Too much silver. Too much blood.
He tried to find Allison. Saw her being held by the blond vampire. She was struggling in his arms and red tears leaked down her cheeks.
She thinks I’m dying.
Maybe he was.
He still couldn’t get up.
Griggs would never get up.
“Greedy bastard…for the right money, Griggs would always do anything.” Elsa, dripping blood, eased down beside Cade. She had a mirror cradled in her hands, a cracked, blackened mirror. “I knew he’d come back…he just wanted you to be weak enough first. Likes to attack when…his prey is weak.”
Too bad for the bastard…Griggs hadn’t waited long enough. Cade had made sure that prick went to hell first.
“Get away from him!” Allison yelled.
Elsa didn’t look her way. She leaned closer to Cade. He still couldn’t move. That f**king knife lodged right in the middle of his back. Griggs had driven it in deep, all the way to the bone, and when Cade had spun to kill the human—
I just drove it in deeper. When his back had hit the floor, the hilt had broken off, and the silver blade was lodged deep within him.
“What did you think would happen?” Elsa whispered as she clutched her mirror. “That you’d save her? That you’d get to keep her?”
Forever. He’d wanted a chance, a shot at—
“She would’ve stayed young for centuries, and you would have wasted away.” She held up the mirror to him. “See what would have been—see it!”
Cade stared into the mirror. He saw the future that had waited for him and bellowed in maddened fury.
Chapter Eight
That bitch wasn’t killing Cade. Allison jerked, twisted like a snake, and drove her claws—not nearly as fierce as Cade’s—into the blond vampire’s stomach.
He barely grunted. His eyes, too blue and bright, glittered down at her. “Don’t worry, we’ll keep you safe.”
Screw that. Like she believed a word he said.
Gritting her teeth, she pulled back her fist and slammed it right into his chest.
She heard something break. Luckily, it wasn’t her hand.
The vamp’s eyes widened. “Pureblood,” he whispered as he fell back a step.
That step was all she needed. “You aren’t killing Cade!” She’d promised that vampires wouldn’t hurt him again, and now he was up there, not moving.
Dying?
No.
“Cade!” She spun away and jumped up half the stairs.
But the blond vampire moved faster than her. He blocked her path in an instant. “I’m like you. Born to the blood, I can help you…show you…”
The witch was next to Cade. Her werewolf was shouting, but his body wasn’t moving. Dammit. “I don’t want you to show me anything! I don’t want anything—just Cade!”
Surprise slackened the vampire’s face. “He was…hurting you…holding you captive…”
She slammed her body into his. The vampire crashed into the wooden railing. “He was keeping me safe.” The wood began to splinter. “From all the murdering vamps who wanted me dead.”
The wood gave way.
The vampire didn’t try to fight the fall. He just plummeted to the hard floor below.
Allison grabbed a chunk of broken wood from the stairs. She rushed up toward Cade and the witch. “Get your ass away from him!”
Elsa turned around, her eyes were wide, and, oh, yeah, Allison saw the fear flash in her gaze. “You want to take me out so badly?” Allison snarled. “Then here’s your chance!”
But Elsa backed away. She dropped a mirror, and the heavy chunks of glass shattered at her feet.
“Better save him…” Elsa told her as she edged back. “With that silver lodged in his spine, he could be dead in seconds.”
Allison froze, the wood gripped tightly in her hand.
Elsa was still backing away. Going for another weapon? Preparing for another spell attack?
“Unless he doesn’t really matter to you…” Elsa threw out, taunting her. “Unless you want to watch him die.”
Cade was trying to crawl toward the witch. His legs weren’t working—because of the silver in his spine.
She wouldn’t leave her wolf helpless.
Never.
Allison rushed to his side. The wood dropped from her hands as she reached for his back.
“I thought so…” The witch’s nearly purring voice said. “I knew your weakness.”
A rush of wind filled that second-story room. Allison caught the sharp edge of the silver and ignored the pain when it sliced her flesh. “It’s okay,” she whispered to Cade. “I’ve got you. You’re going to be—”
The wind rushed harder, beating on her like hands, and a wooden stake burst through her chest.
Allison didn’t let go of that broken knife. She glanced down and saw the bloody edges of the wood. The same wood she’d brought up to use as her weapon.
That rushing wind, it had been Elsa, using one of her spells…she’d moved faster than Allison could see. The witch had come up behind her and—
“Got your heart, bitch,” Elsa told her.
Allison yanked out the silver blade. She heard Cade’s fast inhale. He’ll be okay now. “No…” She managed to tell the witch even as every breath sent pain pulsing through her chest. “You didn’t.”
The makeshift stake had gone from her back all the way through the front of her chest, but the witch had shitty aim. She’d missed Allison’s heart.
Allison rose to her feet, swayed, but managed to stay upright.
Elsa scrambled back. “No, no!”
A stained glass window waited behind her, one designed to show the beauty of a blooming red rose. But with the moonlight spilling through that glass, it appeared as if the witch were surrounded by blood.
She would be, soon enough.
Allison stalked slowly toward her. Every move hurt, but she wasn’t giving up. Wasn’t stopping. Her hands, already bloody, caught the edge of that stake. Slowly, inch by inch, she pulled it out. Then she held her weapon gripped tightly in her fist.
“Why?” Allison asked because she had to know. “Why did you… come after me?” Her fangs were fully extended, and she wanted to tear Elsa’s throat wide open. I’ve become the monster…and I don’t give a damn. Not then. Then, she wanted the strength that being a vampire gave her. “I never…never would have…”