It’s silent for several moments, and then he sighs. The soft sound makes my blood run cold. He slams me into the wall. I cry out, seeing stars.
He shoves his hand up my sweater and rips the iron stake out, growling as it burns his skin, and tosses it across the room. It clatters against the cement floor. I wince, trying to break free of his grasp. “It’s a shame,” he says, tightening his grip on me. “This could’ve gone a different way, Aurora.”
“I doubt that,” I say through my teeth, shoving him hard.
He backs up a couple of steps, a dark smirk plastered on his lips. “So, you came here to kill me?” he lifts his arms out, palms up. “Have at it,” he taunts, letting his arms fall back to his sides.
I bend and pull the iron stake out of my left boot, holding it in a tight grip.
Jules laughs, flicking his gaze from my face to the weapon in my hand. “Did you stop at the hardware store on your way here?”
I step forward, swiping the air in front of him so he’ll move back a few more strides. I circle around him and kick out with my right leg, but he catches it, pulling the other iron stake out of my boot. Fuck.
He pushes me back, and I almost lose my balance, managing to catch my footing at the last second.
“I’m curious, Aurora. Do you believe you can win this fight?”
“I have to,” I growl. “I will.”
Jules charges forward, throwing me to the ground and holding me there. “I’m almost sorry,” he murmurs, trailing his fingers along my jaw. “You might be my one regret.”
I choke on the lump in my throat and try to push him off. I knee him in the stomach over and over, but it doesn’t faze him.
The pity in his eyes makes me want to hurl, and then he slams me against the cement floor again, making me suck in a sharp breath.
I lift my leg and kick him in the groin as hard as I can, screaming at the top of my lungs when he rolls off of me and onto his back with a loud groan. I throw myself on top of him and wrap my fingers around his throat with one hand, using the other to grab my last iron stake out of the back of my leggings.
“You’ve got quite the collection,” he grumbles. “I guess that’s smart, considering the crowd you choose to spend time with.”
“Shut up,” I shout, tightening my grip around his neck, digging my nails into his skin. Claws would be more convenient; I could slash his throat, his chest, the soft, charming face that made me befriend him, that made me trust him.
In a second, he has us flipped over, and now he’s on top again, holding my arms at my sides. “You’re making this too easy.” He leans down until his lips brush my ear, which makes my stomach clench. “Do you think Tristan feels bad for what he’s put you through?”
I buck my hips, trying to get him off, but all it does is exhaust me.
“He should, you know. If it weren’t for him, I’d have had no reason to enter your life.”
I stop. “What?”
He cocks his head to the side. “You were always part of the plan, Aurora. From the day we met.” He grasps my chin in his hand and guides my face up until our eyes meet. “I’m the reason you were taken from that party instead of Allison.”
My mouth goes dry. My ears ring, and my vision falters. A panic attack has never hit me so hard, so fast.
“I set you in Max’s path.”
“Stop,” I say, my voice cracking.
“I’ve been watching you for a long time. I got to know everything about you. You were the perfect pawn. I knew the dark’s beloved leader would be taken with you. It was only a matter of time before he fell for you. It was you falling for him in return that worried me in the beginning. Especially with the whole kidnapping thing. But look how that turned out.” The sly twist of his lips makes my blood run hot with rage.
I glare at his passive, relaxed expression. “So, what the hell does Allison have to do with it?”
“I sent Evan to corrupt her allegiance. I needed her to break a rule in order for Tristan to send someone after her.”
“How did you know I would be close enough to her for that to work?” I don’t know why I ask, but the words tumble out of my mouth. “What would’ve happened if she didn’t fall for Evan?”
He grins. “Allison was easy to manipulate, and you met her because I made it happen that way.”
My brows inch closer. “You’re saying this was in the works before I knew her?”
He nods. “Immortality has its perks. I’ve been planning this for some time.”
Oh my god. The day Allison caught him checking me out in first year. She knew who he was. It makes sense now. That’s why she warned me off him, and why she never tagged along when our friends wanted to eat at Taylor’s Brew.
Everything I’ve experienced over the past three years has been for some scheme for power? Was anything real? My feelings for Tristan? Oh god. My friendship with Allison? How much is my own and not a byproduct of Jules’s plot to rule the fae?
Tears blur my vision. “He will destroy you,” I say through my teeth.
He laughs, and then the snap of bone echoes in my ear. My left arm explodes with such intense pain, black spots dot my vision, and a scream rips from my throat. He frowns, but his eyes hold a sick glimmer of amusement.
The room blurs, and I fight to keep my eyes open. I refuse to pass out, and by the frustrated, borderline angry expression on the face above me, I’d say that’s exactly what Jules wants me to do.
“You shouldn’t have come alone,” he says with a snarl.
I bark out a laugh. “You really wanted to see Tristan, didn’t you?” I wince as the throbbing in my arm intensifies. “Do you have a thing for him or something?” Sarcasm laces my tone. Good. At least I’m holding on to my wit. “I don’t blame you. He’s hot.”
Jules growls and wraps his fingers around my injured arm, squeezing hard, and I scream.
“Where’s your fire now?” he taunts.
I close my eyes, hot tears rolling out of the corners. I bite my lower lip hard so I’ll stop screaming. If I’m going to die, I refuse to give him the satisfaction of seeing the devastation course through me. I’ve experienced too much over the last six months from learning about the fae to losing my brother in one of the most human ways possible. I can’t do it anymore.
“Are you giving up?” he whispers in a cold voice. There’s a moment where his grip on my wrists loosens. I’ve been waiting for it with bated breath. When it happens, I rip my right arm free and raise it, ready to slam it into his chest.
“Wait!” he shouts, a smile creeping onto his lips. “I can bring your brother back.”
My whole world stops. My arm freezes halfway to where the stake was heading for his chest, and I snarl. “You bastard! You don’t know anything!” There’s no way to bring Adam back. His body was burned to ashes the day after he died.
He nods. “Touché, Aurora.”
I growl and drive the iron stake into his ribcage.
He cries out in pain, a sound so excruciating, I want to cover my ears. He falls, rolling off of me, but still holds my broken wrist in a weak grip. “There she is,” he mumbles.