Page 55 of My Master
Isis sneered just before she sprang, her eyes glued to the weapon in his hand. Everything was happening in slow motion and she kept up with it fairly well. He smiled maliciously and threw the knife in the air. It spun and fell back down into his open hand and he slashed out at her. Fortunately for her she saw the direction from which it was coming and twisted to the side, dodging it and gripping the wrist that he held it in.
In one swift, clean movement, she snapped his wrist back, breaking the bones and causing the knife to fall from his grasp. Isis pulled his arm straight out and slammed at his elbow, disconnecting the bones there and left his arm hanging limply.
She struck her claws out to his neck, digging her fingernails there, prepared to rip his throat out when he brought his uninjured arm smacking onto her face. Tears sprang to her eyes, momentarily blinding her from her surroundings, but she kept her fingernails deep in his neck, refusing to waver.
He attempted to throw her off but failed when Antonio advanced to help her. With an annoyedtsk, Caesareon flung Isis to the side, gripping her forearm. As Antonio approached, Caesareon kicked his leg up, sending the silver dagger Antonio held flying in the air above them. When it fell back down, Caesareon caught it with his teeth, twisted his head to the side, and spit it out, sending it flying towards Antonio, who tried dodging it, only to get it implanted in his chest.
With that out of the way, Caesareon flipped Isis back to him, releasing her, one of his arms hanging limply at his side, and with his good one brought it crashing down on her face again. Without giving her time to recuperate, he grabbed her by the throat and slammed her down to the floor. Her head banged against the tiles of the floor, making stars damn near dance behind her eyes. She blinked rapidly in an attempt to clear her head.
“Did you really think you could kill me, Isis?” he spat in her ear, lifting her up by the neck and banged her head back down. She could feel her skull begin to crack. She gasped. “Did you really,trulythink that you could be a match for me, Isis?” He repeated the process. “Did you really think that I’d be foolish enough to allow such events to unfold?” He picked her up, again by the neck, and stood with her, squeezing the life out of her while her feet dangled helplessly beneath her. Blood seeped out of the back of her head; she could feel it trickling down the back of her neck.
She gasped to catch her breath, to fight away the pain that threatened to knock her unconscious. Where was Antonio? Was the knife still embedded in his chest? She needed his help…desperately.
“You…” she sputtered. “Took…everything from me…” And he was still. He was trying to wreck the life she had built away from him. It wasn’t enough that he had taken away her birth family, robbed her morals, converted her into a murderer, but he wanted to take away the family she now had, the family she had come to find in hiding from him. And in a way, she thought, she was almost glad. If it weren’t for him, she’d had been buried in the ground years ago, mortal and dead. Now, she was a vampire, with a family that loved her, with friends that would go to the ends of the earth to protect her. And she was stronger. Stronger than she had been before, which she had proved by breaking his hold on her. And she wouldn’t let him get the best of her. Not now.
Caesareon laughed. “You are so very daft, Isis. It was your own nature that sucked your brother dry. But tell me,do you really believe that I took everything from you?”
But you did,her mind screeched just before she lifted her knee up to strike him where every male feared to be struck, human and vampire alike. His hold on her loosened and she sank her fangs into his hand. He cried out and released her. As she fell to the floor, she splayed her leg out, causing him to fall backwards. She jumped on him, her legs straddling his sides. He reached a hand up and grabbed a fistful of hair, tugging it down so that her lips were an inch from his.
“You only believed what I made you believe. And I will tell you that I did not take everything away from you,” he smiled evilly. “You only believed that I did…”
23
Maria mentally cursed herself for letting Ezzy go on alone. She had been too shaken up to stop her, too heartbroken and tootired. She had been tired for a while now, the death of Damien had weighed down a great deal upon her shoulders and she had finally cracked.
When Esmeralda had first arrived at the mansion, Maria found that she hadn’t minded. No, not in the least. And then they said that Damien and Esmeralda were Soul Mates and she found that she minded. Just a little bit. She was the baby of the family, and she wanted things to remain that way. With Esmeralda in the picture, everyone paid her so much attention that Maria had been temporarily forgotten.
And then Antonio had returned, causing an uproar. It turned out that Damien had created the Blood Drug and that he had murdered Esmeralda’s parents and that Antonio had been, in fact, Ezzy’s true Mate.
Since it was inevitable, Maria pushed aside her jealousy and decided to roll with it, keeping her emotions bottled up. It was no use trying to convince anyone to drop Esmeralda like a ball; it would have been foolish and completely selfish. They adored her. And it wasn’t as if Maria hated the girl; she was really friendly and the perfect match for Antonio but she felt as though everyone had overlooked the little fact that she had aided in the events ofDamien being murdered.
Granted, Antonio had been the one to kill his twin brother and she had no doubt that it was eating him up inside, but he never would have done such things if it weren’t for Esmeralda Ortiz.
Bitterness had grown inside of Maria Santiago that she couldn’t shake away.
And then Esmeralda went around andjokedabout how Damien talked to her in her dreams. Why would he want to? She was the one responsible for his death. So she did the only thing she could do, the only thing she knewhowto do: sent her away.
She stood there in that kitchen afterwards, thinking up a storm and she had realized a lot of things. First, that she had lost a brother and it hadn’t been entirely Esmeralda’s fault. Second, that if she didn’t go help get Esmeralda back she was likely to lose another brother.
Pushing aside hatred, bitterness and sadness, Maria ran off to find the girl.
As she approached the mall, she hoped she hadn’t been too late. Bodies were strewn everywhere. With a heavy heart, she looked at each face, to make sure that it was no one she knew. She ran across concrete and nearly ran into a man.
She looked up, afraid he might attack her and realized, with a start, that it was that FBSI agent, Terrance, and in his arms he was holding the other agent, Victoria Phillipe. Her veins were black against her pale skin. She had only a moment to gape in horror before Terrance snarled angrily at her and ran past Maria.
Maria lifted her nose in the air and sniffed, trying to locate Esmeralda’s scent. A vague scent of it was coming from Terrance. She turned to the direction from which he had first appeared and followed it.
And then she saw her.
She was running as if the devil himself were chasing her, arms pumping angrily at her sides, and she was heading to a closed off section of the Plaza. Maria caught up to her in no time, grabbing her by the back of the sweater and pulling her against her chest.
Esmeralda thrashed around wildly in Maria’s arms.
“Calm down!” Maria spat.
Ezzy relaxed instantly and tensed again. “I have to get Antonio. He went to get Isis and Caesareon.”
Maria tensed herself. “You can’t go there, it’s too dangerous.” She spun the girl around and held her by the shoulders. “Let’s get you to safety, okay?” She started to pull Esmeralda away but Ezzy pushed Maria with a force that sent her tumbling back. Maria gaped.
