Chapter 49 #2
In an explosion of fury, Vail unleashed a guttural scream, channeling all her pent-up rage and anguish into a single act of retaliation. With a flick of her wrist, she hurled the stake back at Donovan, her voice echoing with raw emotion.
“That was for George!” she declared, her words a fierce proclamation of justice.
The stake pierced Donovan’s chest with lethal precision.
But Vail’s wrath didn’t stop there. With a surge of power coursing through her, she unleashed one final burst of energy, driving the stake deeper into Donovan’s body with such force that it tore through him, emerging from the back in a crimson spray.
“No! Donovan!” Connor yelled from next to me. I watched as Donovan crumpled to the ground dead. Vail stood there, her breath coming in ragged gasps, her body trembling.
Another movement caught my eye, and I saw Diana standing nearby, armed but not engaged in the fight, her gaze fixed on Donovan’s lifeless form sprawled on the ground.
“Run,” Vail urged her, her voice strained and raw. Diana’s eyes met mine briefly, her expression unreadable, before she turned and fled from the warehouse without a word.
I looked over at Sam and Ivy, observing Sam’s passive stance as he had yet to engage in the fight.
When our eyes met, he flashed me a chilling smile.
Suddenly, a searing pain erupted in my shoulder as someone thrust a stake into it from behind.
I cried out in agony, whirling around to face a Slayer.
With instinct driving me, I lunged forward, intent on tearing the Slayer apart.
But he was too quick, evading my grasp as I reached for him.
Gritting my teeth against the pain, I reached behind me and yanked the stake from my shoulder; it hadn’t penetrated too deeply. However, my arm hung limp at my side, momentarily useless until the muscles healed.
Connor rushed toward the Slayer, but in the chaos of the moment, the Slayer struck, driving a knife into Connor’s thigh.
Connor reacted swiftly, retaliating by stabbing the Slayer in the side.
Connor took another step forward but stumbled and collapsed to his knees, blood seeping from the wound in his thigh.
My heart clenched as I watched him fall.
The Slayer turned his attention back to me, his movement slow and deliberate as he approached me, his brown eyes gleaming. I braced myself for his attack, my muscles tense and ready.
But as he was about to strike, a black blur darted past me, and the Slayer’s body crumpled to the ground, his neck twisted at an unnatural angle.
I looked at Vail to see if she had something to do with it, but her expression was as stunned as I was.
All the Slayers were now dead except for Connor, Sam, and Ivy. I turned toward them, and they exchanged a tense glance as Sam took his phone out of his pocket and made a call.
I approached Connor, keeping my eyes on Sam and Ivy as they stood there, as if waiting for something.
“What was that?” Connor stammered through the pain. His pants were soaked in blood, a small puddle forming beneath him. “Don't worry,” he reassured me with a weak smile, taking my hand in his. “I don't think all of this blood is mine.”
But before I could respond, the squeal of tires sliced through the air, drawing my attention to a black SUV hurtling toward Sam and Ivy with alarming speed. It stopped in front of them, and the doors swung open.
“See you guys later,” Sam called out before disappearing into the vehicle. Urgency burned within me, and I swiftly drew the gun holstered at my side and aimed at the SUV.
Bullets erupted from my gun, shattering the glass windows. Ivy’s head emerged from inside and retaliated, releasing a round of bullets toward me.
Adrenaline coursed through my veins. As I rolled to the ground evading the bullets, the SUV sped off into the night.
I took a moment to compose myself, but then I heard a sound from beside me that broke my heart.
“Rosie!” Vail’s voice rang in my ears, and I turned to see Connor lying on the ground, clutching his chest as blood pooled, seeping through his shirt.
I sprinted, throwing myself beside him. With trembling hands, I lifted his shirt, revealing two gaping bullet wounds on his chest, the blood still flowing steadily. Panic surged through me as I pressed my hands against the wounds, applying pressure.
Vail crawled over beside me.
“Do something, Vail!” I screamed, my voice cracking. “Help him, do something!” I pleaded again, a hot string of tears streaming down my face.
Vail's hands joined mine, the touch igniting with a soft golden glow. For a moment, hope flickered within me, but then the light sputtered out. “I’m too weak, Rosie,” Vail confessed, staring at her hands, her voice choked with tears. “I ... I can’t do anything.”
“No, you’re a witch, you can heal him,” I insisted, shaking my head.
“I can’t do anything, Rosie,” she repeated. I felt Connor's heartbeat slowing beneath my palms, his breaths becoming shallow and laboured.
“Rose.” Connor’s voice was barely a whisper, strangled by the blood filling his throat. Dark red seeped from the corner of his lips.
“Shh, you’ll be okay.” I leaned down to kiss his blood-stained lips, already feeling the chill of death creeping over him.
“Please, Vail, I’ll never ask for anything from you ever again, just please, save him,” I pleaded, my voice trembling with desperation as I looked into her eyes, searching desperately for a glimmer of hope, but I knew her magic was too weak.
“Drink his blood,” I suggested, “You can heal and save him!”
“Rosie,” Vail shook me, her voice breaking through the haze of my anguish. “I can’t do anything. He doesn’t have a heartbeat.”
She continued to speak, but I didn’t hear the words that came out of her mouth as I felt Connor’s heartbeat stop.
“No!” I screamed, the sound raw and guttural, tearing at my throat. “Please, tell me what to do. I can’t handle it,” I pleaded, my world crumbling around me.
“You know what to do,” a voice from behind me said, stopping my world. I recognized that voice instantly, having heard it over and over again in my dreams for over a century. With a sense of disbelief gripping my senses, I slowly lifted my gaze.
There he stood, his face exactly as I remembered.
Draven’s hair was shorter than the last time I saw him, and my breath caught in my throat as I saw our wedding rings hanging around his neck. The same ring I left in his grave a hundred and seventeen years ago.
“Hello, my heart,” he said with a smile, sending a shiver down my spine.