CHAPTER 159
CHAPTER 159
DARIUS
The fight should have been over.
The last rogue’s neck snapped under my grip with a sickening crunch, his body turning to ash before it even hit the ground. I straightened, breathing hard, blood coating my hands and chest.
Roxy was wiping her blades on a dead vampire’s cloak, grinning like a lunatic.
Xander leaned against a tree, chest heaving but mostly unharmed. Morgana stood on her porch, arms crossed, looking at the carnage like we’d personally ruined her garden party.
“Pathetic,” she muttered.
“Eron sends these half-rotted strays and expects them to accomplish anything? I’ve seen more competent attacks from drunk goblins.”
I was already turning back toward the cave, the bond pulling me to Selene. She was safe. That was all that mattered.
Then the forest erupted again.
More snarls.
More shadows moving between the trees.
At least ten new rogues burst into the clearing, faster and more coordinated than the last wave. These weren’t desperate strays — these had purpose.
“Fuck,” I snarled, launching myself at the nearest one.
Roxy laughed wildly.
“Round two! I was getting bored anyway!”
Xander roared and charged, ripping into the closest attacker with bare hands. Morgana cursed loudly from the porch.
“You bloodsucking idiots! I just cleaned the damn lawn!”
Green magic crackled around her fingers as she hurled a bolt that turned one rogue into a screaming, thorny statue.
I tore through another, claws and fangs flashing. But one slipped past me, circling wide, aiming straight for my back while I was occupied with two others.
I sensed him too late.
A blade whistled toward my spine—
Then the rogue exploded.
Not metaphorically. Literally.
One moment he was there, lunging with a snarl.
The next, his body burst into a shower of ash and green sparks, like someone had lit a firework inside his chest.
I spun, heart hammering.
Selene stood at the edge of the clearing, eyes glowing with faint blue light, one hand still raised.
The protective shield I’d put around her was gone — shattered.
“What the fuck?” I roared, stalking toward her through the chaos of the clearing.
Blood and ash still clung to my hands, but all I could see was her — standing there defiantly in the middle of a battlefield she had no business being on.
“I told you not to come! I told you to stay in the cave!”
Selene lifted her chin, breathing hard, that stubborn fire blazing in her eyes like starlight ready to ignite.
“I gave you fifteen minutes, Darius. You didn’t come back. So I came to you.”
I stopped right in front of her, towering over her, fury and fear twisting together in my chest like a storm.
“You could have been killed! I put that shield up to keep you safe, and you broke it like it was nothing?”
“Maybe because I’m not some fragile doll you can lock away!” she shot back, voice rising above the snarls and clashes around us.
“I have power too, remember? Or did you forget I’m the one who just saved your ass by exploding that rogue who was about to stab you in the back?”
I opened my mouth to argue, but she wasn’t done.
“You’re welcome, by the way,” she added sarcastically, eyes flashing.
“Next time I’ll just let him skewer you and then say ‘I told you so’ while you’re bleeding out. Would that make you happier, Your Highness?”
Roxy’s laughter rang out behind me as she decapitated another rogue with a flourish.
“Oh, this is perfect. Lovers’ tiff in the middle of a bloodbath. Please continue — I’ll sell tickets!”
“Shut up, Roxy,” I growled without looking away from Selene.
Morgana’s voice cut through the chaos from the porch.
“For fuck’s sake, will you two idiots stop arguing and kill the rest of these vermin? Or should I turn you both into matching garden gnomes and be done with it?”
Another rogue lunged at me from the side. I caught him by the throat without breaking eye contact with Selene and crushed his windpipe before tossing the body aside like garbage.
“You’re impossible,” I snarled at her, voice low and rough.
“Reckless. Defiant. And if you get hurt because you couldn’t listen to me for once—”
“Then it’s my choice,” she interrupted, stepping closer until we were nearly chest to chest, the heat of battle and our argument crackling between us.
“I’m your mate, not your prisoner. Stop trying to wrap me in cotton and shadow and let me fight beside you. You should have read the manual beforehand if you’re going to complain about me not being obedient. Chapter one: ‘Selene doesn’t do ‘stay put’ when her mate is in danger.’”
A rogue tried to flank her from behind. Before I could move, Selene thrust her hand out.
The spark inside her flared — wild and bright, blue light crackling around her fingers.
The vampire exploded mid-leap, turning into a cloud of ash that scattered in the wind like dirty snow.
I stared at her, equal parts furious and impressed. My heart hammered with a mix of terror and pride.
“See?” she said, breathing hard, eyes still glowing faintly with residual power.
“I can help. I’m not useless, Darius. Stop treating me like I am.”
I grabbed her by the waist and pulled her against me for a split second, kissing her hard and angry, tasting blood and fire and relief on her tongue.
When I pulled back, I rested my forehead against hers.
“You’re going to be the death of me,” I growled.
“Good,” she whispered fiercely.
“Then you’ll have to keep me around to make sure I don’t finish the job.”
Roxy whooped as she finished off the last rogue.
“That’s my Queen! Look at her go — exploding vampires like it’s nothing. Darius, you’ve got competition.”
I couldn’t help the low, rough laugh that escaped me.
I pulled her closer, burying my face in her hair, breathing in that intoxicating mix of wildflowers, ozone, and pure Selene.
Then I glanced around the clearing.
Only a few stray rogues remained, and Roxy and Xander were already making quick work of them.
Roxy was laughing maniacally as she danced between two attackers, her blades flashing.
Xander roared as he ripped one in half with his bare hands, blood spraying across the grass.
The fight was winding down.
“If anything had happened to you…” I began,
“It wouldn’t have,” Selene interrupted softly, tilting her head back to look at me.
“Because I know you wouldn’t let anything happen to me. And I’m not helpless anymore, Darius. I just exploded a vampire into ash. I think that counts as progress.”
Morgana’s exasperated voice rang out from the porch.
“Ew, I want to puke. If you two are done with your dramatic reunion, some of us would like to go back to bed without listening to vampire foreplay. Honestly, it’s like watching two emotionally stunted teenagers try to mate in public. Disgusting.”
Roxy grinned, wiping blood from her cheek with the back of her hand.
“Aw, come on, Morgana. You’re just jealous because no one’s ever looked at you like Darius looks at Selene — like she’s both his salvation and his favorite snack.”
I sighed, pulling Selene closer despite everything.
I pressed a kiss to the top of her head, breathing her in, letting the scent of her calm the last remnants of battle rage in my veins.
Two days until the eclipse.
And Eron was clearly done waiting.
Morgana wasn’t finished.
She descended the porch steps, her silver-streaked hair wild and her apron still stained with what looked like the remnants of some potion experiment.
“You four,” she snapped, gesturing at the pile of ash and corpses with a dramatic sweep of her hand,
“I want my porch vampire-blood-free by morning. Every last speck. I just swept yesterday, and now my lawn looks like a slaughterhouse threw up on it. If I find one single drop of your foul ichor on my roses, I’ll turn the lot of you into matching garden gnomes. And not the cute ones. The ugly ones with the chipped noses and permanent constipated expressions. I’ll put little signs on them that say ‘I thought I was special.’”
Roxy barked a laugh, still high on battle adrenaline.
“You’re my new favorite person, Morgana. Can we keep her, Darius? She’s like a cranky grandmother who hexes people for fun.”
Morgana pointed a finger at her.
“Call me grandmother again and I'll hex your mouth shut for a month.”
Roxy grinned.
“You wouldn't.”
“I would. And the frightening part is nobody would notice the difference.”
For once, Roxy actually looked offended.
I stepped in before the argument could spiral.
“We’ll clean it up,” I said.
“You have my word.”
“Your word?” Morgana snorted and crossed her arms.
“The word of a vampire prince who dragged his half-fae mate into my territory and then decided to start a battle on my lawn. I should charge you rent. Better yet, I should turn you into fertilizer. At least then you'd contribute something besides brooding dramatically and making catastrophically stupid decisions.”
Roxy grinned.
“You know, if we survive the eclipse, we should come back for tea. I bet your herbal blends are to die for. Literally.”
Morgana’s eye twitched.
“If you survive the eclipse, I’ll consider not poisoning the tea. Now get to work. I want this mess gone before sunrise, or I’ll add ‘vampire disposal service’ to my list of curses. And trust me, you don’t want to be on that list. The last idiot who left blood on my property spent a decade as a very ugly lawn ornament. He still twitches when it rains.”
The tension from the fight was fading, replaced by the familiar rhythm of our strange little group.
Roxy’s laughter, Xander’s grumbling, Morgana’s biting sarcasm, and Selene’s warm presence at my side.
I glanced down at her.
She was watching the chaos with a small, tired smile, her fingers still laced with mine.
Two days.
We had two days.
And somehow, with a sarcastic witch who wanted to turn my dick into a cactus, two bickering immortals, and a mate who looked at me like I was both her salvation and her greatest frustration…
I was starting to believe we might actually win.