I just made a deal with a demon, and that always comes at a price. I have either made a smart move that will keep us all safe, or I have just committed the most foolish of mistakes.
Chapter Nine
“No, no, what they say is never the truth. They mix that truth to get what they want. We can’t trust that he will,” John says, stepping in.
Tatiana shakes her head.
John goes to speak but whips his head around fast, smelling the air. “Run, run!” he screams.
We don’t need to be told twice. Our legs go fast. Tatiana and I try our hardest to keep up with the wolves, but it’s impossible, they are too quick on their feet.
When we get close to the next ward, I hear a hiss, then I am thrown backward, my back slamming into the ground, the wind knocked right out of me. I hear Tatiana scream, then see lightning crack above me, and I know she is using her powers. As I try to sit up, someone is on me, pinning my hands to my sides, his body putting pressure on mine.
“Little witch, why do you smell so good?” he sneers above me. I try to shake him off, but it’s no use, he is stronger than me. I am no match for a vampire, especially the older ones—they are stronger and faster than the younger ones. If I had a wooden stick and he was young, I could attempt to fight him off. But I know he isn’t new, because vampires aren’t allowed to populate. It’s forbidden. And if he were new, he would already be biting my neck.
“You are going to taste like sunshine, I can tell.” His mouth comes down and his fangs pop from his gums. If he weren’t a soul-sucking leech, I would say he is attractive. Most are, with their perfect skin and toned bodies. Just as I feel his fangs touch my neck, he is off of me. My eyes are closed, so when I open them, I see Grim standing above me, shaking his head.
“Demons and vampires? Really, little fighter?”
It still amazes me how everything stops when he is here.
I stand, shaking the vampire off me, but it still feels as if he is on my skin, tainting it. When I look over, Tatiana’s eyes are wide and frozen. Does he have a pause button?
“What can I say, my life is complicated right now.”
He shakes his head, his dark hair fanning around his eyes. Grim has always been the untouchable yet incredibly attractive man in my life. And because he is in my life when I least expect him to be, I don’t get nervous around him, even if he is the most beautiful man I have ever seen.
“I won’t take the man he asks of, only this once, little fighter. Don’t expect it again, though. This will be a one-time deal.”
“Thank you,” I say, and I mean it. What surprises me is I didn’t even have to ask him about the deal.
He nods his head and looks around, then comes back to me. “I take it I can’t remove you from here?”
I look around too, checking over everyone.
My sister is here.
I won’t leave her so my answer is simple. “No.”
“Figured. Use your powers.” I nod my head, and everything becomes live again.
Tatiana continues to run to me, then a frazzled look crosses over her face. I was lying down a mere second ago with a vampire ready to gnaw on my neck, and now I am standing right in front of her. She doesn’t have time to ask any questions as she grabs my hand and starts to pull me, trying to get past the ward without being bitten. Once they bite us, they won’t stop—our blood to them is their own aphrodisiac. She gets to the border with me by her side, but as she goes to climb through—to get to where John is reaching for her—a hand tugs on me.
This time, though, I don’t fall to the ground.
My powers are ready.
I turn to him, seeing that his lips are sneered up, his fangs ready to bite, so I shoot whatever is in my hand at his chest. It goes straight to his heart, and in an instant, he is dust. It shocks me so much that I stand there staring in awe from the dust to my hand.
“Move, Talia!” Tatiana’s voice screams, and somehow, it gets through to me. That’s when I see two more running at me, and I know they can reach me if I don’t move now. I am just about through when something grabs my foot. Tatiana notices straight away and pulls me hard, yanking me all the way, landing on her. “Gosh,” she says with her eyes closed, sprawled beneath me.