Page 70 of Fangs and Family
Raising his voice, Sapieha taunted Adam as his hand twisted painfully in my hair.
‘You keep killing my spawn, so I think it’s past time to replace them.’ His laughter as he smacked his lips together chilled me to the bone, and I screamed as a pair of sharp fangs pierced my neck.
‘No! Fuck, no!’ Adam bellowed desperately as he launched himself into the air.
I couldn’t see what was happening as Sapieha savaged my neck. It was all I could do to hold on to the slippery dagger, but I fought against the agony. I knew I had to grip it tighter as I choked on my own blood, air bubbling from the gaping hole he was creating in his frenzy.I hope life is better on the other side, I thought, jerking my body to the side, and with the last of my disappearing strength, I stabbed my dagger between his ribs.
The obsidian blade sank into the vampire’s flesh like a hot knife in butter. So sharp it was probably painless. The vampire, busy gorging on my blood, didn’t react at first, and as my body was shutting down, I knew this was it. I pushed harder, forcing the thicker part of the knife under the vampire’s ribs, and Sapieha ripped his fangs from my throat. I watched the beautiful arc of my blood as it sprayed across the car park, smiling.
The bastard must have realised what I’ve done,I thought, my satisfaction tinged with exhaustion.
‘You…’ he snarled, reaching for my hand, but I didn’t let him finish. I gathered what was left of my strength and pushed so hard that my hand and the knife disappeared into his chest.
The screech of a mortally wounded animal echoed in the air long after the vampire collapsed at my feet. The volcanic glass had fulfilled its purpose. I had channelled all my hate, my fear and my pain into the knife Adam had given me, killing the scum that turned my life into a nightmare.
Holding my hand to my throat to slow down the stream of blood, I collapsed to my knees. Everything was so very dark. My gaze slid over the shape of my brother’s body and the corpses of the vampires littering the parking lot. Finally, my gaze caught on Adam as he landed and caught me up in his arms.
‘Nina, my love, hold on. Please, please hold on.’
I looked away from those pain-filled eyes to stare out toward the Baltic Sea. If this was the last thing I saw, I didn’t want it to be filled with remorse or guilt. I was going to die, but I wasn’t afraid. In the clarity of death, I accepted Adam for all he was, and I truly believed he loved me.
‘Nina!’ His cry filled the air.
Strong hands lifted me from the cold ground, and the world disappeared behind a curtain of feathers.
‘Nina, please hold on. Your brother will live. I let him drink my blood, please, my love, don’t give up. I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. I will spend my life repenting for the pain I’ve caused you but don’t leave me. You have to fight.’
Pawel will live? As a vampire?My thoughts were sluggish. My fluttering, frantic heart stuttered with the lack of blood. Deep regret rose in my core. Adam hadn’t betrayed me, and my last words to him were full of hatred. I wouldn’t be able to say goodbye or apologise. I couldn’t tell him he showed me what real love is.
I felt the warm liquid falling on my lips, but I didn’t drink it. I saw firsthand the blind obedience between a Master Vampire and his spawn, and I didn’t want that, not between me and Adam, not even at the price of my life.
With one last effort, I raised my hand and touched Adam’s cheek. My vampire was crying, bloody tears staining his cheeks. I smiled, and a loud crash of thunder broke the silence of the night, followed by a single thought.
I didn’t know vampires could cry.
Chapter 25
The only light in my dark was dying in my arms, and I couldn’t do anything to stop it. Nina refused the gift of my blood, and there was nothing else I could do.
‘No, fuck no. Sweetheart, please… without you, nothing else matters,’ I cried, my voice hoarse from begging, but despite my pleas and the frantic efforts to stem the blood, Nina closed her eyes, and her head sagged against my chest while the ominous sound of thunder boomed overhead.
I prayed to Perun1 for a bolt of lightning to incinerate me. I didn’t want to live without her, so I might as well be a pile of ash.
I barely registered the change in air pressure while I rocked back and forth, unable to believe in a world without Nina in it. When a wave of magic crashed over me, I was shaken to the core. A force so strong it felt like the Gates of the Nether had been torn asunder. The night sky exploded into a kaleidoscope of colour, and when it hit the ground, flowers and grass erupted from the ground, blooming with otherworldly speed. I stared open-mouthed at the miracle before me, then screamed as my wounds began knitting together, disappearing so quickly it left me panting.
That wasn’t good, and with my strength returning, I knew it could mean only one thing. Someone had released the Nether’s magic into the human realm, but why?
My wings had instinctively swept over Nina and me as if I could still protect her from anything that might happen, but they were now obstructing my view. With Nina’s heart beating its last slow, erratic pulses, I couldn’t gather the courage to look past them; then, something changed when I heard a strong, commanding voice coming from the seafront.
‘Adam!’
My wings snapped open, revealing an uncanny picture. A portal had opened over the sea, and a majestic stag galloped over the waves. On the top of the divine animal was Sara, her body glowing with the same magic that surrounded me. I couldn’t tear my eyes from the sight as the Soul Shepherd leapt from Leszek’s back and rushed toward us.
She opened a fucking portal!
I’d heard that before the Gates had been created, those with potent magic could conjure portals to the other worlds, but no one had made one since the Gates were built. Somehow, I knew Sara had done it, and the magnitude of the power coming through it took my breath away. Time slowed down for everything not touched by the riotous power. I’d known Sara could use a god’s divine energy, but this was both wondrous and terrifying at the same time.
‘Adam, what the fuck did you do?’ Sara shouted before dropping to her knees and slamming her hand onto Nina’s chest. The woman in my arms convulsed, her eyes opening suddenly. I couldn’t contain the sob that burst from my lips as her heart stuttered once more and stopped, but Nina’s soul didn’t escape. I could still feel her. My woman was still there. Despite the pale cheeks and unmoving chest, there was still a soul.
