Kiss of Death (Death Series Book 7), page 1
KISS OF DEATH
DEATH
BOOK SEVEN
PENELOPE BARSETTI
HARTWICK PUBLISHING
Hartwick Publishing
Kiss of Death
Copyright © 2025 by Penelope Barsetti
All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
CONTENTS
1. Lily
2. Lily
3. Wrath
4. Lily
5. Lily
6. Lily
7. Lily
8. Lily
9. Lily
10. Lily
11. Lily
12. Callum
13. Lily
14. Lily
15. Callum
16. Talon
17. Lily
18. Callum
19. Callum
20. Callum
21. Callum
22. Callum
23. Lily
24. Callum
25. Lily
1
LILY
When one day of silence turned into three, I really started to worry.
Callum and I had never been apart that long, not even when he was angry with me. If he were busy with his own burdens, he would at least stop for a minute and explain that to me so I wouldn’t worry. He wouldn’t willingly ignore me for three days like this, especially when we stood on the precipice of battle.
In Callum’s absence, I realized the depth of our connection because I had no one else to talk to. I was alone—and lonely. He was the person I shared everything with, the one person I could be myself with entirely. When I needed to cry, he caught my tears. When I needed to vent my frustration, he absorbed my flames.
And now, he was just gone.
It was early morning when I crossed to the other side of the castle and found my brother’s bedchambers. I knocked on the heavy door and took a step back to give him space…in case he had company.
I wished I’d had company last night.
“It’s open.”
I let myself inside.
He was seated in the sitting room, wearing nothing but his trousers and tousled hair. A tray in front of him held a steel pitcher of coffee and a mug, along with a basket of fruit. I hadn’t seen him shirtless since he was a boy and we would swim together in the pool at the bottom of the waterfall in the cliffs.
He was built like a bull, muscular and thick from training and carrying the weight of his armor constantly. Before Father had slipped beyond the veil, I’d thought of my brother as a petulant child, but now I realized he was a man.
“What is it, Lily?” he asked, his eyes tired like he’d only been awake for the last twenty minutes. He ran his fingers through his short hair then sank back into the armchair as if it was the end of the night rather than the beginning of the day.
I moved to the couch. “Are you okay? You seem irritated.”
He gave a slight shake of his head. “Just stressed. I hate sitting here waiting for the battle to begin. It just gives me more time to second-guess everything.”
“We’re as prepared as we can be.”
“And what if that’s not enough?” he asked as his eyes shifted to the cold fire. “Father used to criticize me constantly, but now, I would give anything to have him scrutinize my plans.”
“He used to tell me you would be a great general, so I don’t think he would have anything to criticize right now.”
He continued to stare at the fire. “I don’t know if we should move Dad to a secret location. Just in case they make it to the castle.”
“I’m not sure where that would be. It’s the highest point in the kingdom and difficult to reach without flight. And it’s the most fortified building in the Southern Isles. It would take many, many cannons to make it collapse.”
“But they’ll know exactly where he is.”
“Then we have to make sure they don’t reach the castle.”
He gave a nod before he turned back to me. “We’ve only made armor for a third of the dragons, and the forges have been running day and night. We’re running out of steel, so even if we had all the time in the world, it wouldn’t matter. Our resources grow thin.”
“If only half of them can fight because the other half have to keep our father alive, then that means more dragons will be protected than fewer, so that’s a win. We’ll let them decide who gets to wear the armor. It’ll be heavy, so some might not be used to the weight in flight.”
“I agree. Some of them may opt not to use it at all. That much steel is a hundred times heavier than a single rider.”
My eyes dropped to the stainless-steel pitcher of coffee, the lid closed to keep the contents warm. My heart suddenly felt heavier than the steel armor. “I haven’t seen Wrath in three days.”
Hawk said nothing for a moment. “Is that unusual?”
“Very.” I lifted my chin and looked at my brother head on. “He’s usually with me most of the time. He comes and goes often, but he’s still with me at least a third of the day. But three days of silence…has never happened before.”
My brother watched me with eyes so unlike mine, looking much more like my father with every passing year, and even more so now. “What does that mean?”
“I—I don’t know,” I said. “But I know he would never just abandon me.”
“You have no way to contact him?”
I shook my head.
“Then it sounds like we have to keep waiting.”
I remembered the dead island out in the sea, the trees withered and decayed from the forces of death beneath the ground. I’d provoked his presence just by being there, so I knew that was the equivalent of knocking on someone’s door. “I can contact him on that island.”
“That’s a long way away.”
“I know, but I’m certain that would work.”
“With war approaching our doorstep, we can’t afford to have you and Zehemoth that far away. You’re the queen, Lily. Your responsibility is to lead the Southern Isles now.”
The stress of Wrath’s absence started to eat me alive. I needed to know he was okay, that he was just busy with his duties as a god. He knew how terrified I was that he would leave me and never return. I’d made him promise to tell me if there would be a last time. “I’m worried about him.”
“Even if you get to the island and he doesn’t appear, what can you do about it?”
“I—I don’t know.” I was a powerful queen with the blood of Rothschilds in my veins and a horde of dragons loyal to me, but in the underworld, I was worthless. I didn’t have the power to travel there on my own, and even if I made it there…what would I do?
“You have to focus on the Southern Isles—and hope he comes back.”
My chin dropped, and I stared at my joined hands in my lap, my throat tight from the longing and fear. He’d been at my side every step of this journey. Protected me from the Barbarians in many ways and on many occasions. I wasn’t sure if I could do this without him, the eyes in the back of my head, the god who could move me from one point to the next instantaneously. And I wasn’t sure if I could do this without his unwavering belief in me. “What happened…when he came to you?” I lifted my eyes to look at my brother.
He stared at the coffeepot, sunken and tired in the chair like he hadn’t slept a wink last night. He gave a quiet sigh before he straightened in the chair, his forearms moving to his knees. “He wanted to assuage my fears. Noticed the way I continued to question you about his agenda…over and over.”
“And he reassured you?”
He gave a dark chuckle. “Basically recited an epic poem about his undying love for you.”
The next breath I took hurt on the way in…and the way out.
“That there was no sacrifice he wouldn’t make for you, even to his own detriment. Someone might assume it was a ploy to gain my cooperation, but I don’t believe he could say all those things and not mean them.”
“He hadn’t even told me he loved me yet.”
“Seems like he’s loved you a long time, Lily.”
“Yeah…the feeling is mutual.”
He looked at me again. “We have more important matters to worry about and a conversation like this makes me inherently uncomfortable, but you must know this relationship can’t go anywhere, right?”
I stared at the coffeepot again.
“He’s dead…you’re alive. It just won’t work, Lily.”
“I’ll find a way,” I said simply.
Hawk stared at me with that hard look, like he wanted to say more but chose to let it lie. “I don’t think he would leave you willingly. So he’s either busy…or maybe something out of his control happened.”
“I don’t think I can do this without him, Hawk,” I admitted with a painful breath.
“You can, Lily.”
“You don’t understand. He’s been the eyes in the back of my head, taken me from one place to another in a flash, reported the events of battles, relayed the weak spots of my enemies, even revealed himself to save me. He’s been the one keeping me alive this entire time.” I felt like a fraud—not a heroic queen of the Southern Isles, but someone who took advantage of the powers of a god.
“He may have helped you, but he also taught you, Lily. If he doesn’t r
The thought hadn’t crossed my mind. I’d been too distraught by his absence to care about the gifts he’d shared with me. I looked down at my hand and tightened my fingers into a gentle fist, feeling how effortless it was. “Yes.”
“Then he’s still with you, Lily.”
2
LILY
I woke up to pounding on my door. “Lily!” It was my brother, and he didn’t need to tell me why he was banging on my door.
I threw off the covers and put on my robe just as he barged inside.
“Movack has spotted them to the south, and Graphite says their fleet has left the harbor.” Hawk came into my bedroom, clearly not caring whether I was dressed for company or not. “The battle will be on two fronts—one from land and one from sea.” He sounded almost relieved that he finally knew the parameters of the battle instead of having to wonder about it endlessly.
I hadn’t slept much last night. I’d lain there thinking about Callum, worrying about him and missing him. I didn’t fall asleep until sometime just before dawn. That must have been only a few hours ago. “When will they be here?”
“Close to midnight.”
“It’s at least a two-day journey by ship.”
“Not for their ships,” he said. “Movack said they glide through water.”
The tumultuous moment was finally here, when I had to defend my people, my kingdom, and my family. I had been scared to do it with Callum by my side, but his absence made me fear it even more.
Hawk seemed to read the apprehension on my face. “Lily, can you do this?”
“Yes,” I blurted.
“No, I’m actually asking you.” Concerned eyes bored into mine. “Because we’re all depending on you. If your mind is elsewhere and you can’t focus—”
“Hawk, I’ve got it.”
His eyes flicked back and forth between mine. “Are you sure?”
“Yes.” It was only when I’d had the chance to step aside that I’d realized how much I wanted this position. How much I wanted to fight for my kingdom, even if I felt inadequate. Before Callum had granted me his powers, my father had selected me to lead our people. I trusted him more than anyone—so I needed to trust his decision now.
Hawk watched me for an instant longer before he withdrew the interrogation in his gaze. “I need to prepare our army to protect the south.”
“Hawk, that army will be full of vampires.” Our people would be massacred by beings that were thrice as strong. “Any hand-to-hand combat will be a bloodbath. We’ll have the dragons meet their attack. They shouldn’t have weapons to attack the dragons if they’re on foot. We’ll have our fleet and our army in the cliffs to fight back against their fleet.”
He nodded in agreement. “Send word to the Northern Kingdoms and the Brigandine Empire. If we have our fleet meet them head on and then they come in the rear, the enemy’ll be surrounded.”
“Alright.”
“I hope your vampire lover comes to our aid.”
I didn’t correct him, too stressed about the threat to care about technicalities. “They would have had to depart the moment I left to make it in time, with the wind in their sails the entire journey.”
“Perhaps their ships are better than ours, like the Barbarians.”
“Perhaps…”
Hawk turned away, already in his armor with his battle sword over his back. “The Southern Isles have never fallen to an outside invader—and that truth will abide.”
I went straight to my mother, who was in the process of changing my father’s bandage when I walked inside.
I stopped when I saw the bloody dressing she’d removed, the wound in his flesh still bleeding profusely.
She made the change quickly and efficiently, probably because she’d done it daily for the last few weeks. She tightened the gauze over his wound and secured it in place, putting pressure on the gash and letting the material absorb the blood.
When he was underneath the covers, I forgot how badly injured he was.
She rolled up the bandage and tossed it in the trash receptacle. “Lily, you didn’t have to watch that.”
I stood at his bedside, armed and ready for a battle that hadn’t arrived yet. It would still be an entire twelve hours before they crossed into our territory, but I felt strange not being armed to the teeth. I was supposed to lead people, and it was hard to respect the orders of a queen in common clothes. “The Barbarians have left the Empire Colonies. They’ll be here at the darkest part of the night.”
My mother stilled where she stood at my father’s bedside, and a rush of fear moved into her gaze that she couldn’t hide. Her chin dropped down to look at my father, like she wished she could talk to him.
I wished I could talk to him too.
After a heavy bout of silence, she looked at me again, deeper resolve in her gaze. “I’ll stay here and protect your father. If anyone gets through that door, I’ll cut them down.”
I gave a nod. “I’ll make sure they don’t reach the castle.” Not to protect my family home, but the family that lived inside. “And I’ll make sure there are guards at the castle to prevent their entry. Without being able to fly, it’ll be quite a feat for them to make it here.”
“I hope so,” she said. “Have you called for aid?”
“I just sent missives to the Northern Kingdoms, Riviana Star, and the Brigandine Empire.”
“Alright,” she said. “We have allies and dragons and Rothschild blood. We’ll prevail.”
But they had vampires. Vampires that even challenged me when I had the strength of a god in my limbs. “Yes, we will.”
“Lead our people to victory, Lily. Just as your father always believed you would.”
I gave my orders to the men, the fleet prepared to defend the cliffs so their boats couldn’t reach our docks. Then I stood at the edge of the courtyard and slowly watched the day descend into night.
Every torch on the castle grounds was lit, as well as those in the village below. The ocean breeze started to abate with the sun’s descent. I couldn’t feel it in my hair, not when the strands were slicked back in the tightest braid I’d ever worn to keep it from my face.
A thud sounded behind me, vibration in the stone that could only be caused by the weight of a mighty dragon. Zunieth.
I turned from the sea and approached Khazmuda, an enormous black dragon who felt like a father even though he was an entirely different species. I looked up into his face and watched him slowly lower his snout to look at me. “It’s almost time. You don’t have armor.”
I declined their offer to outfit me. I’m bigger than the others and, therefore, require more steel. I’m also not afraid of their golden spikes.
“You should be, Khazmuda. Please take it seriously. Arrogance is for graveyards, not battlefields.”
They come in the dark so they can shoot us from the sky. But we can see as clearly in the night as the day. They’re the arrogant ones.
“We’ll have the armored dragons confront them on the sea, while the others will burn the vampires who come from the south.”
That’s a good plan, Zunieth. Your father would want me to protect you, so I will guard you with my talons, fire, and scales.
“I appreciate that, Khazmuda. But we need to focus on winning the battle, not protecting each other. If we fail and they make it to the castle, they’ll stab a dagger into my father’s heart and take his life. We can’t let that happen.”
If the kingdom falls, that doesn’t mean you and your family have to fall too. We can flee. That’s what Talon would want.
I shook my head. “I’m not leaving, Khazmuda. The only way I’m leaving this kingdom is in death. There is no surrender.”
You sound just like your father.
I felt a rush of pride run through me. “I’ve been told that before.”
Then you must fuse with Zehemoth. You’ll need the strength of a dragon if you want to prevail.
Callum still hadn’t appeared after four days, and with the battle just hours away, I feared he wouldn’t come when I needed him most. So I needed all the strength I could acquire. “I agree.” I would have the strength of both a god and a dragon—and perhaps that would be enough to compensate for what I’d lost.
