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Adrian had clearly altered the wards of his office, allowing those he trusted in. And giving Sebastian the false hope that he would be protected from uninvited appearances by other gods.

Adrian looked right at Sebastian, forcing his conceit with the set of his jaw and the authority in his case. “Since you’ll never get the opportunity to check for yourself, that antidote Rose just delivered not only removed that tattoo, it removed the tattoo ofeveryoneunder your control. Taking their memories with it. You have no one who can help you anymore.”

Sebastian’s nostrils flared with anger. Then he dropped the crossbow to the ground, his hands shoving up the sleeves of his shirt. Someone gasped, but I stayed silent.

I’d seen the tattoos before, the circles wrapped up his arms. They were as black as ever.

“I still have these,” Sebastian said, like that proved something.

“I think you’ll find the antidote was incredibly effective,” Daphne snapped. “You may bear the mark of your ridiculous attempt, but no one else will.”

“This isover,” Adrian said, his word punctuated by the door to his office slamming open, revealing Dominic—standing like Death itself, prepared to drag Sebastian’s soul down to the Underworld with him.

Sebastian was trapped. And he knew it.

His disposition quickly took on that of a caged animal, instincts taking over and washing away all rationale and trust. Willing to bite the hand that feeds.

Sebastian’s eyes went to the crossbow on the ground, the arrow somehow still notched despite falling away from his grasp in the tumble. It was unclear who his target was.

There were too many options, too much loss to be had from ripping away someone’s husband or wife or friend.

Adrian seemed to sense it, because he lunged toward him, moving with lightning fast speed to tackle him off the couch before Sebastian’s hand could wrap around the crossbow and pull the trigger.

I fell back a few steps, my hand coming up to cover my mouth as I watched his fist connect with the side of Sebastian’s head with a sharp snap.

Both Sebastian and Adrian were strong, probably well-matched in any fight. It would come down to anger—who’s fury made them vicious enough for skill to take on a new form and beat the other.

Adrian’s rage, it seemed, was winning. His arm was fast and brutal, crushing into the side of Sebastian’s face with a sickening crunch.

“You can’t kill him,” Daphne warned, right as Adrian’s hand started to vibrate with electricity as he curled it into another fist aimed for his nose.

“I know that,” Adrian gritted out, but did nothing to soften his punch. Sebastian’s nose broke, blood streaming down his face. He went for Adrian’s midsection, landing a solid blow to his ribs that made me want to punch him myself.

Adrian retaliated with a brutal strike to Sebastian’s temple, hard enough that he slumped under his hold, unconscious.

Adrian still had his shirt in his hands, breathing heavily as he stared down at the god who’d tried to overthrow him. After a moment, he sat back on his haunches, looking exhausted.

The move set the room into motion. The gods of the sea and Underworld rushing to their counterparts, searching for injuries and soothing declarations to find a way to kill Sebastian despite his lack of heirs for what he did.

I took a step towards Adrian right as he turned to me. I needed him to stand, to rise again to his full, strong height instead of spending any more time on his knees for me.

The look in his eyes made me stop in my pursuit. His eyes were a mess of emotion, anger and pain and regretand relief crashing together in their full forms, with the weight of his power behind it.

I’d never seen a storm that strong in them, eclipsing the soft grays with a haunting black. Though the longer I stood there in front of him, mostly unharmed, the more the mellow silver started to reappear.

I could tell his mind was waging an internal battle, stealing his attention while he tried to leash his power and emotion all in one. Stealing enough of his attention that I was the only one who noticed movement from behind him.

I pulled my eyes from him and saw Sebastian open his eyes and lunge for the crossbow on the floor, aimed in my direction.

Saw his hand come down on the butt of it, tilting it up and jostling the bow enough that the arrow released without his finger ever touching the trigger.

Chapter 34

Adrian

The window shattered, my power out of control.

I let it go, surrendering to its force and its fury, uncaring that rain and wind were whipping into my office, bringing us all into the eye of a hurricane.