Hearing a crazy laugh behind me, I realised that the restaurant was being swarmed by vampires who were clearly waiting for the people they believed were inside to finally leave. Forming a large, boiling hot fireball – the likes of which I’d never been able to create before becoming a hybrid – I launched it at the building. It instantly exploded, and so did the vampires surrounding it. Ha.
My dark amusement died a swift death when there was a loud battle cry. Twirling, I gaped as what seemed like hundreds of vampires practically stampeded onto the battlefield through the now broken security gates. Oh fuck. I was about to attack them, but then I made out Quentin and some of his vampires. There was also Antonio’s Sire, Wes, and many from his line. In addition, there were the High Masters and their vampires…And they were all helping us destroy Covington’s vampires. Relief, gratefulness, and satisfaction flooded me. I realised just then that I’d truly expected to die tonight; had expected most of us to die. Now I had hope that
I jolted and cried out as white-hot pain pierced my chest. Shocked, I looked down to see a long, metal pole protruding out of my body. It had to be wreckage from the destruction around us, my stunned mind pointlessly deduced. Slowly turning, I found Eloise smirking smugly at me as she toyed with her mane. Oh, the mad bitch had stabbed me.
She winced in mock sympathy. “Ooh, that looks like it hurts.”
It didn’t hurt, it burned and throbbed and caused the most agonising pain to pound through my chest, making the rest of my body feel cold. I wanted to fall to my knees and cry out. It was sheer anger alone that kept me standing. Her smug smile only served to increase my anger. She thought she’d get away with that? She thought that she was oh so clever and had ended me? Ha. All she’d done was save me the trouble of hunting her down. The pole had narrowly missed my heart, thank God. I doubted that even a fast-healing hybrid could have come back from that.
Most likely sensing the agony blasting through me, Jared appeared in front of me. He gaped, reaching out to grab the pole. But then, as if afraid that he’d only worsen the pain, he quickly dropped his hands. At Eloise’s laugh, he snarled at her. “You fucking bitch!”
“I’m so glad that you could be here for this, Jared.” Eloise tsked at me. “Just because my gift to hide my scent” – well that explained why she’d thought I wouldn’t sense that she had paid my apartment a little visit – “is defensive doesn’t mean that I’m defenceless, Sam. I did tell you that you would die tonight.”
“And I told you,” I began, slowly pulling the pole out of my chest, “that I’d kill you.” With the pole finally out of my body, my skin instantly knitted together. Eloise blanched. “And I will.”
Chapter Seventeen
(Sam)
How could I not relish the utter shock on Eloise’s face just then? I slung the huge pole aside. “Go help the squad, Jared. This bitch is mine.”
Jared sighed at Eloise, shaking his head sadly. “You really should have known better.” He then smiled at me. I could sense his amusement. “Have fun, baby.”
Oh I bloody would. This waste of skin and fangs had had this coming since the evening she arrived. Jared kissed my temple, and then he was gone…and I was so, so happy because I could finally do what I’d been fantasising about doing for weeks. “Just think. If you had a better aim, someone would be laying a bunch of roses over my ashes right about now.” Using the energy clinging to me, I conjured my energy whip and lashed it tauntingly at Eloise.
She jerked back, gulping. “You’re going to attack someone who’s unarmed?”
“Yep.”
Her eyes bulged. “But that’s not fair!”
“Fair? You want to talk about fair?” I lashed the whip at her legs, slicing the skin. “It wasn’t fair when you tried to kill me – particularly since you slyly attacked me from behind. It wasn’t fair when you spent weeks trying to make my life hell. It wasn’t fair when you repeatedly flirted with Jared, my mate. And it really, really, really wasn’t fair when you betrayed the entire Hollow and almost caused the death of everyone in it.”
I slashed the whip along her chest, making her cry out. “Look at the destruction around you, Eloise. If you hadn’t betrayed us by telling Covington where the tunnels were, he couldn’t have invaded the place like this. And all these people wouldn’t be dead. So am I going to kill you? Yes. Yes, I am. And I’m going to enjoy it.” I lashed the whip again, curling it around her body and pinning her arms to her sides. That usual smug glint was absent now. “You weren’t fair to us, so tell me why I should be fair to you?”
To my total shock and horror, the whip suddenly split – yes, split – and Eloise dropped to the ground. When the portion of the whip that was wrapped around her body faded away, she quickly scrambled to her feet. That was when I saw Dana in my peripheral vision coming towards us, holding a large energy axe. I was betting that she had been aiming for me, not the whip.
“Impressive,” said Dana. That squeaky voice was annoying as shit. “The whip, I mean. I’ve never been able to conjure one of those. This is more my thing anyway.” She waved the axe around. Smug once more, Eloise laughed in delight, though the sound was shaky.
“Two against one?” How typical of them to take advantage of the fact that I was on my own. “Fine, if that’s how you want it. Novo.” A red Dexter hissed as he left his tattoo form, and was now curled around my leg. Eloise and Dana stiffened. “I figure this evens out the playing field a little.” I gently coaxed him to the ground. He stayed there with most of his body raised from the floor, ready to strike. He hissed at Eloise, making her gulp. Oh she knew just how badly he wanted to take a bite out of her. He’d had her in his sights for a while.
I spoke to Eloise. “So, basically, this is what will happen: if you try to attack me while I deal with dear little Dana here, Dexter will deal with you. If you try to run, he’ll be on you before you can even retreat one step. That’s why snakes of this breed are called ‘Strikers’. So be a good girl and wait there nicely, and then you’ll have your turn.”
Dana snorted. “You don’t need to run, Eloise. I can handle her.”
“Now that you’re hyped up on hybrid energy, you mean? It doesn’t work like that. Your system’s not made to take it because you’re a Pagori, not a hybrid. That’s why your hands are shaking and you’re looking a little unsteady. I’d imagine you’ve got a killer headache as well.”
The pain etched into the lines of her forehead told me that I was right. “It doesn’t matter, freak. What matters is that you die. And now the end is near.”
“And so I face the final curtain,” I sang, daring her with my eyes to act.
Snarling, she charged toward me at vampire speed and swung the axe at my neck. She was fast and sharp, I’d give her that. But I’d pre-empted her. I slammed up my shield, watching in satisfaction as she collided into it and then bounced backwards, hitting the ground hard. I pursed my lips. “Not bad.”