Page 85 of Discovery of the Vampire
"We'll help you find the book," Alice said. "We'll even help you use it. But only if you let her go right now."
Marcus laughed, the sound grating against my already shattered nerves. "How noble. Trading yourselves for this broken little witch."
I wanted to scream at them to stop, to run, but my body wouldn't respond. All I could do was hang there in Marcus's grip, my lifeblood slowly seeping away.
"Let. Her. Go." Alice's voice had gone deadly quiet. "Now."
The cemetery spun around me once more as consciousness slipped away again.
34
BROGAN
My heart stopped beating when Esme slumped forward.
"She's still alive, Brogan," Killian reassured me when I was overcome with panic. "Listen. Just listen."
Desperate for him to be right, I fought to quiet the noise in my head. And then I heard it, the softest wheeze of an inhaled breath followed by the weak beat of her heart, still fighting to keep her blood flowing through her beaten body.
I sank to my knees with a shuddering breath. It wasn't until I reassured myself that Esme continued to breathe and Alice made her offer to the djinn that I allowed Killian and Dae to pull me to my feet.
For a long time, the djinn said nothing as my mate hung forgotten from his hand, but he couldn't quite hide the gleam of triumph in his eyes as he debated Alice and Alex's offer.
My hands still clenched and unclenched at my sides, Killian and Dae on either side of me, ready to restrain me if things went sideways. But they wouldn't be able to stop me. Nothing but death would keep me from her if he tried to take Esme from me again.
Marcus's gaze shifted back and forth between the twins, his eyes gleaming with a dangerous mix of caution and victory.
"As you wish," he finally said, his voice carrying over the graveyard with the smoothness of silk. "She's of little use to me anymore, anyway."
I surged forward as soon as he let go of Esme, covering the ground between us between one heartbeat and the next, catching her before she could crumple to the ground. As soon as she was in my arms, I scurried back to the safety of my coven. Her body felt incredibly fragile in my arms, nothing but a jumble of broken bones and battered flesh.
So,socarefully, I cradled her against my chest like she was made of glass, barely breathing as I registered how weak her heartbeat had become.
"Esme," I whispered, brushing blood-matted hair from her face. "Stay with me, darlin'. Come on, beautiful. I need you to open your eyes."
Her eyelids fluttered as she moaned, but she couldn't seem to focus before they closed again. I bit into my wrist and pressed the open wound to her lacerated lips.
"Drink," I urged. "Please, just drink." I had no idea what was happening around me, and honestly, I didn't give a shit as I watched a small amount of my blood trickle onto her tongue.
I reopened the wound again, but she couldn't close her mouth around it. She couldn't suck to keep it open, so it kept healing before I could get enough into her.
"I willnotlose you. Do you hear me?"
But she couldn't hear anything. Her body went lax as she fell into unconsciousness again.
A low growl began deep within my chest as I searched for the djinn who'd done this to her. He was talking to Alice and Alex, not an ounce of concern for the woman dying in my arms.
Watching him, something inside me snapped.
Gently, I laid Esme on the ground, my hands shaking as I brushed a strand of hair from her battered face. Then I stood, my entire body vibrating with a rage so pure it felt like molten lava in my veins.
One of us was going to die today, but it wouldn't be her.
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Killian studying me. But my attention was on Marcus, who extended his hands toward the twins.
"You won't regret this decision," he said, his voice smooth as silk. "Family should always stay together."
Alice stepped forward first, her face a mask of calm determination. Alex followed, his golden eyes burning with barely controlled rage as Kenya moved silently at his side.
