Page 86 of Discovery of the Vampire
"That's right," Marcus crooned. "Come to?—"
Everything happened at once.
Alice and Alex join hands and began to chant in unison. Their voices rose and fell in perfect harmony, the ancient-sounding words creating ripples of energy that made my skin prickle.
"Now!" Killian roared beside me.
The vampires moved as one, myself among them. Dae and Jamal flanked Marcus from both sides, while Killian and I charged straight at him. The earth trembled beneath our feet as the witches joined the fray, their voices rising in unison as they chanted words of a binding spell.
Marcus screamed in rage, black energy exploding from his body, throwing everyone back. Tombstones shattered. Trees uprooted. The ground split open in jagged lines. Alice and Alex scrambled to their feet, grabbing for each other's hand as they continued to chant, distracting the djinn.
My rage carried me forward like a missile locked on its destination, my fangs extended and my body coiled with deadly purpose.
The combined power of the witches slammed into Marcus again, driving him backward. His face contorted in shock and fury as the twins' magic held him.
Shoving Killian to the side with one arm, I barreled into Marcus with enough force to shatter human bones, driving him backward into a stone mausoleum. The impact cracked the marble, dust exploding around us. My fists connected with his face, over and over, each blow fueled by Esme's blood on my hands and her pain still burning through our bond.
Marcus tried to fight back, his hands glowing black as he got a grip on me and spun us around, but another blast of magic from Alice and Alex hit him from behind. He staggered, momentarily weakened, and I seized my chance.
Grabbing his throat, I squeezed with every ounce of my strength as I slammed him repeatedly against the stone. His head broke the marble, and I held him there, getting right in his face to make sure he heard me loud and fucking clear.
"I'm going to kill you for what you did to her," I promised, my voice barely recognizable even to my own ears.
Marcus's eyes flashed an unnatural blue. "Did to who?" he goaded.
With a roar of rage, I punched him again, feeling his jaw crack beneath my fist. Blood—his blood—sprayed across my face, but I didn't give a shit. I was going tobathein his blood before this was over.
The twins' magic swirled around us, constraining Marcus's power, giving me the opening I needed. I grabbed his head between my hands, preparing to twist it clean off his shoulders. I sensed my brothers around me, but they held back and didn’t interfere, allowing me to take this thing’s life myself.
But suddenly, the air shifted. Marcus's form blurred, and before I could tighten my grip, he'd slipped through my fingers like smoke. My forehead slammed against the stone and my skull busted open. The world toppled, and I slid to the ground, wiping blood from my eyes.
Marcus hovered several feet above us, his eyes blazing with inhuman light, his face twisted into something barely recognizable as human.
"You dare?" he howled. "You dare betray your own blood?"
He thrust his hand toward Alice, and she dropped to her knees, clutching her chest as if he'd reached inside and grabbed her heart.
"No!" Alex screamed, reaching for his sister.
But it was too late. In a crack of black lightening, Marcus and Alex vanished, leaving nothing but empty air where they'd been standing as Alice knelt on the ground, trying to catch her breath.
Kenya screamed in horror.
Stumbling back to Esme, I lifted her into my arms and rushed her back to the house.
35
BROGAN
Icradled Esme's broken body against me, her blood soaking through my shirt as I pressed my bleeding wrist to her lips. "Drink, goddammit." My voice cracked as I desperately tried to heal her. "Es, please," I begged, reopening the wound and repeating the process. "You need to drink."
She remained still, her breathing shallow and irregular. Through our bond, I felt her life energy dimming by the second.
"Fuck!" I yelled, stabbing my hands through my hair. "I can't lose you." I bit my wrist once more, tearing the flesh wider to produce more blood. "Not when I just found you."
Angel knelt on the floor by Esme's head. "Maybe if I massage her throat?"
I didn't respond. I couldn't fucking think besides getting my blood into my mate.
