“She’s currently on our side,” I tell him a little unsurely.

He almost gets his own head removed when he goes still and looks at me like I’ve sprouted a second nose or chin.

Moving like a ghost, my hand stabs through the chest of the man about to best Avery while he’s distracted, and I rip the heart out.

He releases a shaky breath, and gives me a nod of appreciation.

“Don’t get too close to her, just in case,” I add, since Vance would kill me if I was wrong and Avery lost his life for that reason.

Again, literally.

With another nod, he moves, shouting orders to his knights, as they begin corralling the outrageous numbers.

Shifters are lethal and unstoppable when they have strong leadership. They’re all bite and very little brain when they battle without it, and their smartest beta leader is battling against them, driving their instincts into a frenzy.

It’s quite honestly the first time we’ve had this tip in our favor.

My distraction ends when I see Vance leaping over the shifter pack, dropping blade bombs as he goes. At least ten or so shifters die instantly, and Vance lands at my side.

We stare at each other for a silent moment, giving Emit time to come to my other side.

“After all these centuries of wise loyalty, Idun’s favorite vampire and top beta lose their sharp instincts. You weren’t going to have to go underground, Arion. You would have finally been able to rule by her side,” Clyde says, drawing our attention back to him. “You were going to be rewarded, and you cast it all away, thinking with your prick.”

“Yes, because that sounds exactly like me,” I state tightly. “I always wanted them underground and miserable, so I could have Idun to myself. That’s why I went after the woman they all wanted. Makes perfect sense.”

Clyde rolls his eyes.

“It’s a little odd. Even when you were a preacher, you seemed too happy to share the woman you loved.”

“Because, back then, I was weaker. I couldn’t protect her on my own, and they could step up in that area,” I say with a careless shrug, hearing some vicious warring still raging on behind us. “Now it’s because I miss the good ol’ days when we all got along. I guess you get sentimental as you get older.”

I release a wistful sigh, and smile over at Clyde, who narrows his eyes at me.

Emit smirks, as some dark menace rests in his eyes.

Vance grins very subtly, ready for a fight.

I’m running my mouth and pissing people off with honesty.

It really does feel like old times.

“Shame it has to end this way. I had high hopes for our families cleaning up this mess the three of them made with the Portocales in our absence. Monsters rule the world, boys. Not humans. Alphas reign with undisputable supremacy. They don’t deal with constant mutinies or unresolved vendettas toward the weak. You’ve all gotten too soft,” Clyde carries on, straightening his shoulders.

“There’s every possibility your supremacy finally ends tonight,” Vance says, smirking in Clyde’s direction.

“Why’s that, Van Helsing?” he asks.

Idly, I notice Zuela and Marta moving this way, keeping a safe distance. Both of them are smeared in green blood that I can smell.

The battle behind us sounds to be thinning enough for Demetria to handle the rest on her own.

Guess that means we’re all set, and now it’s just a matter of someone throwing the first punch.

“Because I just watched Violet play Idun like a broken harmonica,” Vance says with…a terribly outdated metaphor.

I want to cringe.

Clyde grins. “She is quite surprisingly strong. Idun, however, will never be defeated. She’s stronger than ever, thanks to all the fearful whispers that have gathered this past millennium among monsters. You had to bury all of us to put her down, and that was at full strength.”

“That was full strength back then,” Vance says with a smirk.

Taylor, Idun’s first cousin, steps to the front, grinning darkly, as he holds his phone up.

Vance’s smug expression falls, and I lean closer to get a better view of the screen.

There’s a coldness that washes over me when I see Violet being slammed into the ground. A dark, visible fog slams my almost-bride into the ground so deeply that she cries out in surprise and a small bit of pain, as Idun flexes some of her true power.

Idun comes into view, bloodied mouth twisted in a fiercely excited grin. The wind swirls all around her, as the earth begins to wilt in her wake. Hyde is suddenly screaming, and the screen cuts out.

“You’re no match for us. You never were. Now—”

Clyde’s words are cut off, because his head goes rolling off his shoulders. As Vance’s sword finishes the deadly arc, I quickly close the short distance between myself and the headless body, rip out Clyde’s heart, and toss it aside, all before the body drops to the ground.

He’s down until someone puts his heart back in.

Vance’s glare is icy when he stares down the Neoprys, and my blood begins to boil. Taylor takes an uneasy step back, the smirk falling from his face.

“Fucking Neoprys,” Vance grinds out.

We don’t give them much of a chance to react. In the next instant, we become the attackers. My monster surges forth, and the sounds fade to near nothing. My vision dims to mere shadows. My senses dull into subtle numbness.

The monster takes over.

The delicate taste of Neopry blood hits my lips, and a grin curves inside my hungry soul. Fire burns against my flesh, but my cold overpowers it, chilling the painful heat almost immediately.

My vision swims with fresh, rushing images, the monster feeding my curiosity, as I trust it to keep me alive long enough to claim our bride.

At last. At last I have a bride to claim.

My vision shifts to a still scene before me, and I’m plunged back into reality, as the reins land in my control once more. My gaze collides with Taylor’s—arguably one of the strongest skin-walkers—and I look down to see my hand shoved inside his chest cavity.

I grin when I look up, and his eyes widen, just as I yank his heart out. Idly, I notice his severed arms lying at his sides.

“I do love losing control. I don’t get to do it nearly enough,” I taunt, smiling as I skip toward the rest of the stragglers.

I spent too long watered down, and these fucking fools think they’re stronger? A thousand years does make a beautiful difference after all.

As two run away from me, deciding to take their chances with one of the others, I remove a head.

It’s been a thousand bloody years. I don’t even remember which Neopry that one is. Bet it sucks to be fighting against people who buried you and forgot your name.

Oh, I need to tell Violet I remembered every single Simpleton, but I forgot some of the skin-walkers. I bet that gets me rewarded.

Violet…

I need to find Violet.

Focusing is hard, because the blood is driving me crazy. There’s so much of it, and Neopry blood is damn tempting. Always has been.

My monster lurks near the surface, but stays caged, as I turn to see Vance and Zuela working like a well-oiled team against the remaining three Neoprys.

Marta is running away from a fight, which can only mean she’s on her way to Violet. Makes it easier when I have a trail to chase.