Winter's War (Her Guardians series Book 4)(15)

“No!” I shout, pushing him out of the way as he removes his hands, and my mum looks up at me as her eyes slowly open. I push her grey hair out of her face, wincing when I leave a trail of blood on her cheek from my hands.

“Alex, come and say goodbye,” I hear Dabriel say, and the sound of Alex’s crying fills the room.

“Go say goodbye to your mother. I’m okay, Alex,” I hear Drake say, and then I hear her move closer as I stare into my mum’s eyes. I don’t look away.

“I love you both, you know that?” she whispers out, her breaths sounding slower and slower as I brush some hair out of her eyes.

“I love you, too, mum, please don’t leave me,” Alex begs as she grips her hand.

“Sing for me Winter, I love your singing,” she mumbles and I nod, wiping my eyes. I don’t know what to sing as I open my mouth, and then a song fills my mind. A song she used to sing to me as a child.

“Blue, blue rose dancing in the snow. Oh blue, blue rose you have come to say Winter has finally come. Winter brings the cold but the warmth along, too. I can hear the snow falling, I can hear the foxes sleeping, and I can hear the sun setting as Winter comes . . . as the snow falls, and all is clear . . . .”

“Winter, save us. Save us all, and I’m so proud of you both,” she says as I stop singing. Blood flows out of her mouth, before her hand drops out of mine, and her eyes close. I can’t say a word as I watch her die, every part of me feeling as cold and distant as the very song she used to sing to me.

“Mum, mum don’t,” Alex whines. Everything seems surreal as I feel Dabriel pull me into his arms and whispers what I’m sure are comforting things. All I can hear is Alex’s cries and the echo of my mum’s last words: Save us all.





10





Winter





“What are you doing?” Jaxson asks me as I throw my dagger, and it lands perfectly in the next target. It’s been a day since my mum died, and I don’t know what I’m doing. Dabriel decided to put off seeing the angels until tonight, and I haven’t spoken to any of them. I can’t speak about it because it will make it more real. It will make it more heart-breaking that my parents have been killed by my grandfather. That my entire family is dead except for him. Him. The evil son of a bitch that hides in his castle and gets his demons to do his handiwork. Everything he has taken from me just continues to add up, he was destroying my life before I was even born. He was destroying everything before the prophecy was even spoken from my grandmother’s lips.

“Do you need me to answer that?” I ask sarcastically, and he glares at me. I ignore him and pick up two more daggers, throwing them into the target and landing them perfectly on either side of the first dagger. I imagine the evil, red eyes as I walks over to the target and pull out the daggers. I see the eyes of everyone who is training in the room on me, but I ignore them. I can’t deal with being their queen right now; being the reasonable one. Death, just more death, and what else will be left, in the end, if I don’t kill him?

“Out, everyone, now,” he shouts in the training room, and the twenty or so wolves, witches, and vampires quickly run out the door at Jaxson’s growly words.

“You didn’t need to do that,” I mutter, and he chuckles as I put the daggers down on the bench and turn my back to him.

“Fight me, like we used to,” he tells me, and I look over my shoulder, only seconds before he charges at me. I move at the last second, dodging his attack and spin around, running at his back. He turns and blocks my hit, and I slam my leg into his side. He grabs my hip and slams me onto the floor, and I knock his legs out from under him. He slams onto the floor next to me, and I roll onto him, holding his arms down.

“I’ve always liked you on top,” he says as we both breathe heavily, and I lean down, kissing him. Jaxson groans slightly and flips us over as he deepens the kiss, pressing himself into me.

“No sex, we need to talk, lass,” he tells me as he breaks away but keeps me trapped under him.

“I don’t want to talk,” I say, looking to the side, and he grabs my chin, gently pulling my face to look at him.

“I get it. You want to fuck and kill and do anything to forget what happened. We are far more alike than I want to admit, lass. I know you feel guilty, you feel like everyone you love has died, and you have lost that last part of your parents,” he says, his tone growing gentler with each word.

“I lost my mum, my sister, and my brother, and I wanted to destroy everything because of that. But I didn’t, you know why?”

“Why?” I ask quietly.

“Because I had family left to fight for. You have us; your mates. And Alex, who is like a sister to you. You have so much to fight for. We will be at your side; there to make sure we don’t lose anyone else,” he tells me, and his words crack some kind of barrier I’ve held onto since my mum died. I burst into tears, and he sits up, pulling me onto his lap.

“You cry now and let it out. Then you are going to hold your head high and walk out that door, and be their queen. They are all scared and need their queen to be strong,” he whispers to me.

“With you at my side,” I whisper.

“I will always be at your side, Winter,” he tells me, and gently kisses my forehead.