DEXTER'S POV
She wasn't here.
My heart felt constrained as I ransacked the entire library for the nth time with her broken phone.
I found her phone the first time around, as well as her other belongings.
I had found every other thing but the one person I was actually looking for. I could vouch that she was in here.
I could feel her faint scent, which lingered somewhere in the midst of the disgusting scent of rogues.
I didn't need a soothsayer to know she had been in here. I knew it for a fact. And yet, there was no sign of her.
I stood in the middle of the library wing, where her scent was the strongest, while the others went through the heaps of books and burnt furniture.
There was nothing. Not even a body. Or blood. It was like she vanished into thin air. Diffused without a trace. Just like the supposed rogues.
Every second without her felt like I was drowning naked in a cold, empty lake at the peak of winter.
T
EROS"We had a deal," Ira said, eyes trained on me. "What do I have to do?"Her animosity was glaring. I wondered if it had anything to do with the fact that I had the Clawmark girl's scent all over me. Not to mention Dexter, who stood like a guard dog, looking anything but pleased."Good," I said, looking her over. "Follow them to the tent, and you'll be given appropriate fitting.""I think she is fine," Dexter said from the side. "There will be no need of-""I believe our dearly beloved can speak for herself," I said, shutting him down as I turned to Ira, waiting for her to speak.I could sense my brother's mood switch at my words, but I couldn't bring myself to give a shit about it. My patience was running short these days, and it was only a matter of time before things went really bad between us."I'll be back in a second," Ira said to Dexter, and my throat constricted at the sight of their interlocked hands.The affection
EROS"The elders are seated at the venue with the other guests," Elias informed me as soon as I stepped out of the palace."The tournament will begin shortly, but we are yet to find any delegates from the vampire race."My jaw clenched at the information. Those slimy bastards. Good thing I didn't put it past them to play a trick like this.One thing was certain, whether or not they showed up here, I would be leaving my mark anyway. Everything was going to play out exactly how I'd planned."And the Clawmark girl?" I asked without batting an eyelid."Still in our custody," he said, then skipped a beat. "She is still unwilling to cooperate."My jaw tightened. "Take me to her.""Yes, Alpha."Elias wasted no time leading me to the back of the palace where the Clawmark girl was held. Ever since the incident with Ira, she was yet to be released from our custody.While I insisted the reason for her capture was to prevent
DEXTERHe didn't do it.I stared at Ira, watching her dress up for the tournament, with a bristled heart."You don't have to do this, Ira," I said once again, knowing it was fruitless but trying nonetheless."We've gone through this," she said, finishing her shoelace. "I will be fine."I knew she was going to be fine. As a matter of fact, I knew this was going to be a walk in the park for her, but I couldn't shake off the feeling that something wrong was about to happen.I couldn't shake off the dread in my heart at the thought of her fighting in front of all those people.It oddly felt like letting her walk out the front door and onto the field would be a grave mistake on my part.Which made it all the more frustrating that neither my brother nor my mate was willing to see reason with me and budge on the matter.I was losing my mind with every second ticking past, calculating the many ways this could go wrong.Ho
EROS"She's going to kill her!" Dexter said, following me into the courtroom."How could you even consent to that?!" He roared, totally pissed.My lips remained pursed as I headed for my throne at the far end of the room."Talk to me!" Dexter roared, holding me by the arm.I turned around, pushing him to the wall in an instant. "Do not raise your voice at me, brother, or so help me God."Dexter wasn't moved. He seemed to have gone rabid, which was baffling considering the fact we both knew our mate was not in danger, at least not in this case."The girl will die," Dexter gritted. "You just signed her death warrant by accepting that deal.""And?" I asked, my nose flared. "I didn't realize the Clawmark girl got your panties in a twist. I thought that right was exclusive to Ira.""You don't get it, do you?" he said, pushing off the wall. "You didn't make a deal with Ira. You fucking made a deal with Khanos.""Same th
IRA"You've got to be crazy to think that I'd let her fight after the bullshit you pulled," I heard Dexter say from the hallway."I don't care what is at stake," he gritted after a brief pause. "Get someone else to do your dirty work.""You said it yourself, you have a lot of females lined up, ready to please the king." His tone was snarky."I bet there are a lot of other females who will jump at the opportunity to impress the king," he continued. "Put them to good use for once and leave my mate alone."I pulled the door open right on time to see Dexter on the phone with an aggravated look on his face.Dexter ended the call as soon as he saw me. I watched his eyes soften as he took me in."Are you alright?" he asked, reaching for my hand. "Do you need something?""What's going on?" I asked, searching his eyes."Nothing I can't handle," he replied vaguely, leading me back into the room. "You should be resting. The doctors
IRAThe bullet hit me right on my neck.Khanos let out an earth-shattering growl as she furiously tried to get towards the men who stood in the hallway, firing at us.A burst of pain flooded my system with every hit, but Khanos was relentless, desperate to get at the men and make a mess of them.Whatever they infused in their bullets made us delirious. My body felt a lot weaker with every gunshot. So weak, I tripped on my own feet, crawling towards the door."Please..." I begged Khanos. "Let it go."She was going to hurt herself at this rate. She was going to hurt us.I felt Khanos' anger. I felt her pain, as well as the overwhelming need to kill Eros for his betrayal. More gunshots poured and I heard Dexter's distinct growl, but it was all too far away.The last thing I felt before it all went blank was Dexter's familiar arm wrapped around me as Khanos relinquished control of my body.****"Meus Aeternus...