Page 33 of Vampire's Promise
“He has Gwen.”Kian rolled and unrolled his fingers into his palms as he worked his jaw. While anyone using an innocent to gain the upper hand would anger him, this was his mate. He closed his eyes and allowed emotions he never thought possible to run rampant. Fear and anger were at the top, but there was another buried deep, and when he gave it permission to throttle forward, he found himself shocked by it. While he and Gwen had only spent a short time together under Khedeus’s thumb, Kian knew––even though he’d found every way to deny it––that Gwen belonged to him. Their first night together, and the few they had since while in Hell, had only brought them closer together. Fate had bonded them to each other at their first joining.
“I sense your darkness trying to surface,” Hades spoke. “Now is not the time to leash it. Unchain it and let it take control.”
Kian closed his eyes and allowed his mate to fill his visions and, when he did, he experienced a burning sensation around his neck. He grabbed the link he held to Gwen and followed the path, and with the power of a demigod, he walked straight into the vision.
Gwen.What he saw stirred something dark and volatile deep inside him. His mate was chained. Her wrists shackled above her head and her ankles to the cold floor beneath her feet. Around her neck was a silver collar, and he now understood the burning sensation he experienced. Silver weakened his mate until she was a mere mortal. Her face was covered in bruises and blood dripped from her swollen lip.
Kian?She lifted her head as if looking for him.
I am coming. Apep did this to you?
Not him. Was Diara. She… She is his daughter.Her thoughts were scattered and her pain more severe than he could understand by her visible wounds.
What has she done to you?It was then he noticed her breathing was labored and he couldn’t believe he had not seen it before. Embedded in her chest was the dagger of Embara. It looked to be only inches from her heart, and he could only surmise that between the silver and the immortal killing blade, she didn’t have much time left. Panic rose and burned the back of his throat, leaving a bitter taste in his mouth. It also tasted of death. The deaths of a god and goddess that was going to come by his bare hands, if that was all he had available to him.
Let me go.Her eyes looked straight into his.Death is my fate, and a life of torture is yours if you allow them to reach you.
No! I have only found you and I will not be letting you go. I will––The connection was cut off. His fangs cut into his lip and when he opened his eyes, he stared at Hades through a red haze. His uncle smiled.
“There is my dark nephew. Now, go wreak havoc on the universe and get your mate back.”
“They have the god killer.”
Hades arched a brow. “Then get it back and stake him with it. You have the power of your grandfather, Thedos,the god of death and pain coursing through your veins. Your grandfather was an ancient come to life hours before Apep. Your grandmother, Cera, can ash a god while doing her nails and not think twice about it. Do not… Underestimate your powers.”
Kian worked his jaw and gave a nod. He would take Diara out of commission first. Calling up his power, he followed the remnants of the thread that led to Gwen and found himself standing on stone tiles outside an enormous structure. The front was painted with bright colors, and there were several depictions of gods warring with each other. He opened his senses and knew Gwen to be inside. He also detected several other life forms. One of which he knew well, and he was pleased Diara was within his grasp. Arming himself with his favorite dagger, he opted for going in the front door rather than flashing himself inside. Hoping he might at least detect a trap before he jumped straight into it.
As he strode forward, he didn’t even have to try the door as it opened on its own. Not sensing any life directly on the other side, he slowly entered, staying alert to both danger and his mate’s location. His first order of business was to get to her and get her free. Feeding her his blood would heal her wounds once he removed the dagger. He hoped.
Calling up his newfound power, he cloaked himself and continued down the sunlit corridor until he found a set of stairs that led to a lower level. Sensing Gwen was down there somewhere, he surmised he was heading into the god’s prison. Every temple he’d ever been in had one. It was the way of the gods and goddesses who resided there because every single one of them had enemies. When he reached the bottom step, his connection with Gwen intensified and he knew he would find her at the end of the torch-lit, stone corridor. He was also certain he would encounter Diara or Apep because they had to know he was here. Allowing the darkness in his soul to surface further, hemoved at lightning speed toward his mate. When he entered the small cell, he found her just as she had been in his vision and as he expected Diara stood beside her, the smile of a snake curved her mouth.
“Well, lover. Glad to see you finally showed yourself.” She grabbed the dagger’s handle and slid it from Gwen’s chest with a sickening suction and held the blade for him to witness his mate’s blood coating the glistening steel.
He lunged for the goddess but ran into an invisible barrier. Diara laughed.
“Did you really think we wouldn’t be prepared for you?”
“Let her go. This fight is not with her but me.”
“Oh but that is where you are wrong. You were promised to me, and this bitch took you from me.” Diara moved her gaze back to Gwen, who lifted her head enough to stare straight at Kian.
“Diara, I was never yours. A higher power fated Gwen and me. You and I were never meant to be.”
The goddess of deception flashed angry eyes at him, and he knew he would do anything to save his mate.
“Let her go and I will stay with you. You and I will be together.”
Diara smiled. “You would do anything to save her, wouldn’t you?”
Panic rose in his chest as he felt the tingle of Diara’s power flare in the room. It was also mingled with a much darker magic. “What are you planning, Diara?” Once again, he tried to get closer, but with every fist beat against the invisible shield, he only sent blue sparks into the air.
Diara laughed. “You are a demigod and could never best me.” She sneered at him. “You are beneath me, Kian, but I loved you once. Gave you my heart and got nothing in return. Don’tworry, I no longer want to marry you, but neither do I want your happiness.”
Before he could react, Diara spun and plunged the blade into Gwen’s heart. His mate gasped, her gaze wide as she looked only at him.
I love you.Her words were a dying whisper in his mind as death glazed over her beautiful brown eyes.
The burning pain only lastedfor a moment before Gwen was free of it and no longer in her body. She stood outside and watched an angry demigod change before her very eyes. Kian’s eyes darkened and his muscles bulged as he tore through Diara’s shield. The goddess looked surprised, and it stunned Gwen when Diara suddenly flashed into ash that floated to the ground like a gray snow. Had her mate done that?
