REVENGE IS SWEET

Chapter 12

Revenge is Sweet

The battlefield was silent.

Lucian's blood still stained Damien's hands, his lifeless body lying between us.

But it wasn't just Lucian who had died.

Something inside Damien shattered.

His storm-gray eyes, once filled with fire, now held only darkness. Endless. Unforgiving.

I barely recognized him.

And when he finally looked at me, I knew—

This wasn't just grief.

This was something worse.

This was the birth of a monster.

*******

He didn't speak as he dragged me away.

Past the broken bodies, past the howling wolves and screaming vampires. Through the wreckage of war until we reached the ruins of an abandoned castle.

The moment we stepped inside, he turned on me.

His hands gripped my waist—hard enough to bruise—as he slammed me against the cold stone wall.

"You let me become weak," he growled.

I gasped, my pulse hammering. "Damien—"

"You made me love you." His voice was raw, violent. "And now my brother is dead."

I swallowed hard. "This isn't your fault—"

His lips crushed mine.

It wasn't a kiss.

It was punishment.

Rough. Desperate. Unforgiving.

His hands tore at my clothes, his breath hot against my skin as he pressed me deeper into the wall.

I should have fought him.

But I didn't.

Because the truth was—

I wanted this.

I wanted his anger, his fury, his grief.

I wanted him to break me apart and put me back together with his hands, his mouth, his pain.

His voice was a growl against my throat.

"You're mine."

"Yes," I whispered.

His grip tightened. "Say it."

"I'm yours."

Then he took me.

There was no hesitation, no softness—just claiming. His body pressed me into the stone, each thrust punishing, demanding.

I cried out, my nails raking down his back as he drove into me again and again, chasing his own destruction inside me.

And I let him.

I let him ruin me.

Because I wanted to be ruined by him.

Hours later, we lay tangled in the ruins, the scent of sweat and blood thick in the air.

Damien's arm was draped over my waist, his breath heavy against my neck.

I should have felt safe.

But something inside me had changed.

I had given him my body.

But I had taken something in return.

A piece of his darkness.

And now, it was growing inside me.

A hunger.

A need.

To kill her.

Selene.

The woman who had taken Lucian.

The queen who had tried to steal Damien from me.

I wasn't just going to fight her.

I was going to end her.

The wind howled through the broken castle as we stood, dressing in silence.

Damien's hands still trembled with rage. But I had no words to soothe him.

Because I wasn't his salvation anymore.

I was his revenge.

A slow, wicked voice slithered through the night.

"Such a pretty little killer you've become."

We spun.

And there she was.

Selene.

Standing atop the ruined throne, draped in darkness, her lips curled in amusement.

Damien snarled. "You die tonight."

Selene only smirked. "Do I?"

Her black eyes gleamed.

"Because your brother isn't dead, Damien."

The world stopped.

Damien froze. "Liar."

Selene laughed. "Oh, love." Her smile was poison. "You should know by now—I never let go of my toys."

A chill slammed into my spine.

Because if Lucian wasn't dead—

Then what the hell had she done to him?

*****

Damien devoured me.

There was no tenderness, no hesitation—only raw, punishing need. His hands were rough as they pinned me against the broken pillar, fingers digging into my thighs, my waist, my soul.

He was angry.

Angry at Selene. At fate. At the gods who had stolen his brother from him.

But most of all—

He was angry at himself.

For letting himself love.

For letting himself lose.

I gasped as he slammed into me, a cry escaping my lips. He growled against my throat, his fangs grazing my skin.

"You're mine," he rasped.

The words weren't just a declaration.

They were a threat.

Because he wasn't asking.

He was reminding me.

Damien moved, relentless, demanding, dragging me deeper into his madness. His fingers tangled in my hair, yanking my head back so I could see the fire in his storm-gray eyes.

"Say it," he growled.

I whimpered, nails digging into his shoulders. "I'm yours."

His lips curled in something dark, victorious. "Good girl."

He ruined me that night.

Over and over.

Until I forgot my own name.

Until I was nothing but broken gasps and trembling limbs.

Until his grief was carved into my skin, his fury etched into every breath, every moan, every brutal thrust.

And when he finally shattered inside me, his growl vibrating through my bones—

I knew.

This wasn't love.

This was war.

I woke hours later, tangled in his arms.

The ruins were silent, the only sound was our uneven breathing.

Damien lay still, staring at the cracked ceiling, his fingers tracing lazy patterns along my spine. But there was no peace in his touch.

Only possession.

Only the lingering weight of his madness.

I turned, pressing a kiss against his chest. "We will kill her," I whispered.

His fingers stilled.

I lifted my gaze, meeting his. "Selene took Lucian from you. She tried to take me." A shadow curled in my voice, something dark and vengeful. "She has to die."

Damien watched me for a long moment. Then—

A slow, dangerous smirk spread across his lips.

"Now you're starting to sound like me."

And I was.

Because I wasn't his salvation anymore.

I was his revenge.

A sharp gust of wind slithered through the ruins.

And then—

A voice.

"Such a deadly little thing you've become."

Damien snarled, his power crackling in the air. He knew that voice.

And so did I.

Selene.

She stepped from the shadows, draped in black, her dark eyes filled with amusement.

Damien was on his feet in an instant. "You die tonight."

Selene only smirked. "Do I?"

Then she tilted her head—

And the ground shifted.

Something moved behind her.

A shadow. A body.

And then—

Lucian stepped forward.

My heart stopped.

No.

That was impossible.

His silver eyes gleamed, empty, hollow.

His skin was pale—too pale. His movements are stiff, unnatural.

Selene ran her fingers through his hair, a wicked smile curling her lips. "Did you really think I'd waste such a pretty thing?"

Damien's breath hitched. "Lucian…?"

Lucian didn't speak.

He just stared.

Unseeing. Unfeeling.

A puppet.

Selene chuckled. "Oh, love." She dragged her nails down Lucian's chest, her magic coiling around him like a lover's embrace. "Your brother isn't dead."

She leaned in, her voice a whisper of poison.

"He just belongs to me now."

The world fractured.

Damien snapped.

A roar shook the ruins, his power exploding in a violent storm.

I barely had time to react before he lunged—

Straight for Selene.

Straight for his brother.

And as the battle began—

I realized something terrible.

Lucian wasn't just a puppet.

He was something worse.

He was a monster.

And he was coming for me.