When We Were Still Human Vaughn Foster (the kiss of deception read online .txt) 📖

searched for an insult but settled on a frustrated grunt and turned aside. “You can’t take responsibility for anything.”

“Take responsibility?” Her voice cracked. Her eyes narrowed and heat shot up her veins like a storm. “Innocent people. Take responsibility? For what, Vladimir? Die for the sins of monsters they’ll never meet?”

“This is exactly what your problem is.” Annoyance pressed cracks into his cool demeanor and gravel lined his words. “Why can’t you admit that you people are broken? That you’re starved for truth and purpose, and your fairy tales and magic wands give you nothing. That everywhere you go, destruction awaits.”

He lunged in, grabbing her arm and yanking her close. “When was the last time you heard of a lycan attacking someone? When was the last time a siren crashed a ship? We have rules, and if someone breaks them, they are put to death. Freya fought to take down the veil in an effort to restore peace, and your precious humans gutted our people like livestock.”

Val roared and sent Vladimir flying back with a single push. He gracefully landed on his toes, but she was on him again, shoving him hard onto the dirt.

“Rules?” Her eyes now pulsed a deep violet and clawed hands dug into his collar. “You poisoned an innocent man with your bite, made him a thrall, then left him to die. Your angels broke their own rules and let the world fall in the first place!”

“Do you not hear yourself?!” Cords of black snapped to her wrists and ankles. Before she could move, they yanked her an arm’s length back. Vladimir disappeared into shadow, then emerged closer.

“And here we are again, Valentina.”

She spat at his feet, a low growl sounding from her chest. “You were never going to let me go, were you?”

He tilted his head, brow scrunched in puzzlement. “Hmm?”

Val huffed, straining again against the shadows before falling slack. Frustration and fatigue outpowered anger, and the purple tint faded. “The elves, dumbass.”

He gave an innocent shrug then pursed his lips. “I haven’t lied yet.”

“But everyone’s de—”

He held a finger to her lips. She had half a mind to bite it off but the taught bindings reflexively grew tighter. “The light elves remained with Freya in the Enchanted Forest—and died. The dark elves have always been underground. After the massacre, they turned to darker shades of magic.”

The shadows dissipated and Val rubbed her chafed wrists. She wanted to sock him still, but the mood had passed. “So, what does that mean?” she asked carefully.

The shadow prince shrugged again. “This entire region was sealed after the massacre. No human or mirage has entered since. If you’d like to go further, we can, but no promises they’re still alive. And if they are, they’re even less likely to help you.”

Val stared him over, a scowl still shaping her features. “Death by elves is better than another second with you.”

Val was surprised and a bit disappointed that the trigger for the secret passage was simply pulling a tree branch at the brook’s base. Vladimir had promised it was more of a spectacle when the forest was alive, but that did little to assuage the anticlimactic impression of their decent.

“Bloody Zadkiel told me this wouldn’t be so bad,” Vladimir said, more to himself than Val.

When she didn’t respond, he pulled a thin lighter from an inside pocket. Striking a spark, he flicked his wrist and the darkness scrambled up the walls to form an arch down the tunnel. The gesture seemed more of an act of restlessness than necessity. Val could see well enough in the dark and assumed he could as well.

“At first, I wanted Florida. Sun kissed beaches, sun kissed babes… If you haven’t noticed, I need to work on my tan.” He offered a sarcastic grin and Val grimaced. Rolling her eyes, she shoved past and pressed onward.

Her guide was more headache than aide at this point. He’d cooled down from their argument on the surface, but she would have almost preferred fighting about the apocalypse to small talk. She was tired. Sick of him, sick of angels, sick of everything.

“But I let him take it, because I’m a nice person.” Vladimir was still talking half to himself, but loud enough to be a jab as well.

“And where has my generosity brought me? In a damp, spider-web ridden tunnel under the Fae Graveyard. I figured, ‘alone time with the new girl with the incredible ass.’ This trip could have led to bonding and emotional companionship, or—’”

Val whipped around, purple eyes blazing holes through his. “Mention my ass one more time,” she growled. This was it. She’d kill him or he’d kill her, but either way, she wasn’t going to keep walking god knows how many hours with this maniac.

“If you’d let me finish.” He brushed past her then stopped several feet ahead. “I was saying, despite your incredible ass—” he enunciated each syllable— “this entire day, if not two years, has been wasted on a whiny brat.”

Anger pricked Val like needles, but she wouldn’t give in. He was a child. A child with the power of a god, but a child, nonetheless. Stopping beside him, she exhaled and focused on her own heartbeat.

“You will stop talking. Or I will cut out your throat. When we reach the underground city, you leave. If this is a problem, I will fight you here and now.”

Whether Vladimir agreed or simply didn’t want to stay in the tunnel any longer, he remained silent. Taking the quietude as victory, Val strode forward into the dark, preparing herself for the worst to come.

Time stood still. Or at least that’s what it felt like. Time froze in place and the tunnel grew by the minute. Val guessed it was nightfall on the surface, but couldn’t be certain. Dirt