Page 54 of Cinderella and Her Vampires (Dirty Paranormal Fairytale Haremlan 5)

“I always arrive fashionably late,” Brock said.

I rushed to shield Cindy from Collin’s destruction. Brock met Collin halfway. Cindy knelt on the floor, and I bent over her, shielding her from the falling stone as explosions erupted all around me.

Silas and Brock were giving Collin one hell of a fight. But it would take more than them to take Collin down. I had to take Cindy somewhere safe and then rejoin the fight.

I took her by the hands and lifted her up. “Come on. We have to find a place for you to hide.”

“The place is falling down around us,” she said. “How do you propose we do that?”

“Just trust me.” I flashed a sarcastic grin and tugged her behind me, ducking and dodging the falling pieces of stone.

Within minutes, I found a spot near intersecting, load-bearing walls. A collection of stone had fallen in just the right way to be a solid hiding spot for her. If the mansion continued to implode on itself, at least I could find her relatively easily.

“Here,” I said, “Climb in and wait until I come back.”

“You want me to go in there?” she asked with wide eyes. “What if I get stuck?”

I sighed and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. “I will find you.”

I shoved her protesting rear into the hole. Once she was situated, however uncomfortably. I knew how she felt about small spaces. But this was the only way I could make sure she didn’t get hurt. After exchanging one last glance with her, I returned to the fight.

“You can’t kill me,” Brock said to Collin in a matter-of-fact tone. “No more than I could kill my creator.”

“Watch me try,” Collin said.

Brock sighed. “You will fail. It’s the curse of becoming a son.”

Collin spat, “I will never be your son.”

Brock shrugged. “You have no choice, I’m afraid. I created you. Therefore, you are my son. Just as I’m Silas’s son. And he is his creator’s. So on and so forth, on and on, the family tree grows.”

“I will kill you if it is the last thing I do. And then I will rid the world of you,” Collins said. His eyes were wild and full of fury. He was wearing down too. His body shook and he snapped his attention between the three of us.

Like a creature backed into a corner.

The three of us surround Colin.

“Your best bet is just to accept your fate and cut your losses,” Silas said.

“Never,” Collin said.

“We need to be done with this soon,” I said, settling my eyes on the rapidly failing structure of the mansion.

“You know what to do,” Silas said.

Brock and I approached Collin. He lashed out at us. A fist collided in my stomach, confirming what I already suspected, he was running out of steam and strength. Brock punched Collin in the face, trying to force him to stop struggling and fighting against us. Collin didn’t seem to know how to not fight.

Finally, we were able to grip each of his arms and hold him still.

“This isn’t over,” Collin said.

“It is for you,” Brock said.

“Why did you make me if you were just going to turn around and kill me?” he asked.

Brock’s jaws clenched. For several seconds he was silent, and then he said, “Because you were a mistake I made to piss off my sire as payback for something he did. You shouldn’t have made it through the change in the first place. I should have killed you when I had the chance instead of chaining you up and toying with you to figure out what your true motives were.”

“I was always truthful about that,” Collin said.

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