25. Erik

Iwas forced to the ground by a raging storm that seemed hell-bent on keeping me in place. Clarice had intercepted a group several paces ahead of me and I gritted my teeth, pressing my hands to the ground and battling to get to her.

“You can’t take me, Valentina,” I snarled at the very storm that tried to contain me. “The wind may be your ally, but I have the fiercest warriors at my back. And you. Will. Fail.”

A thick fog surrounded me, pressing in on either side and the biters around me withdrew into it. I lost sight of Clarice and anger blazed in my chest as I was cut off from her.

As the pummelling wind eased, I gained my feet and hurried toward the mist. The second I moved, the clouds opened up above me, allowing a single shaft of beating sunlight down on my head. I shouted my rage as its rays fell over me and my body immediately weakened. My shoulders fell lax and my limbs ached as I took another desperate step forward, determined to escape the light. But wherever I moved, the light followed, keeping me trapped within its powerful rays.

The mist shifted and Valentina stepped out of it with a keen smile, her gaze set on me. She was flanked by four biters holding the thick chains they’d been trying to bind me with before.

I snarled at her, raising my sword to defend myself.

“You’re under my control now, Prince Erik,” she said, her eyes darkening. “You’ve lost. Accept it. You’ll find this a lot less uncomfortable if you cooperate.”

As I inched forward, the shaft of sunlight shifted with me, never touching her disgusting followers and keeping them strong. They were Elite. And though I may have managed to take them on before, I was weaker than them with ultraviolet light seeping into my veins.

“What do you want from me?” I growled.

I wouldn’t give up. There wasn’t a chance in hell I’d be going anywhere with this depraved bitch. But my chances of facing her and winning were pretty slim under the influence of the sun.

“I don’t want to ruin the surprise,” she said with a cruel lilt to her lips, ushering her people forward.

They ran at me with the gold chains in their hands and I snarled to keep them back, swinging my blade in a menacing arc. They evaded my attacks, dancing around me, trying to get close. Two of them grabbed one of my arms, moving faster than I could in my weakened state. I threw the butt of my sword into one of their faces and slashed out at another, but a female caught my free arm, wrenching the blade from my grip with a yell of victory.

The chains were thrown over me and I roared a challenge, wheeling around to try and keep them off. They wrapped them around my throat, my stomach and finally snared my arms. Rage flared in my chest but there was nothing I could do. I was an animal caught in a trap.

Stepping back, the biters yanked the ends of the chains and I toppled over, slamming into the ground. I winced against the sunlight, trying to roll to escape it, but as I moved, the chains tightened around my body as if they had a will of their own.

“You’ve scorned the gods, Erik,” Valentina hissed. “They’re helping me now. The more you struggle against those chains, the tighter they’ll become.”

“Fuck you!” I bit at her, rolling my shoulders to try and loosen myself from them.

The chains coiled around me like a python, squeezing my limbs so fiercely I was immobilised.

“Get him in the truck, I’ll deal with Magnar,” Valentina commanded and the mist moved around her people, keeping them shielded from the sun as they hoisted me into their arms. Valentina headed away at a fierce stride, leaving me alone with her hungry band of monsters.

The fog parted, but the sun remained shining down on my head as they carried me toward a pick-up parked at the edge of the street. The sounds of battle still carried to me and my heart nearly broke at how much I was letting my family down, my wife.

The biters dumped me into the open truck bed. I roared between my teeth, managing to move my legs enough to smash them into the side of the vehicle’s low walls and dent the metal.

One of the biters produced a gag, hopping into the back of the truck and bending down to put it in my mouth. As he reached for me, I reared up and bit his hand, catching one of his fingers in my mouth. I clamped my teeth down, biting as hard as I could until I broke through bone. He screamed in agony, stumbling backwards as I spat his severed finger at his feet. His blood tasted like piss and I spat out the rest of it beside me.

“You piece of shit.” He landed a kick in my ribs and they broke under the viciousness of his attack.

He kept kicking and kicking and the more I fought to get away, the tighter the chains became. All the while, my thoughts were fixed on Montana and how I had brought her to this bloodbath, and now I was abandoning her to whatever fate she faced out there in the fray.

The biter grinned down at me, picking up his finger and pressing it to the bloody stump on his hand so it knitted back together.

“You’re no one’s ruler now,” he sneered.

I ground my teeth against the ache in my body, glaring up at him with acidic hatred, my gaze tracking over his narrow features. “I’ll remember your face. Your death is coming for you, asshole.”

His grey eyes flickered with fear, but then his mirth masked it. “Yeah? Well my queen will make sure that never happens.” He kicked me in the chest and I released a hiss between my teeth, my fury growing out of control.

“Your queen’s dead too, mark my words,” I said evenly.

A yell sounded above the battle and I recognised Clarice’s voice. “Erik, where are you?!”

I looked to the biter with a deadly smile then shouted, “Here!” just as his foot met my jaw.

I groaned, unable to heal with the sunlight still beating down on me. But I didn’t give a damn about the pain as Clarice burst through the mist and her eyes wheeled to me. She sped forward and the biter leapt down to intercept her with a battle cry. Before they met, a lightning strike tore the ground apart and my sister hit the ground.

“No!” I bellowed, terrified for my kin.

I writhed against the chains, managing to sit upright so I could see her again, but every move I made had them snaring me harder and my bones were starting to face the pressure.

Several more biters poured from the mist and fell onto Clarice in a frenzied attack.

Horror pounded through me as I lost sight of my sister beneath the mass of rebel vampires. Panic consumed me as I lost control of the world around me. I couldn’t help her. I was useless. Stuck here like a tethered dog.

“Get off of her!” I commanded, but it was pointless. So there was only one thing I could do. “Fabian - Clarice needs you!” I roared, praying my brother was close enough to hear.

A huge figure burst out of the mist and my brows pinched together as Julius appeared, splattered with blood and coated in ash, his sword smeared with it too. He spotted the brawling mass and dove into it without hesitation, stabbing and stabbing his enemies. One of the biters caught him by the neck, biting deep into his throat.

Julius bellowed in anger, shoving her to the ground and finishing her with a fierce strike of his sword.

Clarice battled to get up but too many of them were holding her down, ripping at her flesh, ready to end her.

“Julius!” I shouted in a panic and he dragged two biters off of Clarice by their collars, wheeling them away from her before ramming his blade into one of their chests. The other one dodged his attacks. He was Elite, feral and strong, and I didn’t know how well the slayer would fare against him.

Julius rotated his shoulders, grinning as he lunged forward to kill his opponent. The Elite danced aside, sprinting around Julius and slashing his nails down his spine. Julius cried out in pain, turning to try and spear him with his sword. The Elite was too fast, taking him to the ground with a growl of hunger.

“Get up!” I yelled, furious that I couldn’t help as both Julius and my sister were incapacitated.

A furious cry filled the air and I spotted Fabian and an Elite, Danielle, tumbling from the mist with several biters in tow. Fabian slammed his fists into their faces, over and over, but their numbers were overwhelming.

Danielle darted toward Julius, kicking the Elite off of him and planting her sword in the biter’s chest before he could rise.

Julius sprang upright, nodding to her before running to help Clarice.

He threw a heavy kick into a biter’s leg, and he toppled sideways with a yell of panic. Julius thrust his blade into his chest and dust burst around his feet as the bastard died.

He was a monstrous warrior to behold, carving through the vampires with a furious ability which reminded me of precisely why we had feared his family all those years ago. I watched in awe as Julius cleaved his sword through the remaining biters, carving them apart with such brutal efficiency that half of them died without even managing to raise a hand against him, and he dispatched the last of those holding my sister with vicious blows of his blade.

I released a heavy breath as Clarice was revealed at last, shoving the clothes of the biters off of her with a groan.

Julius dragged her upright and she gazed at him in disbelief, her hand staying in his a beat too long before she yanked it away.

“You’re welcome,” Julius said with a raised eyebrow.

Clarice nodded, looking confused as she turned toward the truck, sprinting to help me. Relief filled me as she approached, but she had to hurry. Fabian and Danielle were barely holding off the horde clamouring to get to us.

“Get me out of these chains,” I demanded, not wanting to move again in case they started biting deeper into my flesh.

Clarice jumped into the truck, kneeling down and taking hold of them.

She gasped, withdrawing her hand immediately. “They burn.” She turned her palms over in horror, then wheeled around to face Julius. “Come help. Maybe slayers can touch them.”

He sprang up too, kneeling before me and laying his hand on the chains. He swore, recoiling just as my sister had.

“Shit,” he snarled, curling his hand into a fist before bringing his sword forward.

He pressed it against my leg, easing it under the chain. The blade cut a hole in my pants and it burned like hell as it met my flesh. I snarled between my teeth to weather out the sensation as he gave me a wary glance.

“It’s fine, just hurry the fuck up,” I commanded.

Julius wrenched the blade sideways to try and break the chains, but as he did, his sword snapped instead, the end clattering onto the truck bed.

“No!” he cried his grief. “My baby.” He picked up the broken end, horror lacing his features as he clutched the pieces tightly as if they might reform.

“What the fuck are these made of?” Clarice gasped.

“The gods created them; they’re helping Valentina,” I answered with a scowl.

Julius looked like he was about to break down as he cradled the two pieces of his sword to his chest.

“Get me out of here,” I snarled, not having time for his ridiculous display as Fabian released a shout of pain.

“Grab his shoulders, don’t touch the chains,” Clarice encouraged the slayer, taking hold of my ankles.

Julius sheathed the two pieces of his blade just as the swarm of biters broke past Fabian and Danielle, sprinting toward us.

The storm raged harder and a harsh wind pushed against us. I despised how useless I was as Clarice and Julius were forced to abandon me and leapt from the truck to meet the fight. The rain battered down on everyone but me as I sat in the single shaft of light in the whole town.

As they fought the lessers, the engine rumbled to life beneath me, and my fate closed in.

“Gods be damned,” I cursed as a biter drove the truck forward.

I tried to roll in an effort to launch myself from the truck bed, but the chains tightened further, and agony bound me in place.

Clarice glanced back with desperate eyes, but four biters crashed into her to stop her from pursuing. Despite the blinding pain, I tried to roll to the end of the truck bed once again, but between the sun following my every move and the chains biting into my body, I got nowhere close.

Hatred seared my veins at the woman responsible for this.

Fuck Valentina and her damn gifts.

She wasn’t just taking me, she was stealing me from my rebel. We’d already been apart too long after our marriage and I cursed Valentina for the injustice of it. If only I’d caught sight of her one last time, to see she still lived. To promise her I’d come back. That the full force of the sun itself couldn’t weaken me enough to stop me from returning to her.

I managed to get my chin on the edge of the truck, but the driver veered violently left and right, tossing me back to the middle of the bed. The chains started cutting into my skin and I roared my fury to the sky, swearing on every star in the solar system that Valentina was going to die at my hand. And her death would be a brutal, unforgiving thing.