Page 156 of Sun-Kissed Fangs
Kieran glared at him. Then he huffed and turned around, looking back at Maya.
She was trying to stand. She pushed against the ground, collapsing under her own weight with every attempt. Pain raked across her face, her limbs trembling.
And she was looking at the cabin window. At Harper. While every other inch of her body screamed agony, her eyes only showed fear.
“Pathetic freak.” Kieran limped back to her. He kicked the knife from her hand, placed a foot against her bloody shoulder, and pushed down.
Maya cried out, fingers curling into the snow. Kieran nodded to one of the onlookers.
“Bring me a stake.”
“No!” Harper bolted for the door, wrenching free of Nell and Evie’s hold. Ignoring their warnings that there wasn’t anything she could do.
Harper didn’t care. It wasn’t sense driving her forward. It was a desperate need to dosomethingthat made her pull open the door and step outside, beyond its protective barrier.
The snow bit into her bare feet. The wind was ice, washing over her skin like rainfall made of needles.
“I’ll come with you!” she yelled at Kieran, making everyone turn towards her. “That’s what you want, right? You want me? Well, you got me. I won’t even struggle, just…” Her voice broke. “Please don’t hurt her.”
Maya was shaking her head. Saying something, but her words were lost to the wind.
Kieran stared at Harper. Then stepped off Maya’s back.
“There you are…” His eyes were soft now, a relieved smile blooming on his face. “I’ve missed you. So much. I never should have let you go, but finally… I found you. I’m sorry it took this long.”
He walked towards her, expression so elated that it shot past heartwarming into eeriness. The possessive adoration you’d show a beloved pet rather than a human being.
Harper put her hand on the doorway. “You have to promise to let her go. Let everyone else go. If you do that, then… then I’ll come with you. I’ll go wherever you want.”
“No…” Maya’s voice trembled. The fear in her eyes had heightened to terror, her attempts at standing still fruitless.
Kieran didn’t hear her. Or anything, it looked like. Delusional joy shined in his gaze. The look of someone who’d just had his dreams come true.
The wind turned. It rushed over the clearing, blowing in through the door and catching Harper’s hair.
Kieran stiffened. His smile froze as his eyes flicked to Harper’s neck. Herbloodyneck, now marked by two circular fang marks.
Rage flared across his face. He spun back towards Maya.
“Youbither?”
She didn’t look at him. Her eyes were locked on Harper, her head still shaking. Willing her to back away. To not look at what was about to happen.
Kieran held out his hand and caught the broken-off branch being tossed to him. It was the length of an arm, snapped off at an angle to make a crude spear.
“Don’t!” Harper ran forward, but someone grabbed her after only a few steps. They held her in place as Kieran put his foot back on Maya’s shoulder.
Her dark eyes glinted. Tears. Tears that Harper suffered herself, as her vision went blurry.
Maya tried to smile. But it was so far from the beautiful one Harper had fallen in love with. So far from the peaceful version she’d found an unparalleled safety in.
Kieran rested the tip of the stake against Maya’s back. Fire blazed in his pupils, dancing with wrathful intensity.
“You were never supposed to exist,” he said. “I consider it an honor to correct that mistake.”
He grabbed the branch with both hands, raised it into the air. And thrust it through Maya’s chest.
The world fell away. All sound vanished. Everything became a blur other than Maya’s pained, pale face.
