Page 63 of Lethal Souls

I can sense her though. It has to be her. She’s close. I feel her heart beating twice its rhythm. I hope I’m not mistaking it for my own chaotic heart.

I hurry through another corridor but am immediately met with an explosion of fire. I curse under my breath as I back away. I spot a door to my left and run over to kick it open, only to come face to face with a wide terrace overlooking the see.

From here, nothing can be seen. The mountains in the distance are a mere blur, fading into the dark sky. The snow is coming down harder, and I’m certain it’s brewing into a storm.

I pause when I feel a presence behind me. There’s an itch on my neck, eyes on the back of my head. When I whirl around, I catch a flash of silver.

My fists clench in an instant as Vassilis appears, standing between the doorframes.

“No one to stand in our way now, monarch,” he sneers. His eyes are lit like silver rings, and his hands curl into fists too.

“I don’t have time for your shit, you ugly fuck,” I grumble.

He steps forward. “The Regals say you’re the chosen one. You’re the one who can defeat Selah. Everyone thinks you’re so special because you carry the blood and Seed of Yuri.” He takes another step. “I may not live to see tomorrow, but believe me when I tell you I’ll die a happy man knowing you are de?—”

A single gunshot echoes across the marble terrace.

Vassilis stands before me, his sneer fading, fists uncurling, and a hole in his head so large it gives me a clear view of the flames behind him.

He drops to his knees, and I lower my smoking gun, stepping around him and retrieving a blade from my belt. I press the edge of it to his throat. “The thing about you, Vassilis, is that you talk too fucking much.” I drag the blade across slowly, clenching my jaw as I watch silver blood spill down his chest. “And I told you if you ever threatened my mate again, I’d kill you.”

I haul him up and toss his body over the rail.

Good fucking riddance.

Something thuds behind me. I twist around to see the ceiling collapsing.

I rush back inside and hustle through the castle, shouting my fiancée’s name again.

THIRTY-NINE

WILLOW

“Let’s try the door again,” I offer. “Maybe we just need to pry it open. I’ll use the rod, and you can twist the door handle.”

“Yeah.” Killian tosses me the broken rod, and I stick the end of it into the gap of the door, wedging it in deep. I grunt as I add more of my weight to it, and Killian twists as hard as he can.

I can feel the heat of the flames on the back of my neck. They’re so close. Fuck, we’re gonna burn alive in this place.

“It’s not working!” Killian shouts, the veins on his neck bulging as he twists.

I push the rod harder, and it snaps in half. “No!”

I drop the broken rod and press my back to the door as Killian does. The flames skid down the rest of the staircase. It’s only a matter of time before they reach us.

Smoke clouds the room, wafting past my nose and sneaking its way into my lungs, ready to claim me with its partner.

“I’m so sorry, Killian.” I put my attention on him. “I’m sorry for everything. If I’d just stayed on Earth—if I hadn’t come back here with Caz…” A sob builds in my chest. “None of this would be happening. None of it. You’d all be safe. I was so stupid to think I could create a life here. All that I had on Earth was taken, and I clearly brought that bad luck here.” I swallow hard as the flames near the tips of my shoes.

Killian starts to speak, but there’s a bang and a clatter next to us. A gust of wind sweeps inside, and the flames skitter backwards.

I look to our right to see Callista floating. In front of her is an open wall revealing the darkness outside and a pile of rubble before it.

“Come!” she shouts. “Now!”

We run her way, climbing over bricks and dirt, but Killian comes to an immediate halt at the top of the rubble. I stop right next to him, and my heart drops when I see the steep cliffs below along with the dark, crashing waves illuminated by the flames.

“You’ll let us fall!” Killian shouts at Callista.