Amber.
He saw her. The vamp was laughing and aiming his gun at her.
With the last of his strength, Cass summoned his scythe once more. Heaving up, he threw the weapon and it spun, a dizzying blur that ended—
When the vamp’s head hit the ground.
Amber fell to her knees at Cass’s side and her hands went to his chest. “Cass? Tell me that you’re not dying.”
“Won’t…stay dead…” Talking was too hard. He could barely see her. “Only lasts…few minutes…”
She was trying to stop the blood flow. She was wasting precious time on him.
“G-get away…R-run…” Cass tried to tell her. Because he’d taken out four of those bastards…
A crow called out.
But he’d missed the witch.
And Gregory had vanished as soon as the bullets started flying.
“I won’t leave you,” Amber said. She was still touching him. Still holding him tight.
And he realized…she couldn’t leave him. The fucking magical tie was still between them. She’d been trapped, been kept at his side all along. But now…
Now he was fading and she’d be vulnerable.
He’d made her vulnerable.
“D-deal…” He tried to call out. The word came only as a whisper.
He wanted to deal. He wanted to trade. He wanted to do anything to keep Amber.
But his eyes closed. His heart stopped. And he saw hell once more.
***
The crows were cawing all around her. She hated that sound.
“Quite strange to see him die, isn’t it?” Gregory said. He was back. Appearing from the dark, closing in on her.
Cass was still on the ground. His scythe had vanished. But the gun is still here. She grabbed the gun from Cass’s hand and spun around, aiming it right at Gregory.
He froze, then he laughed. “Come on, love. I’m ancient. Those bullets won’t do much damage to me at all.”
The crows flew behind him. She caught a glimpse of Cass’s gloves. The crows were in a frenzy.
“Let me guess…he used those magical cuffs on you, right? I mean, why else would you be at his side?”
Why else indeed? Maybe because there was no way she’d leave him alone. Maybe because at his side—that was just where she wanted to be.
“It will take a few moments for him to rise.” Gregory took another step toward her. “By the time he does, you’ll be dead.”
“Or you will be.”
Gregory laughed. “You are fun.”
“And you are crazy. You think you can go up against Luke? You think he doesn’t see your betrayal coming?” If she kept talking, maybe she could buy enough time for Cass to rise. “He does…Luke knows what you’re planning.”
Gregory wasn’t laughing any longer.
“If you were dumb enough to meet him face-to-face, then he would have read your betrayal right in your eyes.”
“Bullshit.” But she thought she detected a note of fear in his voice.
“He knows…”
“The only thing he knows is that Cass was fucking you. That bit of news sure pissed off Luke.” Gregory took another step toward her. The crows circled him. “It made him want your lover’s head on a stick. Or rather…his sorry ass tossed in a cell. So Luke made a deal with me. I take out Cass…I get close enough to put him out of commission, and then I get whatever I want.”
“I hate to break it to you, but Luke lied.” She shrugged. “It’s what he does.” One of her hands was still on Cass’s chest, waiting for his heart to beat again.
It has to beat. He has to come back to me.
Her other hand was curled around the gun.
“If you’re smart, you’ll get the hell out of here,” she warned. “You’ll run fast and you’ll hope that Luke never finds you. Because if he does, he’ll make you wish for death.”
“Haven’t you heard? Luke doesn’t get his hands dirty. He hires out that work to fools like Cass there.” And Gregory advanced another step.
“Don’t,” Amber bit off.
“But I must. You see, I really do have this all planned. I’m going to kill you, and then I’m going to let Luke and Cass fight it out over your dead body. After all, Luke will be arriving any moment. He’s been so desperate to get you back."
The crows called out again.
“So you have to be dead before Luke arrives. You’ll be dead, literally at Cass’s feet. When he wakes up and finds you that way, I’m counting on him going crazy. And the man who’ll be in that crazy path?” He nodded once, obviously pleased with his plan. “Luke. Cass will go for him, and the Lord of the Dark will die.”
“No.” She kept her gaze on him. There was a serious flaw with his logic. “Cass will know you are the one who hurt me. Not Luke. You’re the one he’ll come for.”
His voice dropped to a whisper as he told her, “I won’t be here. It will just be Cass, your dead body…and Luke. And here’s the thing, dear Amber…I think Cass gave you his heart. I think he’s finally—after centuries of having nothing—found a woman that he let get close.”