Page 80 of The Second Sight
Basirah.
Seven’s body went completely rigid beside me. The hand gripping my arm suddenly dropped away as if he’d forgotten I existed. “No,” he whispered, the single word was loaded with grief and disbelief.
“Oh yes,” Desmond said, clearly relishing Seven’s shock. “Surprised to see your beloved wife?”
“This is a trick. This is not my Basirah.”
“Did you really think I would waste a valuable vampire specimen by burning her to death? I burned a fae woman and told everyone it was your plantation vampire whore. Word spread, and the lie was forever etched in our history. I wanted to hurt you in your black heart, you undead piece of shit.” He reached down and roughly pulled Basirah to her feet. She swayed, her eyes vacant, her body showing signs of decades of torture and deprivation.
“Why?” Seven asked as he gripped me tighter.
“I’ve kept her all these years,” Desmond's voice took on the tone of a professor discussing a fascinating research subject. “Studying vampire physiology, testing the limits of immortal healing, exploring the fascinating connection between vampire mates.” He yanked Basirah’s head up by her hair. “She’s called your name through decades of pain, Severin. Always believing you would come for her. I can say she didn’t call your name when every single one of my men had their way with her. After she had a thousand big black Bambara cocks, I knew she would never look at a White man again.”
The raw anguish on Seven’s face broke something inside me. I’d never seen him look so vulnerable, so completely shattered.As far as Desmond, he was the worst kind of monster that I’d ever seen in the flesh.
Lily shifted slightly beside us, her hand inching toward the weapon concealed at her hip. She caught my eye briefly, a silent warning to be ready.
“So, vampire, here’s my new offer,” Desmond announced, his voice echoing across the trainyard. “Give me Theia’s daughter. I keep the human to breed with my hunters, and I’ll return your vampire wife. A generous exchange, wouldn’t you say?”
The silence that followed was deafening. I could feel the eyes of our hidden allies watching, waiting for the signal that might never come if Seven chose his first love over our plan.
I stared at Seven’s profile, searching for any sign of what he was thinking. His jaw was clenched so tightly I could see the muscle jumping beneath his skin. His eyes never left Basirah’s face, as if he were trying to convince himself she was real, after a century of believing her dead.
I waited for his decision. Would he choose me or the vampire wife he’d mourned for over a century? Would he stick to our plan or sacrifice me to save his beloved Basirah?
For the first time since meeting Seven, I honestly didn’t know what he would do.
Seven’s expression hardened into something ancient and deadly. I’d seen glimpses of the predator beneath his civilized exterior before, but never like this, never the full force of his vampire rage. His voice, when he finally spoke was like ice cracking over deep water.
“Release the human first.” Seven ordered.
Desmond’s smile faltered slightly. He hadn’t expected resistance with Basirah as leverage. “You’re not in a position to make demands, vampire. I’m keeping the human.”
“I’m not asking,” Seven replied, his body shifted gradually beside me. “The human girl comes to us now, or there’s no deal.”
Something dangerous flashed in Desmond’s eyes. He tightened his grip on Basirah’s arm, making her wince. “Then there is no deal at all.” He shoved Basirah roughly behind him and raised his voice to a thunderous shout. “BAMBARA ATTACK!”
Everything exploded into anarchy at once. The hunters charged toward us, weapons drawn. Tarus dragged Brooklyn back toward the SUV. Desmond retreated with Basirah stumbling beside him.
“Now!” Seven roared, the signal our hidden allies had been waiting for.
The shadows around the trainyard came alive. Vampires moved with blinding speed, emerging from behind rusty train cars and abandoned buildings. My yumboe kin emerged with glowing wings. Romeca and Kyren swooped down from the night sky with golden daggers flashing in the moonlight. The trap we’d so carefully planned was finally sprung.
Seven grabbed me and shoved me behind a concrete barrier. “Stay down,” he ordered before disappearing in a blur of movement.
I peered over the edge of my shelter, my eyes struggling to track the epic battle unfolding around me. Lily pulled her supernatural Glock from beneath her jacket, aimed at a charging hunter, and fired with deadly aim. The bullet specially designed with something I’d never heard of struck the man in the chest. He froze mid-stride, his eyes widening in shock before his entire body erupted in orange-tinged flames. His screams cut through the night as he burned from the inside out, collapsing into a heap of ash and bones within seconds.
The other hunters faltered, clearly not expecting such a weapon to exist. Lily’s smile was terrifying as she aimed at another target.
Across the trainyard, Seven engaged Gideon in brutal hand-to-hand combat. Their bodies moved faster than my half-human eyes could track. They blurred into streaks of motion punctuated by the sickening sound of flesh striking flesh. Seven fought with cold accuracy. Each of his brutal movements was calculated despite the fury I knew was driving him. Gideon fought desperately, like a man who knew he was outmatched but too proud to surrender.
Romeca and Kyren danced through the air above another hunter, their wings creating gusts of wind that sent debris skittering across the concrete. The hunter hurled some kind of spell from his hands that burst in the air like black fireworks, but Romeca deflected it with a shield of yellow light that erupted from her palm.
I ducked as something flew over my head. It was a knife that embedded itself in the concrete wall behind me. My heart pounded in my ears and chest. The battle around me was almost too much to process. This wasn’t like the fight where Brooklyn was taken. This was a war between ancient beings using powers I barely understood.
Through the confusion, I spotted Brooklyn. Tarus had left her bound beside the SUV to join the fight, and she was working frantically to free herself. Our eyes met across the distance, and I nodded encouragingly for her to do something. I just didn’t know what.
“Get the fae bitch!” Desmond shouted from somewhere near the first SUV. “She’s behind the barrier!”
