As soon as the priest dropped dead, the entire church exploded. Monsters were yelling and screaming while the human in attendance simply sat there, smirking at me as if everything was already a done deal.
For a moment, I didn't know what I should do. Did I kill an entire church full of people, thousands of them, or did I let them live and only kill a few?
The only thing certain was that people and monsters were going to die today.
The sound of a gunshot echoed around the giant pillars of St. Patrick's Cathedral, and I watched dispassionately as a vampire strolled down the aisle, a gun pointing at me.
Looking down at my chest, I watched the blood start to seep out of this side of my wedding dress. At this point in time, I really didn't think that there was any way for me to save the thing… which was a shame. It was soooo pretty!
"You cannot have our House," sneered the vampire as he continued to unload shot after shot into my upper torso. Turning my head, I saw Nicholas and Viktor holding back Greyson and Sasha as they tried to come to my aid.
Shaking my head, I tried to clear my vision. There was no way that Nicholas or Viktor would be willing to watch me get hurt… right? They wouldn't let me die like this.
But the gleam in Viktor's eyes told a different story. He was waiting for me to fall to my knees, to die in front of him.
Letting my body sway, even as my threads started pushing bullets out of my body one at a time, I sank to the floor, surrounded by my skirts.
"I bet you didn't see this coming, did you?" purred Viktor as he crouched down in front of me. "All that jewelry I gave you? Yeah, there is enough silver in that to poison you to death. You might be able to regenerate fast, but you can't regenerate that fast… not with the silver bullets full of holy water."
I stared up into the face of the first man I had ever really loved, my lips moving soundlessly as I tried to speak.
"The problem is, I have no idea what your kryptonite is, and since I didn't know what would kill you, then I was going to throw everything at you." As Viktor continued to speak, I looked over his shoulder to watch Nicholas and Michael slit the throats of the rest of my mates. Letting their bodies fall to the floor like they were nothing more than puppets with their strings cut.
Opening my mouth, I forced myself to get a single word out… "Why?" I asked, my chest burning as I tried to take in a deep breath. Why were they willing to go this far? What did I really do that was so wrong?
"Why?" chuckled Viktor, coming to his feet as Nicholas and Michael flanked him on either side. "Because you are something that doesn't deserve to live," he continued. "Hell, even you don't know for sure what you are, and you thought that others would contaminate their bloodlines to mix with yours?"
My arms went weak as my threads stopped trying to halt my bleeding. Soon enough, my once white dress started to turn pink as my blood seeped into the threads. Only the diamonds continued to shine under the lights of the cathedral.
No one spoke, and even Stephanie seemed to be trying to figure out what was going on. Her face constantly shifted from fear to anger to concern to confusion as my arms gave out from under me.
"And with you dead, I will inherit everything," continued Viktor as Michael handed him the same folder that was once on my desk. The one he asked me to sign to give me control over his House and company.
Flipping through the pages, he found the one he was looking for. Throwing it down at my head, I forced myself to read exactly what it had said. Upon the death of Natalia Sokol, Odin, The Head of House Skinwalker, will inherit everything.
My eyes widened as Viktor's face started to melt away, revealing the father of my mate… the Head of House Skinwalker. "You will never be Queen," he chuckled as Nicholas and Michael shook themselves, revealing Valkyrie and some other guy from House Skinwalker that I didn't know.
"You thought that you were so smart, taking my son from me. But who is laughing now? House Diavd, House Van Helsing, House Tesalor, and House Gypsy are all now mine. Even Gabriel is willing to give me his House when this is all over with."
Odin tilted his head back and laughed hysterically as the rest of the congregation followed him. "House Vampyre has sworn themselves to me, Lucas, the Head of House Werewolf is already under my control, and House Monstru is too weak to stand against me."
"Why kill me?" I gasped, my voice coming out weak as blood started to dye the bottom of my skirt now. "I didn't do anything."
"Simply existing was enough," he assured me. "You needed to die because you called to too many men. You were the biggest threat, and now…"
"And now, you must pay the price," chuckled Gabriel as he strolled into the church, a massive legion of angles trailing behind him. "You got what you prayed for, but nothing is free. The world no longer belongs to humans and monsters… and it is time to pay for your sins in blood."
Stephanie stepped forward to do something. I didn't know if she was going to appeal to Gabriel or Odin, but either way, it was a waste of breath. The moment she opened her mouth, a knife protruded from her back, piercing her heart.
Her eyes widened as she looked at me in shock. Falling to her knees, she tried to touch her chest, only to end up cutting her fingers on the blade. Gasping, she fell over on her side just as Mike's head rolled toward me.
Looking up, I saw the same vampire who had been sitting behind him with a manic grin on his face… and a bloody knife in his hand.
The rest of Mike's body was slumped over on the pew, not five feet from me.
Tilting back my head, I screamed out loud before darkness took me.