A Deadly Love- Book Two

Ch. 35- These Violent Delights

"Before you kill the monster, you have to say its name." 

***

I'd expected this. Expected to see Ben on the wrong side once again. But it was still surprising. After all, my parents did warn me that this would happen. And I knew it.

"Let me guess, you wanted to see the girl that looks like your daughter?" I asked his father. I was standing in front of everyone else, who did nothing but stand behind me, out of view.

He laughed as he clapped his hands together. "Well, is it so terrible that I did? You look beautiful by the way."

I snarled. "You don't get to say that. I don't know you and you are nothing more than the person that cursed me."

"I did it to make sure you got my warning," he said casually. "I wanted to make sure you suffered first before killing you."

Now I laughed at that. I heard Sebastian growl behind me but I ignored it. "Is that so? I want you to take your best shot."

"Not so fast, my lady," he put a hand in the air. "I wanted to ask you something.," I was silent as I looked around the crypt. The last time I was in here was when we had Christian's funeral. And his mother's. It seemed like a terrible place to be at this very moment. So -- inappropriate. "Do you hear her in your mind."

I tried to hold my surprise, but it was no use. "How do you know about that?"

He turned to Ben. "Leave it up to my son to tell me everything about you. And find out where you have been hiding out for all these months."

"Well, if you must know, she is silent right now," I told him. "Which is a relief because it would be torture for her to see me rip out your heart with my bare hands."

Ben's father shifted. "And tell me, why exactly do you want to kill me? I never knew why," I said.

His face was bright when he said, "I want to kill you because you not only look like my daughter but your boyfriend of yours killed her. I wanted to make sure that the world knows that the strongest creature in the world is dead."

I hesitated. I didn't know what to say. Be fearless. My mother would say, but how am I supposed to be that? How am I supposed to show this man that I barely know, who has now come out of the shadows, that I have nothing to fear from him? The truth is, I'm tired of all of this. There will always be a new problem in this world, a new enemy to defeat. And I don't know if it was my pride taking over me or the fact that I wanted this to be over but I said, "Do your worst and I will make sure it happens."

"No!" yelled Sebastian from behind me. I turned and gave him a glance that said "it will be alright" before looking back at Ben and his father. As I was about to step forward, he stopped me. "You cannot have her, Kiel. If you want someone to blame, it's me." So that was what his name was.

Kiel only laughed, with his pearly whites showing. He had a mix of brown and grey hair with a beard that matched it. He did not look like Ben at all, I noticed. "Trust me, when I'm done with her, all of you are going to pay for what you did."

"I guess betrayal runs in the family." I directed to Ben, who had his head down and avoided my gaze.

"Indeed, Elora. That's what makes my family so great." he said.

"No, it doesn't. It makes it worse." I paused. "You may be Fae but that doesn't mean I have to respect you."

"And how will you know?" he questioned, tilted his head. "All of your family is dead and you don't know how to use your powers."

"I can use it some," I told him. "And not all of my family is dead."

I glanced at Jasper and he gave me a slight nod in agreement. If we were going to fight, we were going to fight together. "Ah, I forgot about him." Kiel said.

I snarled. "If you think that you are going to win, then you are mistaken." I said. "Two against four is not really fair, is it?"

He only smiled. "No, it's not."

I looked over to Sebastian again and gave him a nod, telling him to fight. For once, he actually obeyed. Something that was hard for him to do, but he would do it for me. He did the same before darting toward Kiel and Ben.

I held my breath as I watched him run, but it was stopped short when Kiel used his magic to hold onto him. Panic rose in me as I saw that he was holding Sebastian with a wooden stake pointed at his heart. I don't know how he could do it, but I had to do something. I needed to do something.

"I'll say this once Elora Miller," he started to say, holding Sebastian tighter than before. "If you so much as move a muscle, I will stab him with this stake that I found."

"You're not fast enough." I argued.

"Try me."

I clenched my jaw. "Okay, Kiel. What are you going to do? What is your elaborate plan that ends with my heart not beating anymore? With you killing me?"

"You think I'm going to be the one that kills you?" he questioned. "Think again. I don't want to get my hands dirty."

"Then what?"

"Elora, I want you to stab yourself in your heart. If you don't, I will make you watch as I kill your beloved Sebastian."

I thought I was in a nightmare at first. That this wasn't real and I was only sleeping. This can't be what I planned. No, this isn't fair. But I know that if I have to save Sebastian from Kiel, I will. No matter what it takes.

It's the only way to survive this, I realized. It's the only way to save them. To save my family. I have to sacrifice myself.

***