Chapter 40

Chris

Time slows, and the world stops spinning. There’s nothing I can do but watch in horror as the love of my life is ripped away from me, pulled up on stage with a man I swore to protect her from. My sanguise. My heart races in terror, and I can’t tell whether it’s my own fear, or Dani’s driving the rhythm.

But she’s so brave. I see her mouth to me to stick to the plan while she clutches the cross around her neck. Oliver wants to give her a show, but I’m going to be the one giving them a fucking show. This ends. Tonight.

“Behind you!” Dani cries out.

I duck, Amanda’s claw swiping through the air where my head was just seconds before. Her creepy ass giggles ripple through the air, and I can hear the patter of her feet behind. I spin to face her, canines bared.

She stalks toward me, wagging her clawed fingers in front of her. “Do you remember what happened the last time my claws shredded your skin?” She bites her lip and lets out a loud groan, licking her lips. “I can’t wait to hear your cries again. But, this time, you won’t get back up, little vampire.”

I give her a cocky grin, my power humming in my fingertips, just waiting to be released. They twitch at my sides as I patiently wait for my moment to strike. “You’re fucking delusional if you believe that this will end with me. If you believe that with my death, Oliver will kill Dani and choose you, then the dumbest whore of the year award goes to you, bitch.”

With a piercing screech, Amanda lunges for me, and I lift my hands towards her. I can feel her blood coursing through her body, feel every platelet in her toxic ass veins. I shift my fingers to force all the blood to flow to her brain; her blood surges, answering my command. Amanda stops in her tracks, a confused look on her face.

I clench my fists and force her blood to clot. Small and large clots form in her brain; I fill her arteries with the force of the blood flow, causing them to swell and constrict in unison to cut off all circulation. Amanda clutches her head and drops to her knees, screaming and thrashing against the force of her blood’s betrayal. I squeeze my fists tighter. With nowhere else for her blood to go, her eyes and ears ooze crimson, tracking down her face to form bloody tears. I know this won’t last long. She’s twice my age and will overpower me. It’s just a matter of when, not if, she will break free. But I need time for Dani to get off the stage, away from Oliver.

“Chris! Here!” A stake lands with a splash on the bloody floor near my feet.

I flick my eyes to the stage as Dani cries out. Oliver wraps his arms around her body, immobilizing her, and hisses into her ear, “That won’t save him, pet.” His red eyes aren’t on my sanguise, though. Instead, he’s watching me when he says, “Shall I undress her to see what else she’s hiding underneath her clothes?”

Growling in response to the threat, I clench my fists tighter and look back to Amanda to ensure she hasn’t gotten up. She’s still holding her head in agony, emitting small, muted screams. I don’t have forever here. I need to make a decision. Kill Amanda now, or get my sanguise.

I look back at Danica. Her expression is fierce, not an ounce of fear in her features. In fact, she looks pissed. I love the fire in her; my little kitten never backs down from a fight.

“It’s just all in the jacket, you prick. Let my arms go, and I’ll show you,” Dani hisses through clenched teeth.

“Now, why would I let you do that,” Oliver purrs into Dani’s ear before ripping the leather jacket from her and throwing it behind him. The sound of wood clangs loudly as the stakes in her jacket hit the floor. “Let me see what else you have with you, pet.” He runs his hands down her body, and I see him brush his fingers over her breast right before she lets out a furious shout.

Rage pulses through me, and without hesitating, I break my hold on Amanda’s blood and sprint for the stake that Dani threw on the ground, picking it up without even breaking stride and racing towards the stage.

“Chris, just focus on Amanda. I got this.” Dani bares her little human teeth at her ex in disgust. The cross on her chest glints in the light. At least she still has a weapon.

I snarl and turn to find Amanda gone. God fucking damn it. Oliver begins laughing. “You’re a fool.” I grip the stake tighter in my hand and hold it up, searching the room for Amanda.

Amanda’s laughter rings from my left and then chimes to my right before echoing across the room. But I can’t see her. She’s playing with me. I roll my eyes in irritation. She thinks her illusions can work on me. Fucking think again, psycho bitch. I’m patient, and I have way too much to lose if we fail tonight.

I let my body still entirely and extend my senses, listening for her, tracking where she is to catch her off guard. Something wet splashes to my right. I don’t look. It’s too loud, too obvious, to actually be Amanda. This is just part of her game.

From the stage, I hear Danica’s heavy breathing as she watches. I know she’s waiting for the right moment to use her cross. My strong, brave girl. I need to subdue Amanda again and kill her. Danica can use the cross to get out of Oliver’s grasp and distract him long enough for me to rip the little British fucker limb from limb. This can still work.

I hear subtle movements coming from my left, not obvious like the earlier blood splashing. Got you, you bitch. I turn and thrust my fist into the air, making contact with Amanda’s jaw just before she slashes at me with her claws. She gasps, shocked to be caught off guard.

Behind me, I hear Oliver’s goddamn laugh as Dani sneers, “Don’t fucking touch me! You disgust me. How fucking sad that you have to touch me against my will, because you know I’ll never willingly touch you again.”

I can’t afford to look. I have to trust my kitten—my beautiful, brilliant, fiery girl—to be able to handle herself. This is all just a ploy on Oliver’s part to make me lose focus on Amanda. I’m learning their tricks. With a clenched jaw, I stalk towards Amanda, where she landed in the bloody mess of the floor after I punched her. Oliver’s only fueling my rage and murderous impulses. It’s okay. I’ll bleed Amanda out, then dismember Oliver, starting by cutting off his hands and dick for ever touching my girl with them.

I reach Amanda just as she picks herself off the floor, crouching to push herself to her feet. With no small amount of satisfaction, I bring my foot back and kick her in the face, watching carelessly as a tooth falls from her mouth.

She laughs, tilting her head back to give me a sinister smile, blood dripping from the side of her mouth. “Aww, is the little vampire mad that another man is touching his sanguise?” she coos.

Red fury, like I’ve never felt before, covers my vision, and it’s the small distraction she needed to get the upper hand. Before I can even see her coming, she’s in front of me, swinging her fist into my jaw with enough force to send me flying into the bar stools. I lose my grip on the stake, and it clatters to the floor as I connect with the seats, shattering them into pieces from the weight of my body. Doesn’t matter that I lost the stake. I have shards of wood as far as the eye can see now, thanks to the broken remains of the bar stools. I stagger to my feet before Amanda can catch me while I’m down. My clothes are soaked through with blood from the floor, and a piece of small intestine falls from my shoulder as I rise to my full height.

Amanda charges me, and, with a roar, I jump into the fray, my fists flying towards her face. I’m careful to dodge her claws; one slash to my skin, and this would all be over. I can’t allow her to poison me again because if she does, then she wins. Oliver wins. And that’s not a fucking option.

I bide my time, each movement precise and swift. Amanda and I are in a dance to the death, which means I have to be patient. Strategic. I will come out on top this time. Before Dani and I left the bus, I made Todd promise me that if we were in here for longer than twenty minutes, they would force their way in here and fight. I just need to hold on long enough for my brothers to barge in here, and we’ll take the situation into our own hands. I know it’s risky for Elijah, but I cannot afford to fail. My sanguise’s life is on the line, and that is more important than anyone or anything else. I will never let anything happen to her. I will protect her until my very last breath.

I land a kick to Amanda’s stomach that pushes her far enough away to give me space and time to run back for a stake. I make my way towards the ruined area, and I pick up the leg of one of the broken chairs and snap it in half over my knee. I start to turn, but it’s too late. I feel her fingers curling into the back of my shirt just before she picks me up and throws me back towards the center of the room.

I land on the floor with a splash, blood, and viscera spraying around me, but my grip on the broken piece of wood—that I plan to ram into her chest—stays tight.

I flick my head up, blood dripping into my eyes as my hair falls into my face. Before I can get off the floor, a kick to the face sends me falling back onto my ass. Amanda’s laughter sounds above as she plants her foot on my chest, driving me all the way back to the floor. I grunt and wrap my fingers around her ankle, trying to remove it. But she doesn’t move.

Amanda leans down, digging her heel into my chest. “Now I get to play with your blood, too. It will flow so nicely with the rest of our decorations,” she sings in a childlike pattern. She brings her clawed fingers into the air and prepares to strike, but male screams from the stage distract her.

While her attention is on the stage, I glance over to see Oliver shouting in pain with Dani’s cross shoved into his face. His skin is burning, and his howls only grow louder as he backs away. Good girl. Now get away from him. This is my moment, and I will happily rip your ex-boyfriend’s spinal column from his skin.

I dig my fingers into Amanda’s ankle, tearing into the skin, exposing the blood and muscle beneath. She screams at the unexpected pain, and I roll out from under her heel.

Amanda turns her focus back on me, stumbling as the foot with her shredded ankle drops to the ground. Looks like I may have accidentally severed a tendon. Too bad. “You think you’ll beat us with a cross necklace and a makeshift stake?” She cackles. “Silly, silly baby.”

I summon my power, feeling it thrumming through me once more. With all my strength, I throw everything I’ve got at Amanda, forcing her blood into her brain and shutting down all circulation. She screeches and tries to fight through it. I race to her and grip her hair, allowing my power to seep through her skin and keep the upper hand. With my other hand still holding the broken stool leg, I raise it high enough to drive its pointy end into her chest. “Looks like you lose, bitch. All of this for nothing,” I growl into her bleeding face.

Amanda gasps softly, her eyes widening as she realizes that death is imminent.

I swing my hand down, the point of the wood about to pierce her skin. But the stake is frozen only inches away from her chest. I can’t move. I glance over and see my wrist enclosed in shadows, forcing my arm away. I can’t fight it. How the fuck is he so strong? He’s too young to have this kind of power!

Oliver barks out a laugh from behind me. “Did you think it would be so easy?”

I try to fight against his power, using all of my strength to try and push the wood into Amanda’s heart. But I can’t. I feel the tug of his shadows all over my body now. I need my brothers in here. Now.

Amanda giggles into my face, the panic from her death receding from her eyes as she watches me struggle. She caresses my face with her clawed fingers, stroking them along my forehead and cheek without ever breaking the skin. “It was all for him— both of them. You would do well to bend your knee in his presence and allow him to kill you for your acts against him. We are all unworthy,” she moans, lifting her head to brush her lips against mine. My eyes, the only body part I’m able to move, narrow on hers, furious that she’s touching what is rightfully my sanguise’s. “Your human bitch will beg for him to take her back, once she sees the truth. But he’ll kill her as a present to me because he is MINE. You lose,” she snarls, digging her claw into my cheek.

I hiss at the sting of her claw piercing my skin. It can’t fucking end like this. Pain erupts in my cheek, and I can feel her toxin spreading throughout my body.

“Can I kill him, Oli?” Amanda pleads.

I feel myself being lifted from the ground and thrown backward, landing hard on my back with a deep grunt of pain. My vision starts to blur as the poison takes root. My ears are ringing. I try to get up, but pain wracks through me. Where is Dani?

“Soon. Find the girl. She needs to watch as he turns to ash and becomes nothing but dust in the wind,” Oliver snarls.

Good. I hope she ran to the doors and found Todd, Benji, or anyone else. I need them in here now.

Amanda huffs and stomps her feet, but then she storms to the front door if the clacking of her heels and the bloody splashes are any indication.

Oliver turns to face me and stalks toward me.

I try to hold his stare, but he gets more blurry with each passing minute as my vision slowly fades.

“Did you know that the moment you walked through those doors with what I seek, no one was getting in or out again unless I allowed it?” Oliver leans down towards me. “It would seem I’m growing stronger by the day. Incredible, yeah? A vampire so much younger in age than you, but you’re still no match for me. You never were. I also happened to stumble upon a brand new power while I was away. This building is enclosed in shadow, the doors sealed shut and held tight with my shadows, which are strong in and of themselves. I knew you would try to bring back up mate, I’m not fucking stupid.” He tilts closer to me and whispers, “You were dead the minute you walked in here. No one’s coming to save you. They can’t enter into a building that they can’t fucking see.”

I snarl at him and try to force myself off the floor, but the poison has me locked in place. Even if it didn’t, though, his shadows are shoving me down into the concrete floor. How is any of this possible? I dimly hear one of my collarbones crack from the pressure his shadows exert on my chest, but the pain barely registers. It doesn’t fucking matter right now. Nothing matters except that my sanguise is safe. Where the fuck is she? If what he said is true, then she never escaped. Which means I’ve failed her. I let her and Elijah down. How could I be so stupid?

From the entrance of the venue, I hear Danica scream.

I feel tears building, then slowly sliding from the corners of my eyes as I listen to my love cry out in fear. And I’m unable to stop it. Any of it. I’m entirely fucking useless to her. Self-loathing pours through me, but underneath it is ice-cold rage and loathing so strong that they almost blot out everything else. If they do anything to her, if they harm her at all, and I somehow manage to survive this shitshow, I will raze the goddamn world and burn their hearts in a midday sun for everything they’ve put her through. Fuck, I may just do that anyways.

Amanda walks into my view, carting Danica back to the room. Dani thrashes in her hold and screams insults at Amanda. With a girlish laugh, Amanda tosses Dani to the floor. “You were never going to escape, pretty girl.”

Danica’s eyes scan the room until she catches sight of me. A strangled sob escapes her. “Chris!”

More than anything, I want to answer her, run to her, hold her, kiss her, anything, just so long as it’s with her, one last time. My sanguise. I love you. Clenching my teeth against the pain, I push past the toxin, past Oliver’s fucking shadows, and manage to reach my hand towards her and hold her stare.

Beside me, I hear Oliver cluck his tongue and go, “Interesting,” just before his shadows crush my arm back to the floor.

Pinned to the ground, all I can do is watch as Amanda chuckles and flips Danica to her back so she’s staring up at Amanda standing over her. Dani yelps and tries to crawl backwards to get away.

No. Goddammit, no. I’m going to fight through this. I won’t fucking stand here and watch this. With heavy breaths, I push through and bring myself to my knees; with a shout, I manage to shove myself to my feet. If I’m going to die, I’m fucking taking them with me.

Amanda watches me, a smirk on her lips. A giggle escapes her, and, in one sweeping motion, she slashes her claws across Dani’s arm and laughs at me. “Oops, times ticking now. Tick. Tock. Your sanguise is in for quite a shock. She’ll be dead soon.”

Danica screams, clutching her arm and staring at the wounds with recognition of what just happened dawning in her eyes.

Oliver growls low in his chest. “What the fuck did you do?” He’s past me and on Amanda in the blink of an eye, his hand wrapped around her throat. “Did I tell you to do that?”

Amanda whimpers and tries to shake her head no, attempts to speak, but she can’t do anything against the crushing weight of Oliver’s grip on her throat. “Then why would you disobey orders? I fucking told you you weren’t to touch the girl, you stupid bitch,” Oliver snaps in her face.

I start to limp towards Dani, but she’s already up on her own. Her teeth bared, she grabs the stake that was hiding in her boot. With Oliver’s attention on Amanda and his back turned to her, she shoves the stake into his back, right through his heart. She screams but still pushes the stake in further, using all of the strength in her little body to force the wood all the way through Oliver’s heart.

Oliver’s grip on Amanda’s throat loosens as he gasps with a sharp inhale, and she falls to the floor in front of him. A shocked expression flows across his face, and he turns to Dani.

“Fuck you for everything. I hope you rot in hell!” Dani screams at him.

Oliver drops to his knees, his mouth opening to release a low gasp, and falls to the floor. Did she miss his heart? He isn’t disintegrating into ash. Doesn’t matter, he’s out of the way for now, and that gives us just enough time if we act fast. We may manage to live through this fucking night.

Danica’s shoulders shake as she stares down at her ex-lover’s body, sobs pouring from her as tears stain her cheeks.

“What have you done?” Amanda shouts, her trance-like gaze on Oliver’s body finally broken. “You stupid fucking bitch!” She lunges for Danica, wrapping her hands around her throat and lifting her from the ground.

No, no, no! With one last surge of rage and determination, I race at Amanda with inhuman speed. I feel no more pain. The only thing I can focus on is saving my sanguise.

Amanda squeezes Dani’s throat, screaming wildly in Dani’s face. “I‘m going to tear you to shreds and rip out your entrails for this, you little cunt. You were going to die anyway, but I’m so glad it’s gonna be me to do it.”

In seconds, I’m standing behind Amanda, and I know what I have to do. I plunge my fist into her back, gripping her heart in my hand. It’s beating slowly against my palm, just little flutters against my skin. “Fuck you, bitch,” I snarl in her ear before ripping my hand from her back, her heart held firmly in my grasp.

Amanda gasps, her hand slackening enough that Danica falls to the ground, her legs crumpling underneath her as her feet hit the floor. I crush her still-beating heart in my fist, I feel it slowing with each thump against my palm. With one last shriek of agony, Amanda’s body turns to ash, burning from the inside out. My fingers squeeze tighter on the organ as it stops beating, it becomes gray and lifeless in my palm when it crumbles to dust, and I watch it slip through my fingers. She’s gone. Her ashes drift slowly into the musky, death-stained air of the venue.

“C-Ch…” Dani’s trying to call for me. I snap my head around and kneel beside her. She’s crying in pain, grasping her arm as she gasps for air. She won’t last much longer. I need to give her my blood now. I wrap her gently in my arms. “It’s gonna be okay, little kitten. You saved us, and I’m so fucking proud of you. I love you so much, baby.” I adjust so she’s sitting up, resting against the arm I position behind her back. She’s so limp and frail, barely able to hold her head up anymore. The poison is working its way through her bloodstream way too fast. “You need to drink my blood now. I’m going to make you feel better, okay?”

Danica whimpers in pain.

I bring my wrist to my mouth, tearing into it with my teeth, not caring about form or fashion. Blood drips from my shredded wrist as I begin to lower it to Danica’s lips. “Drink, kitten.”

A rustle of fabric sounds from behind us. I jerk my head around just in time to see Oliver sitting back up.

He glances down at his chest, almost as confused as I am, and then he starts to laugh. Ripping the stake from his chest, he looks down at the piece of wood that should have fucking killed him in amusement before casually throwing it down to the bloody floor. “That’s funny. I didn’t know that was gonna happen. Bloody fucking cool though, innit?” Oliver mocks before he stands, wrapping the shadows around his arms.

I feel his shadows tear my wrist from Dani’s mouth before she can drink a single drop. No. She needs me. She needs my blood! “How is this possible? What are you?” I snarl, my attention still on Danica and how the hell I’m going to get free of Oliver’s shadows.

“It would appear that I have the blood of a God running thick in my veins. Danica struck true with the stake. It pierced well and deep into my heart. I felt it splinter. And yet, I still stand. Now bow. Or don’t. I’ll still be taking what’s mine.” Oliver stands tall before me, but his gaze flicks to Danica. For a second, I swear I see some sort of emotion surge through his crimson eyes, but then it’s gone. He turns back to me, shadows circling his body. “She’s going to die. And it’s not your blood she’ll be drinking, mate. It’s mine.”