Page 116 of Bound By Blood

She cried out in anguish when she saw her mother fall beneath the weight of the vampire who had attacked her, screamed when the vampire sank his fangs into her mother’s throat.

Filled with a sudden fury, Kaitlyn reached deep inside herself. Summoning the power that had long lain dormant within her, she flung Nadiya aside. But Nadiya was an old vampire. Strong. Relentless. She recovered quickly, her claws raking the length of Kaitlyn’s cheek and along the side of her neck.

Kaitlyn gasped as pain exploded through the right side of her face.

“You will not get away this time!” Nadiya exclaimed, reaching for her again.

“Neither will you!”

At the sound of her grandmother’s voice, Kaitlyn glanced past Nadiya to see Liliana bearing down on the two of them, a long wooden stake in her hand.

Nadiya whirled around to fight off the new threat.

Liliana drew back her arm and drove the stake into Nadiya’s chest with such force that the stake sliced through her heart and protruded from her back.

With a look of disbelief, Nadiya slowly sank to the floor.

Kaitlyn stared at her grandmother, stunned by the sudden turn of events, and then she grinned.

“Stay here, child,” Liliana said, and spun away to rejoin the fight.

With a shake of her head, Kaitlyn rushed to her mother’s aid. Grabbing a large, decorative wooden crucifix from the wall, she broke it in half and drove the jagged end into the back of the vampire who was bent over her mother’s neck.

With a gasp of pain and surprise, the vampire toppled sideways and lay still.

“Mom!” Kaitlyn shook her mother’s shoulder. “Mom, answer me!”

Frantic, she looked around.

Stefan was sprawled on the floor, bleeding heavily from several wounds on his neck and chest. The vampires who had attacked him were both dead, their hearts ripped from their bodies.

Her father had destroyed one of his attackers. As Kaitlyn watched, he broke the neck of the second vampire; then, pulling a long-bladed knife from a sheath under his long black coat, he quickly decapitated his opponent.

Scherry sat on the floor nursing a broken arm that, thanks to her vampire blood, was already healing.

Where was Zack? She glanced around, then saw him near the back of the church. He moved with lethal precision as he fought off two vampires at the same time. It was like watching a beautiful, deadly dance, the way he moved. There was no fear in his eyes and she had the strangest notion that he was enjoying himself, that he could have killed his attackers at any time.

As though feeling her gaze, he glanced at her, the exultant smile on his face fading when he saw her mother, unmoving, in her lap.

At the same time, her father’s roar of anguish filled the air.

Moving almost quicker than Kaitlyn’s eyes could follow, Zack ripped the throat from one vampire, the heart from the other, and then he was kneeling at her side, across from her father.

“Elena!” Drake called her name, his voice thick with unshed tears. “Elena.”

Her eyelids flickered open, her gaze unfocused. “Drake?”

“I am here.” He clutched her hand in his. “You will be all right. I will take you to the hospital …”

“I’m dying …”

“No! Do not leave me!” He bit into his wrist, then held it to her lips. “Drink.”

But it was too late. Her eyelids fluttered down and her head fell back against Kaitlyn’s arm.

“Elena!” Eyes filled with torment, Drake looked at Zack. “I cannot turn her, but you can.”

“Would she want that?” Liliana asked, coming to stand behind Drake.

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