Chapter 37
Ididn’t feel pain until I turned to face the vampires, jostling the post. Then, all I knew was sheer agony.
Liz and Joseph held Serena’s arms out at her sides, forcing her to her knees. Robert’s eyes met mine, then dropped to the post protruding from my chest. His face twisted as he charged forward and ripped Serena’s head from her body. Just like that.
She was screaming even after she’d been decapitated.
It would take a better woman than I to feel pity.
I’d wanted to kill Serena myself, but I figured my husband was a close enough substitute, given how she’d treated our family.
Fuck around and find out, Serena. The rest of the vampires wasted no time ripping Serena limb from limb until she was a pool of red gooey nothingness spreading across the area rug.
Robert ran to my side just as my knees gave out. I collapsed into his arms, squeezing my eyes shut as I jostled the post.
He smoothed a hand over my hair, chanting, “No, no, no.” When he took his hand away, it was covered in blood.
Through the mayhem happening around us, I could hear Liz wailing. “No! Please, no! Olivia!”
From the crib, Andrew began calling for his mamma. Andrew had just said his first word. I couldn’t bear knowing that I wouldn’t be around for his second. Breathless sobs racked every inch of my body. Amazing how life could go from perfect to devastating at the blink of an eye.
“Hold on, Olivia. Don’t you leave me!” Robert commanded. To Liz, he said, “We’re going to have to change her over now!”
I reached up and touched Robert’s wet cheek. “I’m so sorry,” I tried to say, but my collapsed lungs wouldn’t allow it. Tears trickled from his eyes and hit my face, tickling my skin.
“Don’t you give up on me! Fight, honey!”
The atmosphere flickered, glowing and darkening, then glowing twice as bright. My bones felt cold, but my skin was on fire. I couldn’t stop shivering.
I was dying.
I closed my eyes, the voices around me whirling into a jumble of background noise and screams.
Please, baby, hold on!
Find Luther. His blood is the strongest. Go! Now!
What if it doesn’t work?
It’s better than nothing!
We’ll have to pull it out before we do it.
My eyes flew open at the last statement. Pull what out? Oh, no, they weren’t going to—
“Olivia, honey, this is going to hurt,” Liz said.
Joseph ordered, “Turn her on her side. Careful!”
I fumbled for the post, a feeble attempt to stop them. I was no match for the vampires.
“We’re all going to have to start biting the instant it’s out, understand?” Liz yelled. “Then we’ll take turns getting her to drink from us!”
I gazed around the room. It seemed as if every vampire from the party was packed into the space. Who was she talking to? There were so many of them. How could they think they could make me vampire? Couldn’t they see I was beyond saving?
Suddenly, hands were all over me, pinning my body. Another hand curled over the post. I wanted to scream for them to stop, to tell them to let me sleep. I wanted them to go away and let me die in peace.
But it wasn’t just about me anymore. I had a son and a husband. Without me, there would be no one to look after them. Nobody could ever love them as much as I did. I had to be strong.
I squeezed my eyes shut and gave Robert a nod. Do it!
“Hold on, my love,” he whispered.
Even though I knew what was coming next, I was nonetheless horrified when my ribcage emitted a crunching sound as the post was ripped from my chest. I struggled to breathe like a fish out of water as I convulsed on the floor. The shouting started up again as I began to fade.
She’s going!
We’re losing her!
Bite! Now!
My eyes flew open as countless mouths latched onto my body.
Seemed they’d given up on taking turns and were instead engaging in a biting free-for-all.
A vampire even sucked at the veins of my feet.
It hit me all at once: the stinging, burning, freezing sensation of their fangs sinking into my flesh as they nearly sucked me dry.
It hurt so damn much, I began to wish for death, for the agony to finally end.
All at once, the biting stopped. Cold fingers jabbed into my mouth, prying my teeth apart to hold my jaw open. I tried not to cough when coppery liquid gushed down my throat. It was like being waterboarded with vampire blood.
Robert’s blood, I realized. “Drink it down, my love,” he said. I felt no change as I sucked at his oozing wound.
Then, Liz was above me. “Let me try.” She eased her spurting wrist over my lips. “I can’t tell if it’s working! Do you think it is?” she asked Robert.
It wasn’t.
I continued drinking—from my best friend, then Marlena, Joseph, and endless vamps whose names I didn’t know. We were running out of options.
We tried, I thought sleepily. We tried.
Voices faded into the background, words tangling into swirls of incomprehensible chatter. Liz and Robert’s sobs dwindled. Blood was still being forced down my throat, though I lacked the conviction to continue swallowing.
I’m done. No more. I give up.
I allowed myself to let go, to relinquish my life force to whatever was waiting for me on the other side. I spiraled down, down, down into darkness. The pain dulled and then ceased to exist altogether. Soon, so would I.
Luther!
Let Luther through!
Olivia, drink from me! Drink!
Then, came a different light. Warm, soothing, energizing. Bright.
So, so bright . . .