Chapter 34
34
brOGAN
M y heart stopped beating when Esme slumped forward.
"She's still alive, Brogan," Killian reassured me when I was overcome with panic. "Listen. Just listen."
Desperate for him to be right, I fought to quiet the noise in my head. And then I heard it, the softest wheeze of an inhaled breath followed by the weak beat of her heart, still fighting to keep her blood flowing through her beaten body.
I sank to my knees with a shuddering breath. It wasn't until I reassured myself that Esme continued to breathe and Alice made her offer to the djinn that I allowed Killian and Dae to pull me to my feet.
For a long time, the djinn said nothing as my mate hung forgotten from his hand, but he couldn't quite hide the gleam of triumph in his eyes as he debated Alice and Alex's offer.
My hands still clenched and unclenched at my sides, Killian and Dae on either side of me, ready to restrain me if things went sideways. But they wouldn't be able to stop me. Nothing but death would keep me from her if he tried to take Esme from me again.
Marcus's gaze shifted back and forth between the twins, his eyes gleaming with a dangerous mix of caution and victory.
"As you wish," he finally said, his voice carrying over the graveyard with the smoothness of silk. "She's of little use to me anymore, anyway."
I surged forward as soon as he let go of Esme, covering the ground between us between one heartbeat and the next, catching her before she could crumple to the ground. As soon as she was in my arms, I scurried back to the safety of my coven. Her body felt incredibly fragile in my arms, nothing but a jumble of broken bones and battered flesh.
So, so carefully, I cradled her against my chest like she was made of glass, barely breathing as I registered how weak her heartbeat had become.
"Esme," I whispered, brushing blood-matted hair from her face. "Stay with me, darlin'. Come on, beautiful. I need you to open your eyes."
Her eyelids fluttered as she moaned, but she couldn't seem to focus before they closed again. I bit into my wrist and pressed the open wound to her lacerated lips.
"Drink," I urged. "Please, just drink." I had no idea what was happening around me, and honestly, I didn't give a shit as I watched a small amount of my blood trickle onto her tongue.
I reopened the wound again, but she couldn't close her mouth around it. She couldn't suck to keep it open, so it kept healing before I could get enough into her.
"I will not lose you. Do you hear me?"
But she couldn't hear anything. Her body went lax as she fell into unconsciousness again.
A low growl began deep within my chest as I searched for the djinn who'd done this to her. He was talking to Alice and Alex, not an ounce of concern for the woman dying in my arms.
Watching him, something inside me snapped.
Gently, I laid Esme on the ground, my hands shaking as I brushed a strand of hair from her battered face. Then I stood, my entire body vibrating with a rage so pure it felt like molten lava in my veins.
One of us was going to die today, but it wouldn't be her.
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Killian studying me. But my attention was on Marcus, who extended his hands toward the twins.
"You won't regret this decision," he said, his voice smooth as silk. "Family should always stay together."
Alice stepped forward first, her face a mask of calm determination. Alex followed, his golden eyes burning with barely controlled rage as Kenya moved silently at his side.
"That's right," Marcus crooned. "Come to?—"
Everything happened at once.
Alice and Alex join hands and began to chant in unison. Their voices rose and fell in perfect harmony, the ancient-sounding words creating ripples of energy that made my skin prickle.
"Now!" Killian roared beside me.
The vampires moved as one, myself among them. Dae and Jamal flanked Marcus from both sides, while Killian and I charged straight at him. The earth trembled beneath our feet as the witches joined the fray, their voices rising in unison as they chanted words of a binding spell.
Marcus screamed in rage, black energy exploding from his body, throwing everyone back. Tombstones shattered. Trees uprooted. The ground split open in jagged lines. Alice and Alex scrambled to their feet, grabbing for each other's hand as they continued to chant, distracting the djinn.
My rage carried me forward like a missile locked on its destination, my fangs extended and my body coiled with deadly purpose.
The combined power of the witches slammed into Marcus again, driving him backward. His face contorted in shock and fury as the twins' magic held him.
Shoving Killian to the side with one arm, I barreled into Marcus with enough force to shatter human bones, driving him backward into a stone mausoleum. The impact cracked the marble, dust exploding around us. My fists connected with his face, over and over, each blow fueled by Esme's blood on my hands and her pain still burning through our bond.
Marcus tried to fight back, his hands glowing black as he got a grip on me and spun us around, but another blast of magic from Alice and Alex hit him from behind. He staggered, momentarily weakened, and I seized my chance.
Grabbing his throat, I squeezed with every ounce of my strength as I slammed him repeatedly against the stone. His head broke the marble, and I held him there, getting right in his face to make sure he heard me loud and fucking clear.
"I'm going to kill you for what you did to her," I promised, my voice barely recognizable even to my own ears.
Marcus's eyes flashed an unnatural blue. "Did to who?" he goaded.
With a roar of rage, I punched him again, feeling his jaw crack beneath my fist. Blood—his blood—sprayed across my face, but I didn't give a shit. I was going to bathe in his blood before this was over.
The twins' magic swirled around us, constraining Marcus's power, giving me the opening I needed. I grabbed his head between my hands, preparing to twist it clean off his shoulders. I sensed my brothers around me, but they held back and didn’t interfere, allowing me to take this thing’s life myself.
But suddenly, the air shifted. Marcus's form blurred, and before I could tighten my grip, he'd slipped through my fingers like smoke. My forehead slammed against the stone and my skull busted open. The world toppled, and I slid to the ground, wiping blood from my eyes.
Marcus hovered several feet above us, his eyes blazing with inhuman light, his face twisted into something barely recognizable as human.
"You dare?" he howled. "You dare betray your own blood?"
He thrust his hand toward Alice, and she dropped to her knees, clutching her chest as if he'd reached inside and grabbed her heart.
"No!" Alex screamed, reaching for his sister.
But it was too late. In a crack of black lightening, Marcus and Alex vanished, leaving nothing but empty air where they'd been standing as Alice knelt on the ground, trying to catch her breath.
Kenya screamed in horror.
Stumbling back to Esme, I lifted her into my arms and rushed her back to the house.