Page 134 of Heir of Broken Souls

Emotion clogs my throat as the names of all those she aided in killing float through my mind.

Eleanor.

Annie.

Ace.

Three of my family members dead.

She gave up the location to where Eleanor and Annie were hiding. She faked her kidnapping to lure us away. She had Ace taken from our home in the middle of our mourning only to add another death to our growing list.

My chest squeezes painfully, and at the weight of my grief, my magic stirs, restless as it wants to defend me.

I do not want to feel this before her.

The last thing I ever want is to be vulnerable before this woman who has taken so much from me. I slam the emotions back.

“Was it worth it? Corrupting your soul? Turning your back on the only family besides Luna you ever had?” I peer around the ship with a scoff. “I don’t see Luna here. Seems to me you sacrificed yourself for nothing.”

Her eyes flare with something akin to indignation.

“Finally struck a nerve, have I? What a shock, I assumed you were a heartless bitch.” My brows rise. “Nothing to say? What a waste of a trip for you. And your final one too.”

“I had no choice,” she hisses.

“There is always a choice!” I explode.

I’m upon her before I know it, my hand quivering once again from the pulsing fury wracking my body. This time, golden swirls dance along my blade as I lay it across her neck.

She flinches. My smirk is as cold as her actions.

Moving forward, I let her see just how much hate I have for her in my eyes. “I cannot wait to watch the torture he will inflict upon you.”

“You can’t kill me. Youneedme.”

I pull back. “I don’t need you.”

“On the contrary, you do.” She smirks. “Who do you think?—”

The words on Hazel’s tongue die a quick death and I didn’t realize I was holding my breath until it all whooshes out of me in a sudden startled yelp as the ground beneath my feet shakes. I don’t even have to turn to see who caused it.

“She’s mine,” a deadly quiet voice demands behind me.

Rising to my feet, I step aside for Axel.

He’s hunted her for months, every dead lead simultaneously leading him to the bottom of a bottle. I can’t imagine how he must feel seeing his brother’s killer again. I expect him to turn into a broken, grieving man, but to my surprise?—

Axel turns into nothing short of a monster.

Reaching behind his back, Axel unsheathes twin blades, his smirk as feline as a cat’s, his predatory gaze on his prey.

“I’ve been waiting for this day.”

“Haven’t had to wait long,” Hazel chirps.

Axel’s eyes harden at her voice.

The others haven’t arrived yet, for reasons I’m unsure of, but I’m certain Axel did everything within his power to be here as quickly as he could. You wouldn’t know it by the calm rise and fall of his chest, though. It’s as if he’s slipped into the mind of a warrior.