Page 129 of Nocturne

“No!” Dmitri’s anguished cry shakes the very foundations of the building. His attention diverts momentarily from Abe, giving the vampire doctor the opening he needs. Abe lunges forward, nails and teeth bared, but Dmitri recovers in time to catch his wrist, the two ancient vampires locked in a contest of strength.

I fight through the compulsion, step by agonizing step, moving not toward Dmitri but toward Lena. Her eyes flutter open as I approach, recognition dawning through the haze of pain.

“Victor,” she whispers, the word barely audible.

“I’m here,” I assure her, reaching for the chains that bind her wrists. “I’m getting you out of here.”

A howl of rage draws my attention back to the center of the room. Marco has gained the upper hand against Valtu, pinning him beneath his grotesque form, claws raised for a killing blow. Before I can move to help, Valtu produces something from inside his jacket—a silver flask that he smashes against Marco’s face.

The liquid inside ignites on contact, engulfing Marco’s head in blue flame. The feral vampire reels back, shrieking in agony, wings beating frantically as the fire spreads across his mutated body.

“Holy fire,” Valtu explains, rolling away from the thrashing, burning creature. “Always carry some for emergencies.”

The flames spread rapidly, catching on the scattered candles and ritual implements. In moments, half the warehouse is ablaze, cutting off the main entrance. Marco, still screaming, crashes blindly through the warehouse, setting more fires with each pass of his burning wings.

“We need to leave,” Ezra shouts, rejoining the fight after recovering from Dmitri’s attack. “This whole place will go up in minutes!”

I redouble my efforts on Lena’s chains, vampire strength straining against the metal. With a final heave, the links snap, and Lena collapses into my arms, weak but alive.

“Wait,” she murmurs against my chest. “The others…still in danger…”

She’s right. Across the burning warehouse, Abe and Dmitri remain locked in combat. Behind them, I see the wolf-masked figure—Dr. Goldman—regaining consciousness, reaching for something on the floor.

A gun. He’s reaching for a gun.

Without conscious thought, I’m moving, placing Lena gently on the ground before launching myself across the warehouse. I cross the distance in heartbeats, vampire speed carrying me forward just as Goldman raises the weapon toward Abe’s unprotected back.

I crash into him with the force of a freight train, sending the gun flying from his grasp. We roll across the floor, coming to a stop with me on top, pinning him by the throat. His wolf mask has been knocked askew, revealing a middle-aged man with clinical, emotionless eyes.

“The son returns to the fold,” he says in a calm, detached voice that sends chills down my spine. “Your father will be pleased.”

“I’m not his son,” I growl, tightening my grip. “And I’m not returning to anything.”

Something shifts in Goldman’s expression—fear, perhaps. “You don’t understand what you’re interfering with,” he gasps. “The gateway must open. It’s the only way to save our kind.”

“Our kind doesn’t need saving,” I tell him. “Not by the likes of you.”

A noise behind me—the distinctive sound of wings cutting through air. I turn just in time to see Marco, still partiallyaflame, diving toward me with claws extended. There’s no time to dodge, no time to do anything but brace for impact.

But the impact never comes. Instead, Marco crashes to the ground feet away from me, Valtu’s silver dagger embedded in his back. The feral vampire thrashes, howling in pain, trying to reach the weapon lodged between his shoulders.

I seize the opportunity, releasing Goldman to launch myself at Marco. The vampire’s transformation has made him stronger, faster, but also more bestial, less tactical. I use that against him, feinting to draw his attack before ducking under his guard.

My hands close around his chest, fingers digging through flesh and bone with strength I didn’t know I possessed. Marco shrieks, yellow eyes widening in shock as my hand closes around his heart, tearing it free in a spray of dark blood.

“If I can’t kill you once, I’m going to kill you twice,” I rasp.

The organ pulses in my palm, still beating. Before I can think, before I can question, the vampire part of me acts on pure instinct. I raise the heart to my mouth and bite down, blood exploding across my tongue, filling me with power unlike anything I’ve ever experienced.

Marco’s body collapses, the unnatural life force animating it snuffed out instantly. The taste of his heart, his blood, rushes through me like fire, heightening my senses, sharpening my focus. I feel invincible, immortal, truly vampiric for the first time.

I stare down at his body and grin.

And you’re going to stay dead this time.

I turn back toward Goldman, only to find him already engaged with Valtu, who has the doctor by the throat, expression cold with centuries of hate. He squeezes his throat so hard that Goldman’s neck cracks before his head comes clean off.

Across the warehouse, Dmitri has gained the upper hand against Abe, driving him to his knees. A blue blade gleams in Dmitri’s hand, poised for a killing strike.

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