Page 222 of Claimed By Fangs and Darkness

Juliette’s eyes flashed surprise, her chin trembling as she stared at me with wide gray eyes. My mirror, my shadow, the unhealed woman I could’ve become.

“You never had a chance.”

I handed the dagger to Harmony. “I can’t kill her. But she has to face the consequences of what she’s done.”

Harmony nodded. She exchanged a look with Blade, Allie, and Kylo. “For Princeton.”

I held Juliette’s hand. Kylo rubbed my back.

Juliette smiled when Harmony’s weapon came down. Her death was quick. I only let go of her hand when her hair darkened and body shifted back into place.

“I hope her next life is kinder.”

Kylo pulled me into his arms, his voice a cool whisper in my ear. “Baby, I love your violence. But I love your mercy a thousand times more.”

He kissed me.

The calm after the storm was brief, as a heaving, breathless voice rang through the air.

“We took the estate, and we were set to overpower Conrad’s men—but ground forces were too much for the clans of Terasette. One of Earle’s fleets has made it over the mountains.”

69

EVIE

We’d fought our way to the center of the battle, an intersection between four of Etherdale’s busiest streets. It was a crossroads, a powerful source of magick for any witch, butespeciallyfor a daughter of Hekate. I fed on the energy beneath my feet, the charge of cosmic change that rattled through me.

I’d seen premonitions and visions of war, but nothing could’ve prepared me for its reality. My only solace was the knowledge that Mena’s neighborhood was one of the first sections of the city taken under turned control.

But now that one of Earle’s fleets had arrived, nothing felt safe.

Kylo had won against Conrad’s men. But now thousands of highly organized born fighters were infiltrating the city on behalf of the king.

Vampires moved at impossible speeds. Opposing magickal forces collided, like a rich tapestry of currents rippling in all directions.

The wordsfate weaverrepeated in my mind, a grounding reminder in this sea of brutality.

Kylo covered me, never leaving my side. As a non-vampire, I was utterly defenseless against vampire speed and strength. I was only powerful at a distance. Kylo didn’t let a single enemy get too close to us. He also watched out for Idris, who’d been commanded not to stray too far from our bubble. Harmony had been right—my brother was more than capable of holding his own.

In the center of this war-plagued crossroads, I closed my eyes and took a deep breath.

I envisioned my better world resting in my palms, just like Amy’s version of The World card. The final card in the major arcana. The completion of a cosmic cycle, an ultimate victory.

For the first time in my life, I consciously exploded. I pictured exactly what I wanted to happen, I grabbed loose threads and braided them together, bending reality to my will.

When I opened my eyes, a dark storm had gathered. I conjured lightning, hitting members of Earle’s sky fleet. Dozens of born rained down from above, dead before they hit the ground. My hand danced in the air like an orchestral conductor.

“Are you humming?” Kylo asked incredulously.

“Shhh. I’m making art.”

I grinned, glancing away from the distracting force of his silly little dimple.

Thiswas who Aster and Conrad wanted me to be. The fuckable weapon who was going to lift them into positions of power and strike down anyone who stood in their way.

“Helia’s heavens,” Blade gasped.

Three born fell at his feet after he’d skewered them on a sword. Now Blade was staring up at the sky.