29. Magnar

Callie screamed as I hurled Fabian’s severed arm away from me. I could feel the hurt in her voice as I drew closer to finishing the monster who called himself her husband, but I refused to let it stop me a second time. Killing Fabian would sever her ties to him. In the end, she would thank me for it.

Fabian howled in pain, but he managed to twist away from me, regaining his feet before leaping at me again.

His weight knocked me back as we collided and an earth-shattering groan split the air. His fangs sank into my neck and the acidic burn of his venom flooded into me. The pain was sharper than any bite from a lesser vampire and it overwhelmed my senses for a moment as I stumbled.

In the corner of my eye, I saw Erik sprinting towards us at a ferocious pace.

Adrenaline surged through me and I grabbed the back of Fabian’s neck, ripping him off of me. I caught his remaining arm in my other hand and lifted him, spinning him around and launching him at his brother.

The crash that sounded as they collided set the ground rumbling, and the two of them tumbled away from me. I looked beyond them and spotted Julius slumped by the cage which contained the twins. They were both reaching through the bars, shaking him in an effort to rouse him.

My anger tripled at the sight of my brother on the ground and I roared at the Belvederes as I ran towards them both. They may have been able to heal faster than us, but we were stronger than them, and they were about to find out just how much pain I could inflict.

They scrambled upright just before I reached them but couldn’t move quickly enough to avoid my attack as I tackled them, hooking an arm around each of their necks.

We slammed into the ground, gouging a crater into the concrete beneath us.

Fabian was pinned under me but Erik managed to roll free.

I slammed my fist down into Fabian’s face, feeling bone shatter beneath my knuckles. I hit him again and again, pulverising his flesh before Erik grabbed my arm as I swung it back once more.

He forced me upright, catching my other arm and jamming his knee into my spine as he tried to rip my shoulders from their sockets.

I ground my teeth, straining against him, my muscles bulging with effort as I fought to free myself before he could break anything vital.

My eyes fell on Fabian as he lay still in a pool of his own blood while his face began to reform. The hand on his remaining arm twitched then snapped into a fist as his undead body began to function once more.

I ground my jaw, digging my heels into the ground and forcing my weight against Erik so that we started to move backwards.

He cursed, pressing his knee into my back more firmly and grunting with effort as he pulled harder. Pain flared inside my right shoulder as something gave way.

I managed to gain momentum, rising and slamming him back against the wall of the building beneath the statue. Bricks crumbled from it, raining down on us, and Erik’s grip loosened but he didn’t release me.

Fabian got to his feet and snarled as he started running towards us, the damage to his face still mending as he moved. Erik’s grip tightened again as he fought to hold me in place so that his brother could finish me off.

I slammed my weight back and the statue groaned as I loosened its foundations, but still the parasite clung on.

Fabian dove at me, throwing a fist into my face that made my vision falter for half a second.

Callie started screaming and I couldn’t help but look her way. She clung to the cage bars, her eyes desperate as she watched the two demons take the upper hand. The pain in her gaze ripped a hole in my chest which was far more painful than any injury I was forced to endure at their hands.

Fabian drove his fist into my gut again and again as I struggled to rip free of Erik’s hold.

His knuckles collided with my ribs and I felt them crack one by one.

“Fabian please!” Callie screamed desperately. “Stop! Please!”

He hesitated for a moment, her pain clearly affecting him because of their bond. His eyes remained on her, the monster seeming unsure of what to do, and I gritted my teeth against the agony of my wounds.

“For fuck’s sake, focus Fabian,”Erik growled.

“What if she can’t forgive me for doing this?” Fabian breathed, his eyes still on Callie and my anger grew as I ached to force his gaze away from her.

“She would never choose you either way, parasite,” I spat.

Fabian’s head snapped around and he glared at me again, his lip curling back in a feral snarl.

“She belongs with me,” he said. “The gods picked us for each other.”

“Well I don’t give a fuck what the gods want.” I shoved my weight back into Erik and used his hold on me to lift my feet from the ground. Before he could release me, I slammed both of my boots straight into Fabian’s chest and kicked him as hard as I could, launching him away from us.

He was thrown all the way to the river, crashing into the water and disappearing beneath the waves.

Erik snarled angrily and released his grip on my right arm before grabbing a fistful of my hair and yanking my head back so he could lock his arm around my throat. He threw his weight onto my back as he caught his wrist in his other hand and tried to choke me.

I reached over my shoulder, clawing at him as I attempted to rip him off of me, but his grip only firmed.

I spun around, trying to shake him loose as he clung to my back like a damn bloodsucking monkey.

A bellow of rage announced Julius’s return to the fight and a fierce smile lit my face as my brother finally recovered from his injuries.

Erik grunted with effort and reared back, trying to rip my head from my shoulders, my muscles bunching in refusal.

I caught his arm and tore him from me, throwing him to the ground with an almighty crash.

He rolled over and sprung to his feet before I could close in on him again, baring his fangs as he glowered at me.

Fabian had made it back out of the water, but Julius was ready to intercept him. He held the vampire’s severed arm and swung it at him like a club.

Julius laughed obnoxiously and a dark smile grew on my face as I stalked forward, rotating my injured shoulder as my gifts worked to heal the damage done by my enemy.

Erik snarled at me before turning his back and racing to his brother’s aid instead of engaging with me again.

Fabian cursed as Julius continued to beat him with his own arm while laughing like a madman, keeping the vampire back with the vicious blows.

A series of sharp snapping noises echoed through my chest as my ribs healed with the aid of my gifts and I grinned at I dove back into the fight.

I chased after Erik but couldn’t match the monster’s speed and I bellowed a warning a moment before he reached Julius. My brother looked up, spotting Erik as he raced at him, dropping the arm as he moved to defend himself from the collision.

Erik crashed into him with enough force to knock him from his feet, the two of them falling into the river with a tremendous splash which sent water flooding over the land, drenching me.

“Julius!” I bellowed as I sprinted to dive in after them, but Fabian leapt into my path before I could get there, his arm knitting itself back onto his body as he held it in place.

He bared his fangs at me and raced to cut me off.

We collided with the force of a hurricane and fell to the ground once more. He managed to get on top of me, throwing his forehead into the bridge of my nose, breaking it and sending pain racing through my skull.

His hands closed on my throat and he slammed my head back onto the ground again, dazing me momentarily.

I smashed my fist into his face, cursing him as he fought to keep me from helping my brother.

My heart pounded as the seconds ticked by and still there was no sound of Julius returning to land. Fabian smiled through the blood pouring from his shattered cheek as I punched him repeatedly and he clung on through sheer determination, pinning me in place.

He knew Julius’s time was running out, and my heart pounded with fear for the last remaining member of my family.