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“Son of a bitch,” I mumbled, trying not to move so I could assess just how bad it was. My head was still attached, so that was why I wasn’t dead. But I had no idea how long it would take for my vertebrate and discs to mesh back together.
“Get up, Sophia,” Silas yelled. He’d tried to run over to me but Ashby held him back. It was for the best, though. I’m sure Sebastian would have done more than just restrained my friend.
I lifted my hand, telling him that I was working on it. However my body responded slower than I would have liked, especially since Sebastian was stalking my way again. A bone popped and my whole neck snapped back into place. It would take a while to get used to this kind of rapid healing but I was already starting to like it.
“Are you ready?” Sebastian said with venom dripping from his words.
I glared at him, not sure if I was put back together enough to stand. I couldn’t let him see my weakness. After all, I needed to beat him to save everyone staring at me with concern right now. “Are you?” I finally answered.
With one finger, he waved me forward. I pushed up to standing, noticing that my body had stabilized enough to hold the surge of energy racing through it. My eyes met Viktor’s and with that one look, a thousand messages passed between us. He gave me the strength I needed and when I turned my attention to Silas and he smiled, I realized that his presence would help me through this too.
Sebastian made the first move. He ran at me and then kicked at my head. In a split second, my body reacted to all of the training I’d had. I crouched down and rolled to the side, missing the impact completely. Turning quickly on the ground, I swung my leg out and knocked Sebastian’s feet out from under him. Before he slammed into the floor, my new vampire speed allowed me to catch him in the air, grab his throat, and help him hit the ground. Hard. The marble floor around us cracked in a pattern extending from Sebastian’s body, the stone breaking a satisfying sound.
I smiled down at him. “Not so easy now, is it?” Squeezing his throat harder, I liked the feeling of my fingers digging into his skin.
Sebastian’s reddened face softened for just a moment. He moved his hips too fast for me to stop him and in an instant, I’d lost the upper hand. I found myself trapped underneath his hard body, my arms flayed to the sides and my legs pinned by his.
“This is where I’ve always wanted you, Sophia.” His hot breath tickled my neck, making me shiver when I didn’t want to.
“Sophia!” Viktor shouted from the sidelines. “You know what to do.”
Sebastian glanced over at him while I wondered what he was talking about. Did he mean the stake? I couldn’t show my hand just yet.
Use his weakness. The words danced through my head like a welcomed song. I wondered if this was a result of Viktor turning me. Would we always be able to communicate this way? With a smile at that thought, I spoke to Sebastian. “You still want me?” I cooed, pushing my hips up into his. “Maybe we could make some kind of arrangement.” I ran my tongue along his neck.
Sebastian laughed but I could feel his arousal at the thought of us being together. “You don’t want to play this game with me.”
“I don’t?” I said, kissing his neck this time. I felt my fangs descend, waiting for the opportunity.
“It is not a game you will win.” His grip tightened on my wrists as he ground his erection into me some more. “Trust me.”
I lifted my head to get as close to him as possible, and sunk my fangs into his neck. Just like the night he’d marked me, I held on tight. Even as Sebastian began to realize that this wasn’t foreplay anymore, I let my new and improved jaw muscles work in the way that they were designed.
Something stirred along the wall behind us, but I didn’t dare look. I needed to focus on Sebastian’s neck and getting the upper hand. He struggled against me, beating at my arms and head to try and knock me off. His knee dug into my thigh, but I ignored the pain. When he let go of my arms for the briefest moment, I swung them up and grabbed his head. In my vice-like grip and with strength that seemed to surge from my vampire blood, I held him still as I ripped chunks of flesh from his neck. The blood the trickled down my throat tasted like the most amazing dessert in the world. And I swear it gave me even more energy.
Sebastian jumped to his feet, yanking my mouth from his body and covering the bloody wound. He stumbled back toward the sorcerers, needing time to heal. So I had to act now. With fire racing through my blood, I chased him. In just a few steps, we were at it again. Fists flying. Legs kicking. Every single hit I landed was met with a return one from him. We moved faster than humanly possible, yet as I fought, it felt like time had slowed. I could see every muscle of his twitch in anticipation of the fight. When he moved left, I knew a fist was coming from the right. When his leg left the ground, I had a counter attack ready. When is eyes narrowed, I knew my punch had wounded him.
My face throbbed, sure I’d endured a broken nose and maybe even a broken jaw. My left ankle hurt and when Sebastian slammed the palm of his hand into my shoulder, my broken collar bone screamed out in agony. I hunched forward and lost the momentum. In one swift move Sebastian wrapped his arms around my own and pulled me close to him. With my back pressed into his chest and my arms glued to my sides, I could do little to fight against the death grip he held me in.
“It is time to end this,” he said loud enough for everyone to hear.
I struggled to break free but each time I moved, he squeezed harder. Like a constrictor patient enough to outlast his prey, Sebastian had me trapped. And everyone knew it. I could see it in their eyes. Especially in Viktor’s black ones and Silas’ yellow and brown. Ashby stilled clenched tight to Silas like she was holding him back. And Graham and Broch flanked Viktor who looked like he would pounce any second. I tried to shake my head at him. To tell him to stay and not get himself killed too.
“It’s been a pleasure, Sophia. I’m sorry we couldn’t spend the rest of our existence together.” Sebastian removed his arms from my chest and wrapped one of them around my neck. I’d watched Viktor do this many times over...Sebastian was going to rip my head off. And I only had a small window of opportunity to react.
Closing my eyes, I let myself sink into his grip. Then I grabbed the stake still nestled into the back of my pants. He held me with his right arm, so I hung a little deeper in his arm, exposing the left side of his chest. With the stake in my right hand, I made room under my other arm and plunged the wooden weapon into his skin. I’d grazed my own ribs in the process, but the second his grip loosened around my neck, I turned and used both hands to push the stake all of the way into his heart.
Sebastian stumbled backward, eyes in disbelief at the stake sticking out of his chest. He glanced at me and then back at the stake. Viktor rushed to my side, pulling me back from Sebastian and holding me tight in his arms.
“It’s over,” I whispered to Sebastian.
His sorcerers stood in silence while their master’s body began to flake away. Sebastian clawed at his chest, even as his face turned gray. His mouth opened and closed like he was trying to say something to us, the words never fully forming on his lips. Seconds later, his centuries old body crumbled into a pile of ashes and we all stared in silence.
I walked over to the pile, barely higher than my shoe. Staring down at it gave me little pleasure. Now that he was gone, I felt nothing for the vampire who had forever changed my life. Wondering if this was just my mind’s way of protecting me and coping with the stress, I kicked the ashes to the side and turned to Viktor.
He smiled at me in a way that had my heart fluttering and knees weakening. We could finally start our life together without the threat of Sebastian hanging over our heads. I glanced past him toward Graham, Broch, Ezra, and Silas. We all needed some time to heal and adjust to our new lives, but we could all do it together.
“So what happens now?” I asked, gazing up at a sea of blue.
Viktor held me tight. “We need to get Ezra healed and then we’ll need to meet with the Order—”
His words were cut off by a piercing scream. We turned, hands out and knees bent, readying for a fight. I caught the fire out of the corner of my eye as one of the sorcerer’s ignited in a white flame. An instant later, the other two lit up and burned in a horrific death. My feet were frozen to the ground. I felt like I needed to do something but at the same time my instincts told me not to interfere.
“What’s going on?” I asked Viktor.
And then we saw them. In their black dusters and slow way about them, one may have thought they were some sort of acting troupe. Five of them were old...older than my grandparents would have been. Most had gray hair in varying lengths with the three males having a long, wizard-like beard. The two younger ones looked like twins—a male and a female with purplish eyes and flawless skin. Seven people walked into the country club without a second glance at the burned corpses on the ground in front of them. Instead, they only looked at the group of us staring in surprise at their arrival.
“Who are they?” I whispered to Viktor without dropping my gaze.
“The Order.”
*
