Page 88 of All Your Deadly Truths (The Filthy Duet #2)

Xeraphine

“ O ne last promise, Alaric,” I say, staring up at him. “You’ll take care of Sydni if something ever happens to me.”

He takes a deep breath. “Nothing is going to happen to you.”

“If… I said, and you have to do that stupid Divine swear bullshit. She deserves the world, and I feel I’ve taken that from her. See to it that she gets it.”

It doesn’t take more than a second for him to nod. “I swear on the binds of my wing, I’ll protect her.”

I have no idea what that does, but I’ll hunt his ass from the Beyond if he doesn’t fulfil his promise to me.

The moment I reach out for his hand, ready for him to take us back to the mortal world, my shoulder is gently tugged. I turn my head, and when I do, I see Proserpina standing there, her fingers holding me steady.

I narrow my eyes. “Yes?”

“Before you go…” Proserpina turns her head to Alaric. “I’d like to speak with Xeraphine in private for a moment.”

I look to the Fallen, and with a weary nod, he steps back into the lobby we had just exited. My eyes lock onto hers, and she takes in a deep, longing breath before speaking.

“I love him, my husband.”

People don’t realize how hard it is for me not to make a snarky remark every time someone says some dumb-ass shit.

It takes everything for me to keep from saying ‘You mean you love your father?’, it physically makes me sick.

I want to say it, pull that thread of being an asshole, but I steady myself.

Proserpina has seemingly been on my side, and I don’t want to jeopardize what she’s already promised me.

“But…” she continues. “I don’t agree with how our kind is handled. To me , what your mother is doing is unforgivable.”

“Why can’t you just take her? Since she’s doing ‘unforgivable’ things.” I look at the door behind her. “Belial did it with Lucifer, took him…” Honestly, I don’t know that to be the case, but I’m playing a role here. “And he wasn’t doing shit up there but living.”

“That is vastly different. Lucifer is our direct son, and when he was summoned, it was…” She sighs.

“Xeraphine, this is different. Balance and control. If we, just like the Gods themselves, snatched back our creations because they did what we do not deem as moral or aligned with what we want, that world would not exist.”

I choose to argue. “But she would destroy that world if left unchecked. If I didn’t want to fight…”

That gets a smile out of her. “Exactly. Balance. You think you were created with the heart of a fighter for nothing?”

“I don’t want to fight,” I murmur. “I have to. There is a difference. I had no choice.”

“Most don’t. Mal didn’t want to fight his son in the war nearly two thousand years ago.” I release a ‘pfft’, not really wanting a history lesson. “He killed him because if he hadn’t, your world would be worse than what it is.”

I don’t say anything, because it doesn’t matter the number of times I have to hear it, I didn’t deserve this. Fuck whoever decided this to be my fate.

“That being said… while I can’t take Tali without her damnation or by her own willingness to come to the Beyond, I will give you something.”

My brows furrow as she steps into my space.

Her hand reaches for my neck, and I instinctively jerk away.

But she cradles it gently, her other arm snaking around my waist to pull me close.

This is far too intimate, and once again, the reminder that she’s some distant relative lingers in my mind, making me feel sick.

“W-What are you doing?”

“Did you know that your damnation is attached to your Amoro?” Her fingers grip the back of my neck. My hands raise to her chest, attempting to push her away, but it’s as if my own power is holding me back from actually fighting this.

No, it’s my Amoro, not me.

“I’ll remove it.”

I hyperfocus on her eyes that are beginning to glow from the specks of gold in them.

If she removes the damnation, Tali won’t be able to control me.

“For what in return?” I ask, knowing that nothing in my life comes without a cost.

We are so close I can feel her breath against my lips. “When I summon you, you come.”

I have way too many deals going on right now .

“Not for Belial, but for me. He has Lucifer, but I never had a direct daughter.” Before I can even respond, my back is against the wall, and she’s placing the hand that was behind my neck over my chest. “I’ll break our laws and remove it just for your loyalty to me.”

“What? Why?”

“Because I’ll need you. I can also ensure his soul stays yours.”

“His… soul?” My breathing escalates. “I don’t understand, I’m not even that strong—I’m not fully ? —”

“You are much stronger than you give yourself credit for. Yes, or no, Xeraphine, you need to get back. Your Mark is in danger.”

My breath catches, and without another moment of hesitation, I whisper, “Yes. I’ll come when summoned.”

Her grin is diabolical, and I truly wonder if anyone in these three worlds has a decent bone in their body. “Very good. I promise that I am your ally, Xeraphine.”

Her mouth meets mine, and it feels as though a silver thread wraps around my entire body, stitching me together like a broken doll being mended.

Then… I suddenly feel free.

I release all the air in my lungs just as Tali slams into the parked car.

It bows inward, and I revel in the look she gives me as her head lifts.

It’s a blend of shock and fury, something I’ve come accustomed to.

When she called my name, I could’ve stood my ground, but I wanted to elicit this above everything else.

A beautiful mixture of control and patience.

Kairhyse comes to stand at my side just as my mother is pulling herself from the wreckage.

“I see some laws were broken…” she seethes. “We don’t help each other; our kind . Proserpina has always been too soft. I told Belial to drop the Hybrid bitch.”

As she pops her head from side to side, she looks up to Kai and then back to me.

“This doesn’t have to happen.” I take a single step in her direction. “Separate from this world and go to the Beyond, Tali. Leave me alone.”

She narrows her eyes. “Just because I can’t control you, doesn’t mean I won’t get what I want.

I’ll take your head, Xeraphine, incapacitate your Mark, and just have one of my Necroth kill him.

” Her tongue comes out, its long, forked tip drawing across her lips.

“Or maybe I’ll just torture him for you to give me what I want.

Make him watch as I have Incubus after Incubus fuck that tight?—”

Rage and fury are often classified alongside a lack of control. Kairhyse, has always had the latter.

However, I’ve seen the former simmering within his crimson eyes. Each emotion as deadly as he is, and the moment his fist connects with her jaw, breaking it on contact, I see the bottled up— angry as fuck —Vampire I’ve fallen in love with.

Tali goes flying so fast that I nearly lose her down the street. Just as Kai goes running after her, I do as well. Both of us making it to her as she stands and readjusts her jaw, popping it back into place.

“Well,” she huffs and rolls her shoulders back.

“I see we won’t be coming to any sort of agreement.

” As she speaks, her black horns pierce through her forehead and curl outward, unlike mine which go inward.

Hers are long and continue until they are closely related to that of a ram.

Black seeps from her skin, and a light dark fog creeps around her like she is summoning a storm.

I swear I blink and she’s gone.

The pain registers immediately, and as if I’m hit by a semi-truck, I’m tossed hundreds of feet away. I’m unable to even stop myself from rolling over and over until at least the dozenth spin. I’ve got asphalt between my nails and I just know I’ve got road rash across my face.

I’m attempting to clear the small haze over my eyes, looking for Kai, when I hear a grunt and soon smashing of metal on metal.

I push off the ground and run back in their direction. Dust in the air of the Crimson Dawn is so much thicker, and it’s difficult to see anything until I am merely ten or so feet from them. There is car stacked on top of another, and when I find Kai, he’s surrounded by his shadows.

Tali is tearing her arm from between the vehicles, and I can only imagine that her entire body was once between them. As her appendage tears from the joint, she tosses her head back with a laugh. “You’ve fed on my daughter, what a nuisance.”

This was my hope, because I’ve seen what my blood does to him, and having him overindulge like he did last night seems to be paying off.

Just as her arm is regenerating right before my eyes, Kai and three of his shadows are right in her face. I grip the blade in my hand and slice through my wrist. The pooling of my blood comes in front of me, and I create small darts before tossing them right in their direction.

My mother goes to counter his assault, but he disappears from in front of her, slipping between the shadows. She jerks her attention to me, just as my darts are about to slice into her skin.

I just need to get into her system. If it worked on Archer, it should work on her.

Large bat-like wings splay across her back and shield them from making contact.

Fucker .

I groan, watching as she stands tall. Her wings rip through her shirt, causing it to fall away, exposing her bare chest. Her Amoro has consumed her, but a vile, disgusting sensation tightens around my abdomen as I take in the sight of her without clothing.

She grins and takes a single step toward me, coming right up to my face.

I’m capable of reaching out as she goes for my neck, but before I can act, she launches us straight into the air. She doesn’t take us far, and as we plummet back to the ground, I grip the dagger in my hand tightly and slice upward through her face.

The crash into the ground below knocks the breath out of me.

I thrust my knee up into her stomach causing her to hiss with rage.

She grabs my wrist and then punches—once, twice, thrice.

The ground below me cracks and shifts at how forceful her hits are.

I can feel us dragging further into the concrete and then soil that is below it.

Then, as she goes for an even harder slam, I find the strength to shift upward and miss the attack. A force like a hurricane flies from her strike and the ground below me shakes.

I suddenly freefall, gasping out of pure fear, unable to understand how I’m falling when I should be on the ground.

The short tumble ends with my back slamming into an uneven metal bar, and I groan in discomfort. I drive my heel into her chest, since Tali hasn’t gathered herself yet, sending her flying back off of me.

When I look around, I realize we’re in the fucking subway tunnel.

She smiles at me when I find her in my view, and lunges for me. However, Kairhyse flies through the shadows that surround us and tackles her. They roll, and when he finds himself on top of her, he slams his fist right at her neck.

A surge of her Amoro pulses outward, hurling him backward. But he recovers through the shadows, reappearing before her in an instant and slamming a punch into her face.

Fuck, he’s so hot.

After my back has healed from the plummet into the subway, I’m capable of standing. The moment I can, I’m running up to the small platform that isn’t a stop, but a space for workers, and right where Tali stands.

Just as she’s gathered herself, I grip the blade in my hand and thrust it right at her chest.

She grabs my wrist but Kai slams his elbow into her face, causing her to loosen her grip. I take my arm from her hold, and attempt again at her chest, but she throws out once more a pulse of her Amoro.

It doesn’t cause me to stumble back, but Kairhyse does.

She thrusts her hand toward my neck, forcing me to bend backward, which only results in me slicing through her ribs.

I flip the blade in my hand, taking a deep breath as I fight to steady my pulse.

She snarls, takes a step back, and runs.

This bitch runs ! What the fuck?!

Kai moves to my side, and we don’t hesitate—we sprint after her down the tunnel. Her wings tuck in, and I watch as they quite literally sink back into her skin, sending a chill down my spine.

I push myself harder, trying to catch up, as light spills in from a section ahead. When she turns her head, she gives me a wink as though this is some game to her.

This is a stop, and it is not void of people.

Loud screams echo throughout the space, and there are hundreds of people piled together. They are curling away from Tali, and now both Kairhyse and I.

My chest rises and falls as I glance around, and I know exactly what’s happening.

Shifting my gaze back to Tali, I watch as she leaps onto the platform and strolls toward a cluster of people.

“Don’t.” It’s Kairhyse that speaks.

“Come with me, Xeraphine.”

Does she think I’m stupid?

I don’t say anything, and watch as she puts her hand on top of some woman’s head. She cries out a plea to be spared, but she’s quickly silenced as she spins her head completely around on her shoulders.

It isn’t me that flinches, but Kai.

I’ve been killing innocent people for eleven years, and have always saw them as collateral damage to my end goal. The act doesn’t phase me anymore, because as I’ve always seen, no one is truly innocent; other than Sydni.

My jaw ticks. “Kill them, my life matters more than theirs.”

Screams erupt, and as though using it as my own personal battle song, I step toward her.

She stares at me incredulously.

“What?” I scoff. “Did you think me moral? You ruined any morality I may have had eleven years ago.”

“Truly my daughter, and yet you fight what you were meant for. Such a tragedy.” She shrugs her shoulders and goes for another.

Then I push off my heel, closing the distance in an instant, and grab her arm. “I never said I’d make it easy for you to pick them off.”