Aeromancist (Seven Forbidden Arts 3)

Kat couldn’t stop crying. “Bring him back!” she shouted at the closed door. Sobs wracked her body until she felt a hand on her shoulder.

A tear rolled over Nicolas’s cheek. “No crysj.”

“I want my baby,” she said through her sobs. “I just want to hold him.” She clutched Nicolas’s hand, holding onto the only thing there was for her to hold onto, the only person who’d showed her kindness.

When the worst of her sobbing subsided, she wiped her eyes and looked at the disfigured man offering her comfort. “You did it, Nicolas. You saved me.”

“Nicolasjh happysj.”

“What a heartbreaking scene,” Vanessa said, standing in the open door. “You two have bonded.”

Nicolas let go of Kat and took a step back.

Vanessa entered the room and stopped next to the bed. “Who would’ve thought the experiment would work?” She gave Nicolas a once-over. “I didn’t think he had it in him. It was a complicated process. The dosage as the pregnancy evolved was of the utmost importance. Godfrey will be pleased.”

“You’re working for him,” Kat said with accusation in her tone.

“Working?” Vanessa laughed. “No, darling, I’m not working for him. Godfrey is my lover.”

Kat stared at her in shock. “Adam…”

“Yes, technically, when Godfrey marries me, I’ll be Adam’s stepmother.” She pouted. “Isn’t that sweet?”

Adam’s animosity now made sense. Adam and his future stepmother were almost the same age. Was Adam’s mother, Olivia, dead?

Kat glanced at Nicolas.

“I know what you’re thinking,” Vanessa said. “I’ll be stepmom to both Adam and this freak.”

Nicolas flinched.

“Now that we know the serum works, you have no further use for us.”

Fear gripped Kat. They weren’t going to let her go. She got up on her elbows, testing her strength. She was too weak to fight Vanessa.

“Going somewhere?” Vanessa asked with a mocking lift of her eyebrow as she took a scalpel from the stainless steel tray on the gurney.

“Why?” Kat asked. “You’ve got what you wanted. Why kill me?”

“Because Lann loves you.”

She pushed the scalpel against Kat’s throat. Kat wiggled away, and Vanessa let her. She was going to play cat and mouse. Getting to her feet too fast, Kat felt dizzy. It was the blood loss. She fought the weakness in her legs, making it halfway to the door before her head started spinning.

“Please,” she begged to no one in particular, falling to her knees as her legs caved, “help me.”

“Yes,” Vanessa said. “Beg. I want to hear your pleas before you die.”

No begging. There was no one who cared, no one to listen. She was on the verge of collapsing. Darkness bled into the edge of her vision, but she wouldn’t stop fighting. There was too much to live for.

Vanessa grabbed a fistful of Kat’s hair, pulling back her head and pressing the blade against her throat. Kat struggled, but she was still too weak. Every muscle in her body trembled with exhaustion.

“Let her go.”

Kat lifted her gaze to the sound of Adam’s voice. He stood in the door, aiming a pistol at Vanessa.

“What are you going to do?” Vanessa chuckled. “Shoot me?”

“Let her go.”

“You weren’t seriously going to send her back to her husband, were you?”

“No,” Adam said, not sparing Kat a glance. “I’m going to keep her.”

“What do you men see in her?” Vanessa jerked on her hair, causing Kat to yelp. “She’s weak.”

Adam smiled. “She’s anything but weak.”

Vanessa pressed the blade down harder. A burning sensation cut over Kat’s skin.

“This is your last chance,” Adam said.

“Do you think your father will let you live if you kill me?”

Adam clicked his tongue. “You think my father has feelings for you? He’ll never leave Olivia. You were nothing but a means to an end.”

“Fuck you.”

Vanessa lifted her arm high, aiming the sharp point of the instrument at Kat’s heart, but before she could bring down her hand, a gunshot tore through the room.

Vanessa stared at Adam with wide eyes. The scalpel made a clanking sound as it dropped from her hand and fell on the tiles. Gaping, she looked down at her chest. A dark stain bled through the fabric of her dress. She opened her mouth, but her body hit the floor before she’d uttered a word.

Nicolas screamed. Gerda came running into the room with two guards on her heels. Kat couldn’t stop shaking.

“What happened?” Gerda asked.

“She tried to kill Kat.” Adam handed the pistol to one of the guards. “Take care of the body.” To Gerda, he said, “Take Nicolas to his room. Give him a tranquilizer.” He scooped Kat into his arms, and ripped the blanket from the bed to cover her hospital gown.

“What about Godfrey?” Gerda asked.

“I’ll deal with him.”

He carried Kat to her room, lowered her onto the bed, and pulled the comforter over her body.

She was still shaking like someone who had no control over her body.

Adam regarded her solemnly. “I could give you a tranquilizer, but I love seeing you so vulnerable.” He traced the line of her trembling lips. “Try to sleep. I’ll be back later.”