Vengeance: The Niteclif Evolutions, Book 3 Read Free Page A

last word.
    Squeezing me tightly, Hellion asked, “Are you all right, Maddy? Please, say something.”
    “I’m surprisingly okay. In the grand scheme of things, this isn’t as disorienting as half the shit that’s happened to me so far.” What I didn’t add was that it was irrelevant whether I was immortal or not since I had never believed I’d live to see the end of my term of service as the Niteclif. It had meant little to me until recently.
    “I’ll see you avenged,” Hellion whispered into my hair, his hot breath sending shivers down my still bare spine.
    “Avenged for what? Having my life extended indefinitely? Having the amount of time I can potentially spend with you lengthened ten-fold? Or would it be for—”
    “Fine. Jest if you will, but this isn’t done between him and me, Madeleine. This isn’t nearly done.”  
    Hellion trembled with rage and began to move away when I whipped a hand out and grabbed his forearm. “Uh-uh. You’re not walking away from this. You promised to cut that crap out, remember? And it is done, Hellion.” I yanked on him until he spun to face me. “I lost Bahlin once when I only thought he was dead, and I survived it. I don’t think I’d survive your death, imagined or real. And if you two ever truly go up against each other, one of you will die. I’m not so naïve as to misunderstand that. So this ends, here and now.”
    “I’ll tell you now that I don’t take to having what I will or won’t do spelled out for me as if I was daft, Madeleine,” he ground out between clenched teeth and a ticking jaw.
    “Minutes ago you were begging me to tell you what I wanted and you’d do it. This is what I want.”
    Lips thinned to a vicious slash across his face and black irises swallowed the whites all over again, a faint wind blew his hair about his head and shoulders but I didn’t falter. He could be as scary as he wanted to be. I’d stick to this like gum to hot pavement. He could try to peel me off, and I’d even go so far as to wish him luck with it.  
    “Bloody hell, woman, why don’t I get you the emasculating sheers? Then you can just take care of it all in one fell swoop?” he bitched.  
    I bit my lower lip in an effort to hide the smile that threatened to break free.
    He sighed and slid down to curl up next to me, laying his head in my lap.  
    My hand automatically went to his hair and I began running my fingers through the burnished gold. “Fine. Go get them.”
    He sighed. “Figure of speech, love. Keep those things away from me.” And whether a conscious thought or subconscious reaction, he casually dropped a hand across his groin. This time there was no hiding my smile or the laughter that followed.
     
     
    In keeping with tradition, it took me a while to truly process what had happened. When the final connection was made in my mind and the implications of immortality registered completely, I flipped out. I had a raging fit, broke a few dishes, cursed Bahlin and generally convinced everyone in the house that eternity was way the hell too long to spend with me. Even though Hellion expressed his concern and humored me for a while, even he eventually lost his temper and told me to get a damned grip and get over myself.  
    I needed the verbal slap before I could settle down to privately consider the pros and the cons of immortality. The biggest advantage was that I’d have longer to potentially spend with Hellion, provided I could survive. The biggest disadvantage was that, despite the experience I’d gain, I ran the risk of beginning to disappear, or fade, with every failure. If I faded, a pre-ordained author would write my story and immortalize me as a fictional character that had never been. My life would be voided, my spirit dead. That scared me more than death itself because no one was so good they didn’t experience failure now and again.
    I retreated to the second floor library. Maybe if I read for a while I could reclaim my sanity and force