Pretty When She Destroys (Pretty When She Dies #3)(81)

“I hate this,” Jeff sighed, rubbing his face with his hands. “If The Assembly hadn’t fallen apart they might have been able to figure out how to eliminate him.”

“I know you trusted your vampire hunting buddies, but they were ill-prepared for all of this in the end. How many groups have simply gone quiet?”

“Too many. They’re out of the game now. We’re it.”

Resting his hand on Jeff’s shoulder, Cian looked him in the eye. “The best people to deal with what is happening are already here in Austin. I do believe that.”

“I still wish we could get help from the government, the military, the cops.” Jeff leaned against the wall, appearing exhausted. “I didn’t tell the others, but one of the groups in England also tried to raise the alarm with the government. No one has heard from them since. After what happened to the group in Washington and now the English one, I’m really starting to wonder if the vampires have some of the governments in their back pockets.”

Cian knew it was a distinct possibility. “So if the veil falls...?”

“Some of the people in power will end up vampires and continue to be in power. That’s what I’m guessing. Or am I just paranoid?”

“You might be right. We’ve been a bit naive about things since the beginning. Remember when we thought it was a fluke that The Summoner had made Amaliya? Now we know better. When he set her free after she rose, it was all a test. To see if he had accomplished what he set out to do.” Cian mirrored Jeff’s posture by leaning against the opposite wall. “Maybe he’s had this planned much longer than we think. Consider the abduction of Etzli over a hundred years ago. The rings of Lucifer are worn by his followers. His exclusion of me and Rachoń, the most ‘human’ of his offspring.”

“Yeah, yeah.” Jeff let out a harsh exhalation. “It’s just he’s had how long to prepare compared to our measly four months?”

“You think we’re going to fail, don’t you?” Cian wasn’t surprised. Jeff was pragmatic and intelligent. It didn’t take much thought to come to that conclusion. Yet, Cian believed they would somehow beat The Summoner. So much had changed since Amaliya had come into his life. She was a catalyst for so much that he believed she would continue to play a valuable part of what would happen next.

“I won’t lie. I wish I could take Sam and run. But there is nowhere to go, is there? The veil falls and hell comes to earth. I just wish my dad was here. I feel like he’d figure all this out. He’d know what we need to do.”

“Did you ask Sam if he’s around?”

“Yeah. No sign of him or Innocente.” Jeff’s thick brows drew into a hard line over his eyes. “I sometimes feel like we’re abandoned by the whole damn world.”

Cian grinned. “But we’ll save it anyway, right?

“Because we’re the good guys?”

“Because we love two amazing women that we want to have futures with.”

Jeff chuckled. “So you’re saying we’re being selfish bastards and not actually noble.”

Cian shrugged. “I have Amaliya and Cass to think about. I don’t want to see them altered by the veil falling.”

“I’d like to have a family with Sam,” Jeff confessed. “Be a dad. Have a regular life.”

“Sometimes people do the right thing for selfish reasons,” Cian said.

Jeff was silent for a beat, then said, “No, no. I want to save the world and all the people in it. I want them to be safe from the monsters in the abyss. I don’t want to just stop The Summoner for me and Sam, but for everyone.”

Cian wished he could say the same, but he really couldn’t. A world filled with darkness would actually benefit him in many ways, but he feared what the veil falling would do to Amaliya and Cassandra. A world ruled by The Summoner would be an incredibly dangerous place for them.

“You’re a better man than me, Jeff,” Cian said at last.

That brought a smile to Jeff’s face.

“Will you two hurry up and kiss?” Benchley poked his head out of the room. “Seriously. Gay. Sam and Frodo gay.”

“You do realize Sam wanted to go home and marry a girl,” Jeff responded, smirking. “The girl with ribbons in her hair.”

“Whatever. I got the silver coated shackles secured in here. Are you sure it will hold her?”

“If she tries to escape, she’s not going to have arms and legs,” Jeff replied.

Benchley looked at Cian, frowning. “Seriously?”

“I’ll chop them off,” Cian answered.

“Fuck, dude. Okay, well, I can rig a harness if I need to. Very Boxing Helena, Cian.” Benchley disappeared back into the room. “You guys aren’t playing around.”

“Actually,” Cian responded, “we’re playing to win.”





Chapter 22


Keeping close to Baptiste as he carried Etzli into Cian’s modern multi-level house through the door exiting the garage, Amaliya didn’t dare remove her eyes from the paralyzed vampire. She knew their prisoner was unable to move as long as she was impaled by silver, but it didn’t keep Amaliya from experiencing the irrational fear that the Aztec vampire might somehow escape.