“I’m sorry,” he whispered. “But don’t take what I did to you and use it as an excuse to become the person you’ve been fighting against your whole life.”
“Eden!” Ryan snapped at her back. “Do it!”
Her chest screamed with the agony as she fought back the hunger that so desperately craved Noah. She closed her eyes, trying to clear her head. She’d thought this would be so easy. That if she ever saw him again she would kill him for what he’d done.
But she couldn’t.
“I can’t,” she breathed wearily, her hands falling away from him. Eden turned and looked back at Stellan, begging him for forgiveness. “I can’t.”
Her brother looked tortured. “Para-”
Whatever he might have said was cut off by the sounds of wood splintering and glass shattering all around them. Jerking in shock at the blaring raucous, Eden gaped in horror as men and women burst through the doors and windows, and jumped into the room with fluid grace, their hands clutching swords, and blades and other crude weapons, their eyes blazing with retribution and the light of war.
“Eden,” Noah yelled in her ear as fighting broke out among the warriors and the Blessed. “They’re here to help you. Let them!”
Hands gripped her arms tightly and hauled her to her feet. Eden struggled in them, the strongest hold she’d ever felt, and found herself facing a tall, handsome man with mocha skin and chocolate eyes. He was young, perhaps in his early thirties. His eyes were soft on her, amazed. “Eden?” he breathed.
She felt transfixed by him, the noise and violence around them blurring and dimming to a dull thudding as they gazed upon one another. Electricity shot through her body from where he touched and she felt… safe.
“Nooo!” They spun around as Ryan screamed at them, a warrior with a broken neck left in his wake. Eden saw Celine, Stellan and Teagan fighting hand to hand with the warriors as if they had been prepared for this day. Brain fuzzy with utter incomprehension at the turn of events, Eden allowed the tall man to shove her behind him. Suddenly Noah was by her side, the chains that had held him to the floor dangled broken from his wrists; another man, Noah’s rescuer, stood beside him, his sword out as he guarded over them.
Eden was aware of Noah yelling at her but the words were muffled as she watched the man with the safe eyes battle her father. Something treacherous inside her prayed her father would lose the fight. They fought on and on, match for match, grunt for grunt, blood for blood. Eden was transfixed by them.
“You are going to pay for what you have done!” the man finally cried, a war cry, as he ducked a powerful blow from Ryan.
Her father was sweating, his eyes bright with hatred.
“Ryan!” They glanced over at Celine, who was tumbling back into the room. Eden hadn’t even seen her leave. She threw Ryan a gun.
“No!” Eden screamed.
As Ryan aimed and fired, a bullet shot through the man’s shoulder as he swung around in an arc, his sword hissing through the air with song. He jerked a little at the impact of the bullet, but his arc never changed, never faltered, and the lethal blade sliced through Ryan’s neck, decapitating him. His head rolled from his body, and the body slumped to the ground with a thud, accompanied by Celine’s shriek.
Numb with shock Eden watched the man who had rescued Noah gut Celine from behind before she could fire her own gun at the chocolate-eyed warrior. Blood spurted up out of her mouth in a thick fluid as she dropped to her knees, eyes wide and disbelieving. The man slid the sword out with sick finesse and swung it around with mastery, the blade cutting through Celine’s neck. Eden closed her eyes so she didn’t witness the full decapitation. Unreality made her dizzy and she snapped her eyes back open. What the hell was happening? This couldn’t be happening. Not happening.
“Eden.” Noah shook her, as she gazed around in bewilderment.
The warriors were winning.
The blood of the Blessed splattered walls and chairs and pooled on the floor like something from a fantastical graphic novel. It was a massacre.
Stellan?!
Eden pushed at Noah, who kept a tight grip, tugging her towards the doorway as the chocolate-eyed warrior and the man who had killed Celine, drew towards her, guarding her. They were joined by a pretty woman with auburn hair.
“No!” Eden tried to wrench away from them. “Stellan!” she shrieked.
She caught sight of her brother through the fight, his head swinging around to find her as he heard her cry out his name.
A female warrior with a swishing blonde ponytail took advantage of Stellan’s distraction.
“Eden!” he yelled, turning away from the warrior, to fight his way through the miniature war.
“Eden, no!” Noah tried to pull her back.
“Stellan!” She reached out for him, her eyes widening as the sword came towards the back of his head. “Stellan, noooo!” she screamed.
But it was too late.