The Void Queen's Ascension

Prologue

The wind swirled fiercely as a sharp chill rolled up her spine. Nero Loch, sprawled on his back, facing the rapidly darkening sky, glanced upward to hold her gaze for a second as his hand reached out to take a hold of her upper arm.

"Give them hell. All of them. Please. Do not stop. I love you."

When he inhaled one last time, a ghost of a smile graced his lips as his blue eyes rolled into the back of his head. The pressure of the electricity only seemed to mount, holding him in place. She noticed how his legs twitched, her fists tightened when his gaze shattered, eyes rolling back into his socket. The tingling sensation of the kiss which lingered upon her lips should have upset her.

She should have been able to wail. She should have been ready to spin around and kill the woman smirking satisfactorily behind her, but she could not. She was not going to.

How could she?

Her head angled as her gaze locked onto Jennifer Jane Watt's who folded her arms across her chest.

"All hell?" She whispered. His last act is to actually give her permission to bring the reign of a God down upon humanity? He is giving her the permission to kill the wench who could not control herself. He was entrusting her to kill—

Despite her determination to not return to what she was, to not reach for the mask and sword, she rose from his side, completely locking upon her gaze. "You bitch. You mother—" She inhaled sharply.

Indeed.

He gave her permission to bring about havoc.

Just walk away from her.

What did he want her to do? He was certainly dead, right? He was soon to be six feet under. She trembled as her fists clenched when, at last, Jennifer Jane spoke.

"I never said he would come out of it, alive," She whispered, her tone solid.

Matter of fact.

No room to retort.

She spoke again.

"I only said that the Attorney General would be dead."

She huffed out as she growled, "You had no reason to kill him."

"So?" Jennifer Jane asked with a furrow of her eyebrows. The fire within her veins snarled, crackling to life ferociously. The pain within her veins, much like the dull thudding of a migraine headache, called for satisfaction.

Revenge.

Retribution.

"You knew!" She roared, a crimson flame scalding the ground behind her. "You knew all along he would not come out of it. You—"

There, when the word trailed off, the grief graced the simple word in its somber grip. Jennifer Jane shook her head and shrugged dismissively.

"So? You have never loved anybody before."

Her fists tightened.

Do not lost it.

Do not.

But she could not keep the rage bubbled within her.

"I trusted you. Damn it JJ, I trusted you! You knew him. Protected him when he was made and kept a prisoner. Three years!" The flame intensified, rising then falling as she moved toward the woman. In a harsh whisper, she hissed, "You knew him. You knew that this was not him. The true him, the cop, would not—"

Jennifer Jane shrugged once more, her eyes hardening into chips of steel. "You should not have waited so long to tell him how you truly felt."

With those icy words, Blaise watched as she waltzed past her. She shook her head, bowing it. Her gaze landed on him, on the form that twitched slightly. He is motionless.