Page 35 of Exes, Hexes, and Strategy
Rafe lowered his gun hand and without hesitation, dropped to his knees. She was worth it.
Too late, he realized his mistake. His father's eyes went red, spittle flying from his mouth as he hissed, “A DeMarco! Never! Begs!”
Rafe raised the gun and took the shot but Vincent's fangs were already in Nina's throat. His father fell backward, taking Nina with him in a jumble of limbs, and Rafe dove forward, reaching them as their bodies hit the floor. God, there was so much blood.
“No! Nina!” Dragging Nina off his father, he let out a harsh cry of anguish as he attempted to stem the flow of blood. His father hadn’t simply bitten her, he’d torn into her flesh. Her throat had been savagely ripped open. Biting into his wrist to open a vein, Rafe held it over the wound and checked for a pulse with his free hand. His blood wouldn’t heal her completely, but it would buy him some much-needed time.
“Don’t you die on me, Nina. Don’t you fucking give up! Fight! Do you hear me? Don’t let the bastard win!”
Rafe’s vision blurred, and he realized he was crying. He couldn’t afford to stop and wipe the tears away however, if he didn’t save her now, his tears would never stop flowing.
He’d Turn her, he decided at that moment. He could do it. Turning a witch was forbidden, but he didn’t care. They’d run away together, hide from the world – just him and Nina – as long as she was alive, that was the only thing that mattered. Biting into his other wrist, he held it over her mouth. Few Turnings were successful using this method, but he had no choice. He had to save her. Even the smallest possibility was better than the alternative.
“Just hold on, baby,” and then, quietly, with a broken sob, his forehead pressed to hers, “Please. I can’t lose you.”
Strong hands gripped his shoulders, ripping him away from Nina and Rafe went nuts. “No!” he roared, mindlessly turning on his opponent, lashing out in a fury of fists. “I have to save her!” he bellowed. He hadn’t managed to get anywhere near enough of his blood into her. Without him, she would bleed out and die in a matter of moments.
Some part of his brain recognized he was fighting Kane Fletcher as the man blocked Rafe’s blows with a dexterity he would have admired had he not been blinded by such a killing rage. Fletcher was yelling something at him, but he couldn’t hear anything past his own furious shouting. Rafehadto take him down so he could get back to his Nina. He had to. She couldn’t die. Not when he had the power to save her.
A hard punch to his jaw came seemingly out of nowhere and the blow sent Rafe hurtling sideways into a wall. Through his blurred vision, he just made out the determined face of the angel, Cam, looming over him as he slid to the floor.Nina, he thought as his head spun and his vision darkened.I’m sorry. He’d failed her.
∞∞∞
Rafe woke in his room at the facility. He’d come to once before, still at the mansion, yelling Nina’s name. He’d cranked his head to the side to locate her and had seen others around Nina’s prone body – Fletcher, Morgan Rhys, Travis St. John – they’d been doing something to his Nina, and Rafe let out a shout of protest, attempting to gain his feet, needing to intercede, only to be hit with the full force of Cam’s silver gaze. Those eyes had swirled like liquid metal and the angel had said, “Sleep,” in a deep, hypnotic voice. Rafe must have done just that since that was the last thing he remembered.
Tears filled Rafe’s eyes, and he pressed the heels of his hands hard into the sockets as a broken sob left his throat. Nina was gone, he was sure of it. There was no way she could have survived, not without a Turning, her injury had been too grievous. They’d stopped him from saving her, and by doing so, they’d taken everything from him. Grief-fueled rage surged through him. If it was the last thing he did, he would make them pay.
“Good, you’re awake.”
Rafe was off the bed in a heartbeat, lunging at the angel who had spoken those words. His eyes were red with fury, and he bit out past his fangs, “I’ll kill you, you bastard.” His hands latched onto Cam’s throat with deadly intent, and he squeezed with every ounce of his vampiric strength, but that neck didn’t break, it didn’t even give under a grip that would have crushed mortal bones.
The angel swatted him away like he was nothing more than an insect. “And here I saved your life. That’s gratitude for you.”
“Gratitude?” Rafe bellowed in disbelief, hurtling his body at the angel once more, his need for vengeance far outweighing any thought to self-preservation. “You let Nina die! You took her from me!”
Instead of pushing him away again, this time Cam grabbed him by the upper arms and held him immobile.
Rafe thrashed, kicking out with his legs, but his efforts were useless to break that steely grip that imprisoned him. If the angel even felt the strikes against his shins and thighs, his face gave no indication. Rafe felt impotent, useless, and that feeling only increased his fury.
“Your Nina is still alive,” Cam calmly informed him.
Rafe went utterly still. He had to have misheard. Blinking rapidly, he asked, “What?”
“She’s alive.”
His body sagged with such relief that, had Cam not been holding him up, he would have collapsed on the floor. “How?” he managed to get out, still dazed by the revelation.
“I’ll let Morgan explain.” The angel looked down and then asked pointedly, “Got your feet?”
Rafe straightened up, and though he still felt wobbly, he nodded.
“Follow me.”
“Morgan can explain later,” Rafe hurriedly said, falling into step behind Cam. “I need to see Nina first. Where is she?”
“With Morgan,” was the angel’s reply. “Two birds. One stone.” Cam glanced over his shoulder and shot Rafe that lopsided grin. “Don’t you love it when that happens?”
They didn’t head to Morgan’s office, but rather, the infirmary, and by the time they got there, Rafe was of the mind to try to kill the angel again. Cam had refused to pick up the pace. Where Rafe wanted to sprint, the angel was determined to take a leisurely stroll, whistling a jaunty little tune the entire way that had set Rafe’s teeth on edge. Nor would Cam offer any details of what had happened while Rafe slept, and, most importantly, how Nina had somehow survived a wound that should have killed her.
