Page 38

A vicious grin took up most of my face, almost hurting with how it pulled so hard on my cheeks. My gaze slid over the two council members and over to where Adam stood beside them.

His eyes widened slightly before he trained his face into a determined expression. Blake and Zane kept guard on the other side, their eyes sweeping over me in a mixture of awe and desire.

“What’s this?” I held my skirt with one hand, my other holding onto Luke’s arm as he led me forward. I trailed my nails over Jetta’s face, flicking the glasses on his nose. “I thought I was going to have to sneak out to find you two, but here you are, all trussed up for me like it’s Yule day.”

Jetta jerked away from me.

I laughed, then turned my attention to Adam. “What’s this about?”

“I wanted to apologize.” Adam placed a hand on Carisa’s shoulder. She flinched at his touch, her snake slit eyes narrowing on him. “And show you that I’m on your side. You were right. So, we found these two for you, an apologetic offering, if you will. It’s your decision what happens next. Either way, I’ll make an announcement, and the humans will be freed.”

I shot a look at the two council members and then back at Adam. “So you would be okay if I snapped their necks right here in your house?”

Adam didn’t even flinch. “If that’s what you want.”

I stepped up to him, walking my fingertips up his chest. “And if I wanted to rip them apart, cover myself and all of you in their blood? What would you say to that?”

Gage grunted from behind me. Knowing my words turned him on made me want to do it, just so he could fuck me over their bodies. And maybe I would, but I needed to hear it from Adam. That he’d stand by me if I chose to let my vengeance take control.

To my surprise, the dark hooded gaze Adam gave me made my thighs slick with need. “Then I’ll help you clean up the mess. Either way, no one will know it was you.”

This had me stepping back. “What?”

“I want you to get your revenge.” Adam reached out and brushed my blonde hair over my shoulder. “However, we’re not sure letting the public know that you were the one who caused this change is a good idea.”

I frowned, my insides swirling with confusion and rage. “Why?”

“Eva,” Zane stepped in, his voice soft. “If the people see that an outsider killed their leaders and made all these changes...”

“We’re afraid they’ll try to take you out next,” Luke interjected with a sad smile. “Can you blame us for not wanting to lose you?”

I opened my mouth to snap that I could take care of myself, but Blake spoke up then.

“We know you can take care of yourself, Eva.” Blake brushed my arm with his hand. “But you don’t have to do it alone anymore. We want to take care of you. Protect you from this world. Please let us protect you.”

I peered up at Blake, unable to be angry at the pleading in his voice. Would it be so bad to let them take care of me? I’d been on my own since I was a kid.

Sure, I had Katana, but I was more of her student than her child. She didn’t tuck me in at night. Didn’t tell me stories when I was scared.

Even married to Midas, I didn’t feel loved, protected, or wanted. Not the way the five of them have made me feel.

“And did you talk to Rebecca and Nick about this?” I chewed on my lower lip. “This was their plan.”

Adam pinched my chin and turned my gaze back to his, his thumb pulling my lip from between my teeth. “They’re on board and actually agree this is the better idea. I’m the Arch Mage. It’s not unheard of for a new generation to make such drastic changes.”

“What are they going to say when their bodies show up?” I gestured toward the two bound mages.

Jetta’s expression had turned chalk white, his eyes wide as sweat beads down his brow. Carisa yelled through her gag, struggling uselessly against her bindings.

“They won’t even know they're dead.” Adam smirked. “We already had paperwork created with the charges being brought up against them.” He shot a look at the two of them, a hard look in his eyes. “The many, many illegal activities they participated in. To the public, they will be shipped to a high security anti-magic facility, and new mages will be appointed to their position on the council.”

“Us,” Luke announced happily.

I twirled around to look at them. “You? You’ll be the council?”

Gage shrugged a shoulder. “Why not? We know how we want the world to look in the future. We want this to be a place where everyone feels safe and free. And with you by our side,” he held his hand out to me, and I clasped it, “we can do anything.”

Those words filled in all the cracks of my heart. While I stood surrounded by the men who loved me, I found that the anger I’d been holding onto for so long, the rage that kept me going every single day, was... gone.

I didn’t know when it happened. When did I become... happy? Fulfilled? My situation wasn’t conventional by any means. It would scandalize the ladies of the court, definitely.

But the thought of those ladies finding out their queen had five men worshiping her made me smile.

Standing in front of the two council members, I pressed my lips together. They deserved to die a horrible, terrible death for what they’d done to the humans and mages. They deserved to have their insides ripped out and intestines fed down their throats until they choked on them.

But...

The desire to be the one to do it was gone.

Turning to my men, I placed my hands on my hips and smiled. “You know what? They’re all yours.”

Looks of confusion and disbelief came back at me. Like they didn’t understand what I was giving up right then. Or if they did they couldn’t believe I would just not want it anymore.

That made two of us.

I hardly believed what I was saying, and yet it rang true. I didn’t want their deaths. At least, not by my hand. I didn’t care about them. I finally achieved my goal to save the humans. The only thing I hadn’t gotten was revenge on Snow.

My gaze locked with Adam’s. This man. This man was the descendant of the woman I hated so much. She destroyed all my years of planning and sacrifice. She took the only man I ever loved — which wasn’t true now.

I had them. All five of them had my heart and I had theirs.

The question was... was that enough?

I looked at Adam, and I didn’t want to hurt him. I didn’t want to blame all my problems on him and his ancestors. It wasn’t his fault.

It wasn’t his fault.

He lied to me. To protect me, to keep me from hating him at first sight, which I would have. Without question, as soon as I got my memories back, I would have killed him right then and there.

It didn’t matter that he was sweet and self-sacrificing. That he read stupid dirty books whenever he was uncomfortable with a conversation. I would have watched the life bleed from his eyes and laughed.

The thought of Adam’s lifeless face made my heart hurt. I didn’t want to kill him. I wanted to kiss him. I wanted to love him and let him love me.

Giving up some of my control to these men who wanted nothing more than the best for me might be hard. It would take time to let go but I trust them. They would always have my best interest at heart, and that was why it was so easy to just give this one thing.

This symbol of my long fought war, I didn’t want it. Not now, not ever. Not anymore.

Reaching for Adam, I smiled softly. My hands cupped his face as I leaned in. “Do what you want with them. I don’t care.”

“Are you sure?” His arms wrapped around me, the hesitancy in his voice clear. Like he thought I would change my mind at any moment. “This is everything you wanted. Everything you fought for.”

“No. It’s not. This.” I pressed my forehead to his chin. “This is what I want. You. All of you.” I glanced to the side, before lifting my eyes to his once more. “I love you, Adam. I don’t care that you lied or that Snow was your great-great-great-however-many-great-grandmother. I just want you.”

Adam hugged me tightly against him. “About forty greats to be accurate and if you’re sure then...” He shot a look at Gage, who walked forward confidently as he drew his knives.

“Eva!” Luke shouted. “Watch out.”

I didn’t even get a chance to look before Adam shoved me to the side, throwing out a bolt of light. A squeal and then something wiggly shot up into the air. Smoke sizzled off what used to be a snake on the ground beside me.

A snap and hiss jerked our attention to Carisa as she pulled the gag from her mouth, her face seething with rage. Snakes crawled up her body, wrapping around her arms. “If I’d been able to talk, I would have begged you to kill me right then so you could spare me of your disgusting display of love and...” She gagged, her head darting to the side. “Nauseating devotion.”

Fire burned from my palms. “You should have stayed where you were. I was showing you mercy.”

“Ha!” She threw her head back and laughed, “Mercy? Just like a pathetic human.”

Another snap and Jetta was on his feet. Dark magic billowed around his hands. “You’re going to let us leave, or we’ll tell everyone about your little human here.”

Every one of my men turned at their words, their own powers coming to the forefront. Izzy appeared out of a glowing purple portal, and Blake’s eye glowed as he prepared to attack. Luke created daggers out of pure light, while Zane had his own dark magic wisping around his hands. If possible, the muscles in Gage’s arms bulged and grew larger, his magic sweeping through his body in a show of power.

“You’re outnumbered and outpowered,” Adam said matter-of-factly. “There’s only one way out of this, and that’s death. You’ve already proven yourself untrustworthy, so that threat you just made will only make your deaths more violent.”

Carisa lifted off the ground, her eyes glowing with her powers. “Then death it is.”