Dmetri didn’t take time to see the neighboring house lights turning on. He dove for the blade, rolling to the ground and gripping it hard. He came to a stand in a deft move and let the blade fly by the tips of his fingers.
The vampire stopped in mid-step on a gnarled cry. He looked down at the silver blade protruding from his heart, and then his skin turned ashen white and he dropped lifelessly to the ground.
He heard a crowd forming. Heard shouts, but his only thought was Christine. His heart pounded like a thousand horses galloping, and he ran to the unconscious vamp with busted teeth and jammed the blade into his heart too. The vamp paled instantly, body stilling with death.
Dmetri sprinted, shouldered through the front door, and then his heart stopped beating.
Time stood still as Claude pulled back from Christine’s neck with a bloody smile. Her eyes slid shut, body falling lifelessly to the floor.
Dmetri’s roar could have been heard halfway across the globe. Fury unlike he’d ever felt slammed through his veins, tightening his muscles with an insane need for violence—and all of that violence centered on Claude Phelans.
Dmetri sped through the air. He caught Claude’s shoulders and sent them both flying to the ground, the metal dagger flying out of his hand, forgotten in his rage. His fist met Claude’s mouth, nose, and eyes with the hard crunch of breaking bones. Claude laughed beneath him, and Dmetri clenched his fist tighter, hitting him harder until his arm burned, and his shoulder ached.
Suddenly he was thrown back through the air. His back slammed against the couch, sending it skirting up the floor and into the TV. Metal cracked, glass shattered.
Dmetri stood, squaring off with a man whose face was now unrecognizable over the blood covering it. Still the flash of white fangs came through the bloody mess.
Claude attacked first. Hard blows landed across Dmetri’s face, deep into his chest until felt his ribs poking out his back. Still, he fought back with each hit of his own—only harder, angrier. From the corner of his eye, he saw movement.
At first he thought it was help coming. Fuck, he could use Brayden right about now. But a particularly hard blow knocked the wind out of him and sent him to his knees, and he realized it was Christine. Shit. He wanted to scream at her to stay down, to let him finish this, but he couldn’t risk it.
Claude landed a right hook that made his vision blacken. Dmetri shook his head to clear it and threw his own jab. But his body was tiring, slowing down from the knife wound, from all the fighting, and Claude easily dodged it and landed one of his own that had his brain slamming around in his skull.
“You won’t win this, Claude.”
The maniac laughed. “I will. I already have my men storming the Kategans at this very moment. I will kill them, that asshole Brayden who sentenced me, and of course you. Though getting a drink from your woman was only an added bonus.” He licked his lips as if remembering the taste of her blood. Dmetri saw red.
With one last burst of energy, he rammed his shoulder into Claude’s chest, knocking him hard to the ground. His energy depleted faster than a leaking gas tank. Leaping onto Claude took everything out of him. He couldn’t seem to draw in air fast enough, his muscles burned with fatigue. With only one attack left, he bared his fangs and chewed into Claude’s neck. The vamp screamed, his arms struggling to push him away, but Dmetri held tighter, sucking as hard and fast as he could.
Fuck, he tasted Christine’s blood mixed with Claude’s own wretched taste. He wanted to kill this man a hundred times, and even then that might not be enough to satisfy him. Claude continued to hammer blows against his head, trying to dislodge him but Dmetri bit harder, holding fast until his struggles slowed, grew sloppy.
A hand touched his shoulder. Dmetri roared and turned ready to kill, but his jaw fell open.
“Christine?” She was alive. She stood beside him looking incredibly brave...and had the silver dagger in her hand. “Give me the dagger,” he said softly.
She shook her head hard. “I’m going to do it.”
He could barely hear the words for they were strained and hoarse. But then she let out a battle cry—hoarse but beautiful—and dropped to her knees, slamming the dagger into Claude’s heart.
The vampire stilled, eyes darting side to side in one last frantic struggle for life. And then he expelled his last breath of air and his eyes moved no more.
“Dmetri,” she croaked, collapsing against him with a sob.
Relief poured through him, feeling better than an angel’s touch. His heart pounded with a surge of happiness and glee, something he’d never felt before. He wrapped his good arm around her, then grimaced until he got the other around her too. Then he simply held her battered body.
“You did great.”
She choked the sound almost a laugh. “I love you.”
He waited for the panic to come, but he’d be waiting ages for it, because it never came.
Only soul-wrenching happiness and satisfaction. In that moment, he realized something so great that he fumbled to put words to it.
“Christine I...”
Suddenly, everyone poured into the room. Brayden, the Kategans, sentries. Everyone spoke at once as orders were given and carried out. Dmetri pulled Christine into his arms and sat with her against the wall as the dead body of Claude was carried outside.
Vane Kategan approached them, dark shadows lined under his eyes. “You guys okay?” Dmetri held Christine’s trembling form and nodded. “We’re fine now. You?” Vane ground his jaw side to side, his eyes raw with pain. “Everyone was attacked, but we managed to take care of it. No one died. But them,” he said darkly.
Dmetri nodded. As people talked and moved around them, he let his eyes close and simply held his woman. It felt so right—better than anything ever had, and he knew he could never let it go.
Chapter 24
Dmetri found her curled up on the settee in the library. She stared out at the bright sky without a book in her lap, content to watch the clouds drift by. Dmetri cursed and marched to her. She sent him a wicked smile.
“You haven’t given me an answer yet.”
She feigned shock for a moment, then stood and darted down the library stairs on light feet. “Oh really? Hmm, that is unusual.”
He followed after her on hard steps. “Dammit, Christine, you’ll give me my answer—the one I want—once and for all. I’m tired of these games.” She stopped walking to put her hands on her hips, cocked her hip out to the side. The damned woman knew exactly what she was doing because his eyes strayed to those sexy hips like a magnet. He swallowed hard over the dry lump in his throat.
“I deserve an answer.”
This time she laughed, the sound throaty and finally back to normal after the damage Claude caused. She turned around to give him a wink then sauntered away.
“I don’t know, millaya moya. I think you deserve to suffer a bit more. After all, you did get some of what you wanted didn’t you? I’m here in this fabulous house with you. With more space than I know what to do with.”
She tried to slip out the library door but he caught her arm and spun her back up against it. Impatience had him burying his lips at her neck, sucking on the soft sweet skin. He palmed her ass over her damn frayed shorts, then ruthlessly tugged them to the ground.