Hornblower: The Duchess And The Devil Novels & Stories

Altan said. “Of course, we should kill this devil, but not until she speaks the truth and names the vampire who ordered her to do all this,” a duke said. Devil. I saw gazes change, people change in seconds. I was being blamed and called a devil a few minutes ago and now it was the one who tried to prove that I was the monster here. “Lynx has prepared some kind of hidden attack on the palace and on the religious leaders. He either wants to hurt the religious leaders and put the blame on me to bring the public against me or assassinate me and sit on this throne or perhaps both,” Amor said.

“Are you quick enough to watch your children burn before your eyes?” He whimpered. The gun wavered. “Drop it,” I murmured, my voice silk and iron. “Or I promise you—your last sight will be their screams catching fire.” His arm buckled. The gun slipped. And then—Lucas moved. De Cruz crumpled to the floor, his sobs ragged, his chest heaving like a dying animal. Lucas had torn the gun from his hand so easily it was almost laughable, now pinning it under his boot like a crushed insect. The traitor clutched his throat, tears streaking through the sweat and grime on his face.

I let myself fall deep into my zone with red in my sight. “Gaetano, do you understand why they say never make a deal with The Devil?” I interrupted his laugh. He looked at me with narrowed eyes as I blew out the cigarette smoke into the night sky. I flicked the bud away and met his gaze, giving him a devilish smirk. “I’m about to show you why.” I drew my guns out at the same time men jumped out from the wooden crates. And a war with fire began.

His weak hands found mine as he tried to pry my fingers off the blade but my girl remained firm as I pressed the blade deeper into his chest. His grip loosened, his hands falling to his side. I released the blade, standing to my feet. “ In this life and in the next, you'd never make the mistake of taking what belongs to me.” I marched the blade down, his body jolted, blood rolling down his mouth. I closed his eyes, tossing his body into the flames as I crept to the window.