Odette’s body will soon begin to dry like a husk, then blow away, like discarded bits of paper. Even if we call Ifan now and promise him an exorbitant price, there is little chance he could save her. Outrage scalds through my blood, washing everything in crimson tones. I try to tamp down my fury. Try to silence my need for retribution. Blood for blood. My pound of flesh.
“Why?” My vision swims. My voice is dry. Brittle.
“Because I could,” Émilie says.
“No. That’s not enough of a reason. Why?”
“It’s the reason I choose to give.” She wraps her bloody fingers around my wrist. “Are you angry, mon petit lion?”
I say nothing.
A corner of her mouth kicks up. “Do what Uncle Nico taught you to do.”
I swallow, my fingers tightening around her throat.
“Take your revenge, little brother. Today I’ve taken much from you. Take this. You’ve earned it.” Her smile widens, her teeth pressed together, flashing like ivory. Low growls emanate from behind her, the pack hoping to rally behind its new alpha.
I study her in silence, trying to find a point of clarity through a haze of sadness. Why does she want me to kill her? Is it simply because she wants to ensure the rivalry between the Fallen and the Brotherhood will ignite anew?
What happens next is subtle. A blink and I might have missed it.
Émilie flinches.
My rage abates, a tide retreating from the shore.
“Regret?” I say softly. “For what?”
Her upper lip curls into the beginning of a snarl. “Regret is for fools.” Her laughter is like dried leaves caught in a twist of wind. “Do it. Lash out. If you don’t, I’ll destroy everything you love.” Émilie looks behind my shoulder. I do not need to guess where she has turned her attention. “The half blood is next.”
The rage flows to my fingertips once more. I can take the blade in my hand and sever her head from her neck, just as she’s done to Odette. Bury the knife in her heart, all the way to the hilt, twisting it deeper than her betrayal. The demon in me is delighted at the prospect. My bloodlust longs for the satisfaction.
Unshed tears glimmer in Émilie’s eyes, but she blinks them back, her teeth bared.
“Bastien.” Celine’s voice comes from behind me. “Don’t.”
It isn’t what I am. It is who I hope to become.
Be better than I was.
I think about my uncle, who used violence for centuries to protect the ones he loved. I think about Sunan, and the promise I held so close to my chest, of finding a way to be unmade.
Maybe this is my unmaking. Not from a demon to a man. But into a better version of myself.
I drop my hand from Émilie’s throat and step aside.
I will not stand in the path of an unstoppable force. That is the way of disaster. The way of Death. Power isn’t about deciding who lives or dies. It is having the strength to walk away.
“Madeleine and Boone,” I say through clenched teeth. “Take Odette to Ifan.”
“It’s too late,” Madeleine says through her tears. “She is gone, my dearest. We must—”
“Take her. Now,” I command, my tone weary.
When Émilie lunges at me once more, she is immediately restrained by Jae. The wolves in the shadows stir, preparing to resume what they started, despite their losses.
I sense their hesitation before I see it. I know that—without a leader—they will be hard-pressed to rally together. Before they have a chance to regroup, I let my voice carry across the deck. “Make a single move, and I’ll ensure that the Brotherhood dies here and now.”
The growls grow louder.
“Do as I ask, and I’ll let you leave to bury your dead and mourn,” I continue. “This”—I glance about—“is not the way forward.”
Boone’s nostrils flare. “She killed Odette, Bastien. Someone must answer for that. She cannot be allowed to find her way back to us or lead any more of her kind against us. That is foolish.”
Jae’s attention settles on me. “There is another way. I can take her to Lady Silla and ask that she be banished to the Wastelands.”
I consider this a moment before I nod in agreement.
“And what if she is able to escape? What if she seeks another way to wreak her revenge?” Madeleine says.
Jae’s eyes flash. “You know what must be done. An alpha that cannot run at the head of its pack is an alpha no more.”
A sharp spate of laughter fills the air. “They turn to you, little brother, to