Chapter 57
Sam
Stupid, stupid, stupid. I should have known these fuckers would have a backup plan. Mark let me come here too easily. He should have put up a fight, but he wished me luck and sent me on my way.
Stupid.
What did I really expect? I was the dumb bitch that believed Lock ran a guild of assassins in San Francisco. Sure, vampires seemed like more of a stretch, but I’d definitely missed a bunch of signs.
No matter how hard I fought against the men behind me, I was stuck. They each held one of my arms, keeping me from moving toward Lock or Seraphim. The latter was staring at Vas, as if something was passing between them. Whatever it was, it wouldn’t help. It was too late for more scheming.
This was why I didn’t want the other vampires involved. Two hundred of them were here, ready and willing to die for us. And they would if I didn’t find a way to save them.
“What do you want?” I asked. Between the rip inside me from Joseph’s loss, the absence of my mate for the past two days, and the way Davi muted my magic, I felt exhausted. My head may as well have weighed a hundred pounds at this point.
“I need you to understand something,” Sibon said. “We can play nice and exchange pleasantries, but when it comes down to it, I know that you will fight me for too long. Frankly, I don’t have the patience for it. What do we do when there’s cancer growing in our ranks?”
“We cut it out,” Arty filled in for her.
Oh, I wanted to gut that motherfucker.
“Exactly. You spent time among them. Tell me who should be the first to go.”
He glanced at the group of vampires, seeming to contemplate. His whole innocent, timid fa?ade was gone entirely.
“All of them, mother.”
“Mother?” I repeated, unable to keep the disgust off my face.
“That’s actually a good idea,” she mused. After tugging her sleeves down further, she wrapped her arms around her middle.
“You’re cold,” Arty whispered. “I’ll get your gloves.”
She just nodded and he disappeared. When he returned, I looked between the two of them, taking note of their similar dark eyes and the shape of their mouths. This was some creepy, Norman Bates type shit.
He passed her the gloves and she tugged them on before looking at me again. “Sam, you’re going to make a decision now.”
“I choose death over joining your creepy collection of vampires.”
She let out a high-pitched laugh. “These aren’t just any vampires. They are my children.”
My eyes widened. “All of them?”
“Well, excluding you, your psychopath, and the Flame.”
“I’m so confused.”
“Pure magic will return to this world someday, but it’s hard to come by, clearly. Trial and error, if you will. Some are born without and others possess the potential, but it isn’t strong enough in their human form, like Vasile and Kavi. When we find your Anem, perhaps we’ll have a chance to try again.”
“You… Want to breed,” I realized, stifling a gag. “That’s disgusting.”
“It’s the only way. You, my dear, have a Nexus, which means those in your circle will be strong. Perhaps he’ll be just what I need.”
“For their sake, I hope it’s a girl.”
“When we’re done today, you’ll learn your place here, Sam. That smart mouth of yours will be speechless, I hope. You’re quite annoying.”
“Fuck you.”
She laughed as she shook her head and moved behind Lock. I struggled more violently against the hold on my arms. I managed to get one of them free, but was quickly restrained again by more vampires than before.
Sibon put a hand at the back of Lock’s neck and his lip curled.
“I can’t wait until you’re fileted on my table,” he growled.
“Yeah, yeah. Threats of violence are your go-to. It’s old.”
A sound I never imagined I would hear pierced my ears, immediately triggering a wave of tears. His chest split open, the skin peeling to the sides like someone was conducting an autopsy. Lock’s agony became my own for only a moment, then it faded into a dull ache. Even in the midst of all this, he was trying to keep me from feeling it.
Wretched anguish caused his brow to furrow and his mouth to remain open. The sound continued and I watched his eyes become bloodshot. The crack of his ribs was like thunder to my ears. I was screaming, crying out for him, thrashing against those that were keeping me from helping him.
“Stop,” I pleaded. “Please stop.”
Lock’s chest was being held open by some force I couldn’t see, and his ribs had been snapped off. The fractured bones were lying on the floor like puzzle pieces that had been lost and kept him from being whole. His heart was exposed, unbeating, but still the thing that kept him alive.
The blood pouring out on the floor made me gag. I could smell it on the air, which only further triggered my need to protect him. That was exactly what it was. A need. It had solidified when we completed the tether, and I was going to fail him already.
She couldn’t take him from me. I would not lose my mate.
“Please,” I repeated.
“Sibon, it was me that moved against you,” Seraphim said. He’d been quiet for so long and without the hum of his magic, I’d almost forgotten he was there.
“What would you do to keep him?” Sibon asked, ignoring him.
“Anything,” I replied.
“Then you’ll choose. Them or your mate.”
She gestured at the group of vampires. I could only stare at them in shock. Marley and Priscilla were at the front and I saw the realization hit them. They appeared sad, as if they knew what my decision would be already.
I looked at Mark, who was still lost in his head. I didn’t know what she was doing to him or how many memories she had him cycling through, but the despair on his face broke my heart. He was the strongest out of the group and she’d incapacitated him in the most heartless way. It infuriated me and even though I knew it was pointless, I tried to pull my arms free again.
“I’ll give you three seconds,” Sibon told me.
“No, please. I… Give me a minute.”
“Two.”
“Sibon!” Raf shouted. “Cease this now.”
She thrust her hand out and he dropped to the ground with a frustrated yell. He held his head and his breaths became ragged. He didn’t attempt to restrain the emotion and the force of it made it difficult for me to breathe.
Sibon took another step toward me. “One. Let’s start motivating you, since you seem to be very poor at making decisions.”
Arty brought one of the vampires forward. I remembered him from my notecards. His name was Grant and he’d been turned three years ago, after he lost his nine-year-old daughter. She’d been hit by a drunk driver in their neighborhood and he’d wanted revenge, so that was his first vampire kill.
His bravery made my chest ache as he held his head high. Just like Lock’s chest, Grant’s opened up, his ribs cracked and hit the ground, then his heart was crushed by an invisible hand.
My mouth hung open as I stared at the ground. I couldn’t do this. I couldn’t fucking do it.
“No!”
Marley’s voice snapped me back to the present. I looked up just in time to see Priscilla’s knees hit the ground. Marley dropped down beside her, cradling her against her chest. Her long wail echoed in the foyer, her pain radiating throughout the space, bouncing off the walls as if it would never end.
“Belladonna.”
I looked at Lock, barely able to see him through my tears. He was in so much pain. It was hardly evident on his face, but I could see it in his eyes. I could feel it rippling down the bond just slightly, the severity of it too great for him to hold back entirely.
“I don’t know what to do,” I whispered.
“If you burn,” he gritted out.
“I’ll burn with you.”
The ghost of a smile passed over his face. Another vampire fell, then another. I continued staring at Lock, the guilt too overwhelming to bear on my own.
Something nudged at my connection with Raf and I latched onto it. It was painfully hot, creating a sharp sting in my tissues. I gathered it the best I could, trusting whatever it was. Davi narrowed his eyes and started toward me, apparently sensing it.
Something crackled around us, making him pause. Sibon watched with wide eyes as Raf got to his feet, a mass of black coiled around his hands. It wasn’t smoke like the kind we shifted into. This was darkness and heat, a sort of emptiness that felt heavy in the air.
“No,” Sibon breathed.
He rushed toward her, thrusting his hand forward. She held up her own, holding him off with something that pulsed in the air, creating ripples in front of her.
“You don’t have enough magic,” she said in a strained voice.
“The ebony flame always wants out,” he returned. “It has its own life and once it starts, you can’t stop it. Not unless you kill me.”
The blackness dripped from his hands. When it spread across the floor, dark flames sprung to life. They touched one of Sibon’s vampires and it only took half a second for him to go up in flames. His screams were louder than any I’d ever heard. It seemed to burn him from the inside, smoke coiling out of his mouth and ears. His eyes turned black, then melted, dripping down his face.
As the flames moved toward us, the vamps holding my arms released me. I took off, making a beeline for Arty. He may have been a terrific actor, but he was still weak. It took barely any effort for me to crush his heart in his chest.
While Raf kept Sibon busy, I dropped down beside Lock. With her distraction, she must have let go of whatever held him. His wounds were mending slowly, but he was healing. That was what mattered.
“Feed from me,” I said.
He shook his head. “You need blood to replenish your magic.”
“Lock, most of yours is on the ground. Don’t be stupid.”
Bringing his wrist to his mouth, he ripped it open with his teeth. “It’ll go to waste, Belladonna.”
I took just enough to feel my magic awaken, then released him. It was jarring to see him look so tired. All I wanted was to get him out of here, but there was chaos around us. Our vamps were fighting Sibon’s and while they held their own well enough, Davi and Vas were untouchable as they cut through our ranks.
Vas was terrifying. That beautiful face remained expressionless as he seemed to float above the crowd, then dropped down to attack. He was wearing what looked like metal gloves, the fingers ending in sharp talons he used to slice open necks and dig into chests. Hand to hand, he may not have been the strongest vampire, and he didn’t possess the ability to shift, but he was lithe and agile, a deadly force that moved like smoke and killed mercilessly.
Sensing my stare, he turned toward me. He moved his fingers and while I didn’t know exactly what it meant, I thought he was trying to give me a message, so I leapt toward him. He could have dodged, but he allowed me to catch him by the throat and thrust him to the ground.
“One chance,” he mouthed.
I jerked my hand, enjoying the sound of his neck snapping. The chaos from outside reached my ears, whereas before everything was muffled by Vas’ barrier.
Raf was still fighting with Sibon and his fire was spreading at an alarming rate. If we didn’t get out of here soon, we would all die.
Focusing, I reached out to him through the bond. He allowed me to open the connection and funnel energy to him. When he suddenly dropped his defenses, Sibon stumbled and he used the opportunity to shift into smoke, reappearing at my side.
“Let’s grab Lock and get the fuck out of here,” he said.
“I’ll get him,” Mark said, apparently released from Sibon’s mind-grab.
He threw Lock over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes. He could barely even protest, he was so weak. I knew he couldn’t die from this, but I was still desperate to get him home and load him up with blood.
Smoke forms dashed out the door and those without the ability followed after. I glanced behind us, then ran back inside.
“Marley, we have to go,” I said, tugging on her arm.
“No,” she sobbed. “I can’t.”
“Take her and let’s go. We can’t stay here.”
Watery eyes met mine, then she nodded. Grabbing Priscilla’s arm, she shifted them both to smoke and disappeared.
“Sam!” Raf shouted from the doorway.
I hauled ass to the door where I grabbed Raf’s hand so we could shift. Something struck us from behind and his grip disappeared. White hot pain lanced through my chest, spreading through my veins rapidly. I wrapped him in my smoke form, fighting against the agony that was trying to debilitate me.
“What are you without the Flame?” Sibon called from the ground.
I wasn’t going to find out. He wasn’t dead. He couldn’t be dead.
The flight back to San Francisco passed in a blur. There were a few times I thought I’d fall out of the sky, especially when that pain radiated through my body again. When I reached the tower thirty minutes later, I deposited us in the cupola, immediately rolling Raf onto his side.
There was a stake embedded in his back. Pulling it out, I threw it to the side. I moved him onto his back and dropped my forehead to his chest, willing something to happen. Anything.
It was silent. No connection. Nothing.
“Seraphim,” I cried. “Why’d you do this? Why’d you have to be a fucking idiot?”
Fire burned inside me, like the ice had when Joseph died. I wished I was lost to it like that time. I was too awake for this, I felt it too fucking much.
Tightening my fingers against his chest, I screamed. And screamed. And screamed. I beat at his chest and felt every single pain of the past six months come at me full force.
Parker. Joseph. Grant. Priscilla. Seraphim.
Parker. Joseph. Grant. Priscilla. Seraphim.
Parker. Joseph. Grant. Priscilla. Seraphim.
God, it hurt so fucking much.