Primal Kill (The Order of Vampires #5)

Chapter 16

CHAPTER 16

“ I won’t let you!”

“Try to stop me!”

Adriel rushed up the back steps, which were now covered with overgrown tomato vines, and bolted into the house. “What’s going on?”

Dane and Juniper sparred off from opposite ends of the kitchen. Ruth sipped her tea at the table, exactly where Adriel left her. When her hearing aid wasn’t in, the mortal woman hardly noticed their incessant bickering.

“Tell her,” Dane barked accusingly.

Juniper’s chin jutted out in defiance. “You had no right to go through my things!”

“Your things? Everything you’re wearing, you stole from Ruth! All of those books were bought with her money!”

“Ruth, do you care that I borrowed your clothes?”

Realizing she was being addressed, Ruth set down her tea cup and smiled. “What’s that, dear? We’ve got crows?”

“ Clothes,” she enunciated.

“Oh, my shows.” She reached for her cane. “I had better put my hearing aid in then. Where did I leave that?”

“Nice,” Dane remarked as Ruth shuffled out of the kitchen.

Juniper scoffed. “Like you haven’t enjoyed having a roof over your head and real food in your stomach these last few days. Don’t act so high and mighty. You robbed a church.”

“All right, you two,” Adriel chided.

“Churches like to help the needy.”

“Yeah, I’m sure it’s one of their commandments to give drifters all their sacramental wine. Could you be any more of a hypocrite?”

“Can someone please tell me what started this?”

“Nothing—”

“She’s planning to kill Jonas!”

The room silenced, and Adriel looked at Juniper in shock. “Is that true?”

She crossed her arms over her chest, choosing not to answer.

“Juniper?”

“What?” she snapped defensively. “He’s suffering. It would be the merciful thing to do.”

“Mercy would be reversing the spell, not killing him!” Dane yelled.

“No one is killing anyone. You two are friends. Where is this hostility coming from? ”

“Why do you even care, Dane? They threw you out like yesterday’s garbage.”

“The Hartzlers didn’t have anything to do with me leaving. They gave me a home when I had none. You would be hurting his family, and they don’t deserve that.”

Juniper’s eyes narrowed. “This is about that vampire chick, Grace, isn’t it?”

Adriel pinched the bridge of her nose. “For the last time, Juniper, we’re immortals, not vampires.”

“That bitch is a vampire!”

“Hey!” Dane snapped. “Leave Gracie out of this!”

“Oh, now it’s Gracie? How many immortals were you sleeping with on that farm.”

His scowl darkened, and Adriel stepped between them. “That’s enough, Juniper. Apologize.”

“For what? Jonas killed my Aunt Mabel. His bloodsucking daughter killed my Aunt Venus.” Her scowl turned on Dane. “When you wanted revenge on Isaiah, I helped you. You owe me.”

“That may be true, but there’s no way I’m letting you hurt Gracie.”

“I regret ever bringing you here.”

“All right!” Adriel blocked her view of Dane and cupped her face, looking directly into her eyes. “Take a breath.”

“I don’t need to breathe!”

“Juniper.”

“What?”

“Look at me. ”

Her chin trembled as her eyes flooded with unshed tears. She breathed in and slowly exhaled.

“Good. Now tell me— calmly— why you would consider going back there to do this.” She held up a finger before Dane could interrupt. “And we’ll hear you out.”

“As long as Jonas is sick, they’ll hold me accountable.”

“The only reason they would come after you now,” Dane snapped, “is if you provoke them. Do not hurt Jonas.”

“It could be painless.”

“Not for you.”

“Enough!” Adriel snapped. “I will not tolerate this bickering. You’ve been arguing since we got back. I don’t understand this animosity between you. There is no need for the two of you to go to war when real danger is afoot.”

“Give me your word that you won’t hurt Jonas,” Dane demanded.

Juniper held his stare, her grief palpable.

“That’s it for now.” Adriel pulled her into a protective hug. The poor girl shook like a leaf. “Dane, clean up those papers. I need to speak to Juniper alone.”

He scoffed. “Clean them up yourself.”

The back door slammed as he stormed out of the kitchen. That was fine. They needed a minute of privacy.

Adriel poured two cups of tea and straightened up the papers as it steeped. Once she had the room tidied, she waved her to the table so they could both sit.

“You know, Juniper, Dane’s been through a lot, too.”

A tear rolled down her cheek. “They accepted him. They gave him a home and freedom. That’s nothing like how they treated me.”

“Is that it then?”

“No.” She blew out a breath. “I’m not trying to diminish his suffering, but how could he not understand what happened to me? If not for Jonas, my aunts would still be alive and I wouldn’t be here.”

Adriel squeezed her hand. “But this is where we are. And no amount of revenge can undo what’s been done. Tragedy does not excuse us to treat others cruelly. The moment you give in to your anger, a bottomless sorrow opens inside you. Some days, that sorrow is enough to swallow you whole. We cannot lose ourselves in such a way. If we do, they win.”

An aura formed around the kitchen table. Adriel looked at Juniper in confusion.

“For protection,” Juniper explained. “You’re thinking about him.”

“Thank you. That’s wise.”

She sighed. “I wish I could get over this anger. It eats away at me. I just want to get it out and get my life back.”

“Justice is a natural desire. But the moment we forgo decency, we become no better than the monsters. Ending a life does not necessarily end the pain.”

“But there has to be some level of satisfaction, some sense of restored order.”

“Retaliation can go on forever when you’re dealing with immortals.”

“Nothing is completely immortal.”

Adriel sighed. “I suppose that’s true enough.”

“All I want is peace.”

Adriel offered a sad grin. “Violence does not achieve that.”

“Then why are we planning to kill your ex?”

“Cerberus cannot be killed. He’s different. I know this, which is why…” Juniper deserved her honesty. “Sometimes when fated mates pass, their counterparts also die.”

“Are you saying if we kill Cerberus, we might unintentionally kill you?”

“I’m saying it would not be unintentional. Cerberus is unlike any immortal I’ve ever come across. I will not give him the chance to hurt me again, or anyone else for that matter.”

Juniper tugged her hand free. “What the fuck are you talking about, Adriel? Killing yourself?”

“I would rather die than suffer his revenge. I’m not a violent person. I’ve never killed a living thing. This is the only way I know to evade him.”

“By taking your own life? That’s not a fucking solution.” She sprung to her feet and paced the kitchen. “What is with you underestimating your power?”

“You don’t know him, Juniper. He’s incredibly strong and beyond cruel. He’s not coming to reconcile. He’s coming to punish me. Ending my life removes that option. It also bears the possibility of him dying with me. Mates are said to suffer shared mortality. There’s a physical link as much as there is a mental and emotional one.”

“Yet he beat you.”

“Like I said, Cerberus has an incredible tolerance for pain.”

“Men do not beat those they love.”

A sad smile curved her lips. “Even as a girl of only four and ten, I was never fanciful enough to believe he loved me. I was a possession to him. An object to use and abuse.” Her finger traced a knot in the surface of the table. “They say a mortal marriage cannot compare to the bond mates share. But I disagree. Love—actual unconditional, selfless love—is the strongest bond of all. Neither marriage or mating guarantees such a thing.”

Sympathy bloomed in her chest. Like Dane, she understood what it was to want something she would never have. Adriel had given up any hope of love a long time ago.

She reached for Juniper’s hand. “We must be patient with Dane. He loves someone who refuses to love him back. And despite her rejection, he will continue to protect her, even when it costs him. Do not make him choose. We must learn to work through our trauma, search deep inside ourselves, and find forgiveness. ”

“Why does she refuse to love him?”

“Because Dane is a hybrid, and hybrids cannot be called. Grace is saving herself for her true mate.”

“How long will she wait?”

Adriel shrugged. “It could be tomorrow, or it could be centuries from now.”

“So, Dane might not even be alive when it happens?”

“We don’t know how long hybrids live. Proper nutrition plays a role, but so does lifestyle. He’s trying very hard to accept that Grace will never be his, but I fear he’s on a destructive course. We need to be very gentle with him right now. He’s lost everyone. The best way we can support him is to love him. We must show him he’s still deserving of that.”

“Fine.” She sat back in her seat. “I’ll make a deal with you, Adriel. I’ll give up my vendetta with Jonas if you give up this idea about taking your own life.”

The breath in her lungs chilled. “That’s not fair.”

“Why not? You’re the only person I have left. Like Dane, I’ve lost everyone. I can’t lose you too.”

“This is my choice?—”

“Make another one.”

“There is no other. I’ve thought of every other option. I cannot go back to the way things were. I won’t. ”

“Then we figure out a way to end him before it comes to you taking your own life. It has to happen. Cerberus has to die.”