost-dry clothes. Her eyes were filled with longing, not the anger I’d expected. And my shoulders sagged as I gazed down at the moonlit river stretching away ahead of us.

“I don’t think anything I ever do will convince you. But Erik didn’t even know the conditions we lived in-”

“And you believed that?” she balked, and my heart jerked once more.

“Yes,” I said. “And I’m not saying that makes it okay. All I know is that the vampires are people. They have hearts. And some of them care. Some of them even regret.”

I could see Callie shaking her head in the corner of my eye, and I resigned myself to the fact that this was pointless.

She placed a warm hand on my arm. “It doesn’t change what they’ve done. They locked humans up, they sent old people to the blood bank, they sent Mom-”

“I know,” I choked, shutting my eyes as I tried to will away the ache in my soul over all that knowledge. “I know, Callie. But Erik didn’t realise what it was like in the Realms. And I know he should have done more to make sure things were better. But he made mistakes. And he’s trying to make up for some of his wrong-doings now.”

“He’ll never do enough,” she snarled, and I pulled my arm away from her, feeling a chasm opening up between us again.

I was falling, drowning, losing everyone I loved all at once. And I didn’t know how to fix it.

“But…” Callie whispered and hope speared a path through my body. I turned to her with desperation in my gaze, and she took a deep breath before she went on. “I know you. And if you say you haven’t been brainwashed and these feelings are real, then of course I’ll trust you on that.” She seemed to struggle to say the words. “And if you think Erik is trying to change...” She hung her head, the battle inside her evident on her face. “Then I don’t know, maybe he is.”

It was something. Not much, but at least she was accepting the possibility that Erik was more than just a bloodsucker. Or she was saying it to appease me.

“But he killed Magnar and Julius’s father,” Callie hissed, her upper lip curling back. “He has done so many unspeakable things, he’s never going to do enough to make up for that.”

“I know.” I nodded, a frown creasing my brow. “I know that.”

I didn’t have much else I could say. Erik had told me that things hadn’t happened quite how Julius has explained, but I didn’t know what his story was. Or if it even mattered. If the Eliosons’ father had died because of Erik, what could really make that right? I certainly wouldn’t forgive Wolfe for taking our dad from us. So I could never expect them to forgive Erik.

Emotions warred inside me. I didn’t have a good enough explanation for loving Erik, and I wasn’t going to ignore all he had done. But these feelings were confounding, inexplicable. They just were. And I didn’t know if I could shake myself of them.

“The thing is, Callie, I don’t know who Erik was a thousand years ago. Hell, I don’t know who he was one year ago. But I know that he loves his family more than anything, he’d do whatever he could to keep them safe. Just like we would. And he cares for me in a way that makes me feel alive. I never thought I’d feel something like that. I didn’t think love was ever going to be a part of my future. And one month ago, I would have died before I let myself feel that way for a vampire. Something in him answers a question in me I never even realised I’d been asking my whole life.” I turned to her, finding her mouth parted as if she understood entirely what I was saying. “I never realised before that you don’t get to choose who your heart gives itself to.”

“The choice is made for you,” she whispered, quickly wiping her eyes with the back of her hand.

“Magnar?” I asked gently, and she nodded.

“You’re so strong.” I took her hand. “You’ll break this bond to Fabian. You’ll overcome that slayer mark, too. I know you will. Then you can be together.”

She nodded again but seemed unsure. “Eventually I’ll break out of these binds, then we’ll see.”

I glanced out at the city with an unyielding weight pressing down on me. “Eventually having the one you love is better than never having them. I won’t return to Erik. I know he’s bad for me, that what we had was twisted, toxic, even if it did bring me moments of joy. My heart might want him, but I’m the one who gets to choose what’s right for me in the end. But it’s fucking destroying me to let him go.”

“Oh Monty.” Her arms encircled me and she squeezed me tight.

I clutched her, relief filling me that she wasn’t mad. That in some way, she understood. Even if she couldn’t ever accept it. And maybe there was hope for us yet to cross this void between us, if only she could accept the honesty of my soul.

“We’ll figure it out,” she said, and I smiled at her words. Dad had often said them to us when we were feeling at our lowest. We’ll figure it out, girls. Whatever it takes.

Someone cleared their throat and we parted, finding Julius standing in the doorway dressed in nothing but his jeans.

“The banishing ceremony is about to begin.” He waved his phone at us. “But if you want to finish up your bonding session with a pillow fight first... I’ll wait.”

“How about you and Magnar have a pillow fight and we’ll watch instead?” I tossed back at him.

“That’s fucked up,” he balked at the idea and I cocked an eyebrow until comprehension filled his gaze. “Ohhh, I’m fucked up.”

“Yup,” Callie said.

“Noted. Incest jokes are off the table.” His light tone made me smile and I felt the weight lifting from me a fraction. At least two out of the three slayers were willing to overlook my attachment to one of their enemies. But I didn’t think the third was going to be so forgiving.

“Instead of pillow fights, how about I have a fist fight with a big ugly slayer instead?” Callie offered with a dark smile.

“Ugly? Okay, I’ll go fetch Magnar,” Julius said as he turned back into the stairwell, and we hurried to follow him downstairs, sharing an amused look.

We soon arrived back in the museum and closed in on the fire where Magnar was dishing out pasta for us in bowls. He was dressed again, his damp hair hanging around his broad shoulders.

He passed a bowl to Callie and Julius, then held one out for me. I took hold of the edge of it, but he didn’t let go.

His dark gaze scorched right through to my bones. “A word of advice, Montana. You will be a lot less upset when I kill Erik Belvedere if you try to get over him now. Let your heart shatter so that it can be rebuilt anew, and when his head falls, you may yet celebrate his demise.”

I glowered at him as heat raced under my skin and I released the bowl.

“Keep it. I’m not hungry anyway.” I turned my back on him, dropping down beside Julius.

Regret filled me as my stomach growled unhappily, but I was too stubborn to eat now.

Callie gave Magnar a look as if to say, what are you playing at? and Magnar promptly moved to my side, placing the bowl at my feet. Still, I didn’t reach for it.

Magnar sighed and I felt he was sharing another look with Callie. He crouched down beside me, awkwardly patting my arm. “It’s best to move on.”

I glared at him, so angry that he was still pushing the issue. “Would you kill Callie if she was turned? Would you stop wanting her just because she was a vampire?”

Magnar’s mouth parted and he glanced at Callie who turned scarlet at my words. “That would never happen.”

“But if it did,” I pushed, and his jaw ticked with his discomfort at the question. “Would you hurt her?

“Of course he would,” Callie stepped in. “Because if I was one of them, I’d tell him to end my pointless existence anyway.”

I ground my teeth, but suddenly Magnar didn’t look so sure. He cleared his throat, moving to sit beside her with a bleak expression.

“It’s starting,” Julius said, seeming happy to interrupt the tense conversation. He planted himself between the four of us, holding the phone out so we could see the broadcast.

My throat thickened as I recognised the same courtyard I’d been presented in on my first day in New York. The camera was angled down over the sloped seating area which was filled with vampires. On the other side of the courtyard was the podium where two thrones sat side by side. Erik and Fabian were sitting on them in regal black suits, facing the crowd.

Erik’s voice suddenly boomed through the speaker. “Ladies and gentleman of the New Empire, we come together today for two reasons. The first is to mourn the loss of so many after the events which took place at our wedding. The second is to send a reminder to the people of our city. Especially to those who rose against us. Who stood at the side of the traitor, Valentina Torbrook, and killed the wife of our brother, Miles. He is too upset today to attend this ceremony, but he sends his love to all of you and hopes you can give him the time he needs to mourn his bride. Countess Clarice is currently doing everything in her power to hunt down the biters. To make our homes safe once more.”

Applause rang out and people started calling Erik’s name. Even though Magnar wasn’t close to me, I could almost feel him bristling, but I was too caught up in the reminder of Paige’s loss for me to care. She hadn’t deserved that fate. She had been a good person, and Valentina would answer for her death.

As the crowd quietened, Erik continued, “Today, I bring before you a man who was my own sireling. A man who I believed was loyal to me, to our empire. But he betrayed you all when he viciously murdered my wife’s father with his teeth and now I renounce him as mine.”

A collective gasp sounded from the crowd, and my heart stuttered at his words.

Erik waved his hand and the doors in the courtyard were flung open. Wolfe was escorted by two large guards who dragged him to the centre of the space. He was dressed in a suit and looked freshly-washed. Anger spilled through me as he turned his ice-blue gaze to the crowd. “We have the right to bite!” he cried and boos sounded in response.

Wolfe snarled, his eyes whipping across those seated in the front row. “You all want it. You all crave human blood from the vein. Surely you remember the delight of succumbing to your true nature?” He turned his eyes to Erik, raising a finger to point at him. “You have abandoned me. I served you loyally for hundreds of years and this is how you repay me? You know as well as I do that humans are nothing. They’re insignificant beings who should be hunted like the animals they are. The true queen will lead us to that path!”

Erik rose from his throne, his upper lip peeled back, and Fabian moved to stand beside him, pushing up his sleeves as if he was preparing for a fight.

A trickle of adrenaline slid into my veins as Erik leapt from the podium, landing before Wolfe and stalking toward him. The general slashed a hand at him, but Erik caught him by the throat and forced him to his knees.

“You dare try to strike me?” he snarled.

Wolfe thrashed in his hold, but Erik was too strong, forcing him into submission.

“I will not bow to you any longer!” Wolfe shouted.

Erik raised a hand in a signal and Fabian jumped down beside them, taking something from inside his robes. A flash of silver caught my eye as Erik took the object from his brother.

Fabian grabbed hold of Wolfe, wheeling him around to face the crowd and pulling his mouth wide with his fingers. Wolfe struck out with both arms, but a sharp kick from Erik snapped one at the elbow and my pulse picked up at the sight. Erik took hold of his other arm and broke it with a vicious twist, so Wolfe wailed his pain to the sky and his agony sparked a hungry energy in me.

I took in a slow breath, excited and terrified of what was about to happen. Wolfe was a monster. Less than dirt. He’d murdered our father in cold blood and now he was paying the price.

The crowd cheered as Erik lifted the object in his hand and I realised he held a pair of pliers.

Callie leant forward with tears of anger in her eyes. “Give him hell,” she whispered.

“For dad,” I breathed and she nodded, taking my hand as she reached across Julius’s lap.

Erik tightened the pliers over Wolfe’s left fang.

A hushed silence hit my ears then he wrenched his arm backwards and blood poured. Wolfe screamed, trying to rear away from Erik as he lifted the pliers again.

“St-stop!” Wolfe begged through a mouthful of blood, but Fabian prised his mouth wide once more.

Erik angled the pliers toward his teeth, taking hold of his right fang. “You are cast out of this city. You are no longer a citizen of the New Empire.” He ripped the fang from his mouth and held it aloft for the crowd to see.

Fabian shoved Wolfe to the ground, placing his boot on his chest. “No one will give this man sanctuary! If he is seen within the borders of our city, you have the right to kill him.”

A cheer rang in my ears as Fabian and Erik hauled Wolfe to his feet and threw him toward the door across the courtyard. As they followed him through it, Erik planted a punch in Wolfe’s gut. I suspected he was going to get a hell of a lot more than that before they let him go. And I thirsted for every ounce of justice they dealt him.