Kate Pearce - Death Bringer

He couldn’t call that monster by his brother’s name. From what he’d sensed in the other’s mind, all vestiges of humanity had been leached from his soul over the intervening years. Adam cared for no one and thrived on power, hatred and vengeance.

His grandmother raised her chin. “What do you wish to do with him, Death Bringer?”

Vadim went still. Beside him, Ella squeezed his hand hard.

“It’s okay about my face, it really is. I don’t care if you execute him. He’s done enough harm in his lifetime even for an immortal Fae.”

Vadim stared at his brother for a long quiet moment and then raised his hand.

Ella wanted to close her eyes, but she owed it to her mate to watch to the end. She couldn’t let him destroy himself again. Didn’t his family understand the terrible burden he’d carried with him for centuries?

“Morosov...”

“No!”

A bolt of the Fae king’s magic shot between her and Vadim, releasing Adam from his bonds. With an exultant cry, he rose above the ground and grabbed for Ella.

“Get off me, you idiot!”

Vadim rose too, his huge wings unfolding, claws out, fangs extended.

“Let her go!”

Twenty feet up in the air, Adam held her out in front of him, and her legs dangled like a doll’s. “Father, kill her!”

She looked down at the Fae king’s face. The wound on her shoulder started to throb like fire.

“Don’t be stupid!” she shouted. “If you kill me, Morosov will kill you and Adam will have won everything! ”

“She’s right.” Despite his aggressive stance, Vadim’s voice was eerily calm. “Now release her, Adam. This is between us. It always has been.”

She glared at Vadim. “Don’t you dare fight him! That’s what he wants! Why are all you Fae so dumb sometimes?”

She tried to turn to see Adam’s face, and he was smiling. The door to the hall crashed open. Beyond it was the long corridor leading to the trophy room. Was he intending to gather his trophies on the way out, or did he intend to destroy everything?

His trophies...

She looked from him back to Vadim and then at the Fae king.

Sets of three. The blondes, the brunettes and the final set of Fae royalty that would never be completed....

“ Give me the dagger and give me your power. ”

“ Don’t be stupid. ”

“ Don’t argue with me! I think I know how to fix this! ”

“ Ella ...”

“ Please. Trust me. ”

A second later, the blade was in her palm. Below her, the Fae king held up his hand, and the pain in her shoulder began to spread throughout her entire body. Without allowing herself to think any longer, she used Vadim’s immense strength to free her right hand and, turning, plunged the lethal blade into Adam’s throat. As he screamed, they started to fall. By the time they hit the floor, she was beyond feeling anything at all.

The moment Ella turned to strike Adam, Vadim lurched across the space and just managed to knock some of the power out of his father’s spell. Adam started screaming, blood gushing from his mouth, and fell, bringing Ella with him. Alighting beside them. Vadim picked his father up by the throat and shook him like a rat.

“What the fuck were you doing? If you’ve killed her, I’ll—”

A cool hand touched his arm. “I’ll see to her, my son.”

Vadim didn’t release his grip. “He still dies.”

“I wasn’t aiming at her, you fool! I had a clear shot at Adam!”

Vadim didn’t even deign to answer that; his attention all on his mate, who lay sprawled over Adam’s bloodied corpse. Blood oozed through her jacket from her left shoulder. His mother knelt in front of her and took her hand.

“She’s still alive.”

Vadim exhaled and loosened his death grip around his father’s neck a tiny fraction. “You are very lucky. Now she will be able to watch me kill you in person.”

“I didn’t intend to harm her. If I had, all I needed was to call in my mark. I was aiming at Adam!”

He bared his fangs an inch from his father’s face. “Release her from your mark right now. ”

Sweat glistened on the king’s unlined forehead. “It is done. I swear it.”

Vadim dropped his father and went over to where Ella had fallen. His mother had disentangled her from Adam, and she lay on her back, her eyes closed, her battered backpack supporting her head.

“Will she be all right?”

“With your father’s influence now removed, I believe she will.” The queen hesitated. “She is a fine mate for you, my son.”

He sank down onto his haunches beside them and reached out a shaking hand to touch her unnaturally dark hair. His mother had already used magic to clean her obvious wounds and remove Adam’s blood. “I know. Even though I didn’t appreciate it at the time, you and grandmother picked well for me.”

“We knew our disapproval of the match would make you want it more fiercely.” She smiled and briefly patted his arm. “You must both come and visit us, often.”

“If that is your wish, and if Ella agrees.” He hesitated. “You no longer require my presence here in Otherworld?”

“I think you deserve a better life, don’t you?”

Ella muttered something, and Vadim’s gaze shot back to her. “Mother, look. ”

As he watched, her face started to dissolve, the black hair and pale skin receding to reveal her usual fair hair and disgruntled features.

“How the hell did that happen?”

“Adam is dead. Perhaps his powers died with him.”

“I bloody hope so, after all that effort.” Ella mumbled.

“Soul Sucker.” Vadim took her in his arms and sat her in his lap. She leaned against his chest as if she belonged there. “You are alive.”

“Of course I am. I told you that you needed me, didn’t I?”

He drew her even closer against him. “You shouldn’t have done that.”

“What, killed that monster?”

“You didn’t even know if he could die.”

“I was pretty sure that if the knife would work on you, it would work on anyone.”

“But it was my responsibility, not yours.”

“You aren’t just Death Bringer anymore, remember?” She put her hand on his cheek. “Don’t you think you’ve suffered enough?”

He swallowed hard as she held his gaze. Had anyone ever done that for him before? Taken on his burden? Killed for him? He didn’t think so.

He slowly exhaled. “I do not have the words to thank you.”

“That’s okay. I have that problem a lot.” She kissed his mouth. “How about we call it even?”

He wrapped his arms around her, buried his face in her neck and breathed in the strangely reassuring scents of Pop-Tarts and bubblegum.

“What’s going to happen now?”

She was already wriggling to get free and move on. With a sigh he released her.

“My mother is still insisting that my father hang for his part in this matter. So far, she hasn’t asked me to administer the final blow, but I’m sure it’s coming.”

“Can we leave?”

“Soon, hopefully. There are a few things I need to take care of here.” He hesitated. “Although obviously, you can leave whenever you want.”

She rubbed her left shoulder and looked away from him. “I’m okay to tag along with you for a while. This is still an open SBLE investigation, you know.”

He let her scramble out of his lap and went to stand himself.

“Hey, what about your arm? You’re bleeding.”

In his concern for her he’d totally forgotten about the wounds he’d suffered during the fight. “I’m fine. I should be able to fix it myself, now all the sect members are dead.”