Xander couldn’t fight back, but even if he could it wouldn’t have mattered now because Davin -with a fresh bloody gash splayed across his forehead- was right back on top of Dalton, which wouldn’t have given anyone else a chance to get a piece of him, even if they had wanted to. Dalton collided into a marble statue a few yards away from the strike of Davin’s body, smashing it into pieces. Whatever hold he had had on Xander, for that short moment, ceased.
Xander fell to his knees, breathing heavily, with his hands still cupping his head, in visible discomfort. For an impact that would normally kill a human, Dalton wasn’t affected at all; and instantly had Davin pinned to the ground while Davin struggled to get free from underneath him.
For the first time tonight, it appeared that Dalton had the upper hand on the Ashford’s, now that another blade was pulled from somewhere off of Dalton’s body. The knife came tearing down, heading straight for Davin’s heart, but only grazed his arm, and planted firmly in the ground next to him when he rolled his body quickly to the side.
Dalton started to lose his balance but recovered, keeping his body still straddled over Davin, his gnarled fingers wrapped around Davin’s throat.
I looked to Sully who was curled into a tight ball, clutching his side. “Sully you have to try to channel into Eli and let him know we need him! Dalton is stronger than you guys realized. After seeing what happened in there, and whatever those things were that possessed his body, proves he has some darker forces on his side than just any werewolf!”
I was referring to the creatures that came out of the black ocean of smoke in the wall. That was not a werewolf characteristic, or at least it wasn’t by any book or movie standard I’d ever seen.
He kept his eyes closed as he spoke still in his fetal like position. “I’ve already tried, but being on sacred cemetery grounds, and whatever shields he has up, I don’t know if I got through. If it had worked, I would think that he would’ve already been here by now. It’s quite obvious that he’s an elder, just like my father, so his power was underestimated by us all.” He sucked in a gasp of air. “Who would have thought that he was changed the exact same night my grandfather left him for dead? It goes to show that even we make mistakes like humans. I’m just sorry this mistake cost us our life. My father is the only one that has powers as strong as Dalton’s. Without him I don’t think we have a chance in hell.”
A strange wave of exhaustion consumed me. “Hey, Sully?” His glassed over eyes peeled open. “I don’t feel so good.”
“I know, sweetie…neither do I.”
CHAPTER FIVE
God must have been listening in on our pleas for help, and had found some sort of mercy left for us; for Dalton's fingers around Davin’s neck loosened, and his attention was directed solely on Eli who stood in front of him now, his posture stiff as a board without an ounce of fear moving through his hard angry expression.
His crystal hazel eyes were a few shades darker than I’d ever seen them before, but they still looked as gentle as ever. Yet I knew very well not to be deceived because behind those beautiful eyes was also a man that had centuries of deaths under his belt and was capable of slaughtering many men with barely a snap of his fingers. He’d done his fair share of killing throughout the past hundreds of years.
His fangs hung over his bottom lip, signaling he was prepared to kill once again. Dalton looked at him in disbelief, that the man he had a vendetta against for centuries was finally standing in front of him, ready for a one on one war. The man he had come to Hanover in search of.
“You shall take your hands off my boy now, before I rip you limb from limb, Dalton.”
“Eli?” His hands released completely from Davin’s throat as he sprung to his feet, ready to square off for the first time with Eli. Eli didn’t waste any time at all. Without warning, he charged first to start the fight, catching Dalton off guard. He assaulted Dalton's already beaten face with multiple powerful punches over and over again, before he had time to shield himself from his mighty swings. Dalton had undeniably met his match tonight.
Both men were fighting the way professional boxers would in the ring, but with a deadly force that would have killed any normal man instantly. No weapons were here to assist them, only their bare hands and teeth.
Punch after punch, bite after bite they were going to fight until the death of one of them. The two separated for a brief second, then Dalton crouched down, barreling full force towards Eli; but with his godlike speed abilities, Eli blocked Dalton's attempt of attack with a hard kick into his stomach, sending him flying into another gravestone. He didn’t shake this impact off as fast as the other ones, showing he had weakened a little.
My attention on their fight was interrupted when Xander’s body went into his familiar convulsions next to me. His skin bubbled, and his limbs popped, but he didn’t seem to be shifting like before. He was holding his fists in tight balls against his sides, squeezing them tighter and tighter, drawing blood from the palms of his hands where his claws that hadn’t retracted were digging in deeper with each squeeze. Sweat rolled down his forehead while he struggled with fighting the change that was trying to take place.
I heard a different voice inside my head that wasn’t intended for me. “I can’t fend him off much longer.
“Kill her now.”
“I can’t.”
“You don’t have a choice. You will do it now, or I will kill you too.”
Dalton and Xander’s short conversation ended as quickly as it came. Xander shakily got to his feet.
Dalton hadn’t lost full control of him; at least not yet.
He stood over me with his empty black eyes looking straight into mine. Where was the man I once knew, and had at one point started to love? Not anything near the kind of love I felt for Davin, but there was something developing between us at one time long before I moved here, or even knew that Davin existed. If I’d never come here, we probably would’ve been together.
All of our many happy memories flooded my thoughts, like a movie reel that was brought on completely unprovoked by me. Someone was placing them there for me to see in a series of flashbacks from the many times we had spent together for the past four years. Xander, Kat, and me were the three amigos of Highlands Ranch, something we would never ever be again. Was this something that happened before you die, where your life flashes before your eyes?
Tears started to stream down his cheeks. He could see everything I could. My face was already moist and sticky from my own tears that were falling. Xander held his hand closed over something he was clutching tightly in his grasp. When he turned away from me the object gleamed from the moonlight that reflected off of it for a split second.
“I have to do this Adelay. I have always loved you so much. Remember me for what I was not for what I have become.”
“No, Xander!”
It was already too late. He turned back towards me with the dagger pushed against his throat and ran it across his neck, spilling blood all over the beautiful white snow. A scream split the night air, echoing through the graveyard. Once it went silent again, I realized it was my horrified cry. Although it used every last ounce of energy I possibly had left in me, I amazingly was able to drag myself to where his body slumped to the ground and collapsed next to my best friend, who had turned back into his complete human form now that he was dead.
The Xander I knew.
I draped my arm across his chest. His body was still blazing hot against me. “I’m so sorry, Xander! So, so sorry. . .!” I closed my eyes sobbing into his side. I heard Eli’s voice close by.
“How can you have so much hatred toward your own blood? I understand the animosity toward me because of my deep connection with Samuel. But, shouldn’t you be focusing your revenge on where this originally all began? This fight should have been with Samuel.”
They were both panting, standing a few feet away from each other but still in a stance preparing to go toe to toe again. Their battle wasn’t finished yet.
“These boys are products of your infidelity, but that is your demon not theirs. Our family has been built out of love no matter what lineage we stem from or creatures we have become and I’m sorry, but I can’t let you break this family apart. Adelay is part of us now too, loved as though she is my own child; and anyone who hurts any of my children will pay with their life. You may have your centuries of stolen curses giving you power, but I have something more that you will never have.”
“And what might that be, Eli?”
A women’s arm closed in around his neck, impaling the metal dagger that had been stuck in the ground from Xander’s suicide straight into his bony chest. Fiery red hair blew loosely in the wind behind Dalton.
“True unconditional love.”
Without hesitation Eli moved in the second Katerina let go of Dalton, dropping him to his knees, and ripped the flesh from the side of his neck with his fangs. He fell backwards like a sack of potatoes, clutching at his throat and gasping for air. Unnaturally thick black blood spewed out of the huge tear in his neck. His eyes widened in horror as the black ghostly entities that had taken up residency in his body started surfacing again.
Each one that released appeared to be ripping itself out from underneath his bubbling skin because more dark blood squirted out of every torn opening they exited from, leaving him screaming in agony. They swirled above him, howling their ear deafening wails and making the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end.
A demonic voice suspired from deep inside of him. “This isn’t over, Ashford! She is almost dead!”
Davin rushed at me, cradling my body up against his solid chest. He was breathing so hard it made my head move up and down with each breath he took in and pushed out. My eyes rolled into the back of my head, and although I couldn’t see him anymore, I could still hear his beautiful voice beside me.
“Stay with me, Adelay! The curse is not fully transferred lest you die; don’t let him win! Please Adelay, open your eyes!” My body told me it had given up on this fight. “Please Adelay, don’t leave me.”
A woman’s voice suddenly spoke after him inside my head, leaving Davin’s voice a mumble in the distance. “Angels above as well as below protect my soul! Angels above as well as below protect my soul!” It was that horrible voice I had heard before, the voice that had brought all of this evil upon me that had just killed my friend and was slowly killing me.
Rosalinda Babic the gypsy woman. I hated this woman for what she had done to me, but my hate wasn’t physically bringing her to me; instead, she continued to speak to me inside my mind. “Angels above as well as below protect my soul! Say it, child!”
“You wicked woman, this is all your fault.” I silently spoke back to her, hoping she could hear me too.
“Say it, child. You still have the power inside you. He cannot take what is still yours, what is rightfully yours. If you let him win not only will you die, but also so will your vampires. That one over there is almost gone.”
I swallowed, trying to inhale a deep breath that only shot pains through my stomach again, but I had to try because I couldn’t let Sully die because of me. I squeezed my eyes tight trying to calm the pain.
“Angels above as well as below…” I paused to suck in another breath. My lungs throbbed and rattled from the fluid that filled them.
“Say it!”
“I can’t.”
“Yes, you can! Say it!”
“Protect my soul.”
“Again child, say it again.”
“Angels above as well as below protect my soul.” This time I was able to take a bigger breath without feeling like my stomach was ripping to pieces from the inside out. I said it once, twice more.
A blanket of warmth unexpectedly came upon me, quickly encasing my entire body with a supernatural fever that pumped through every vein inside of me. I felt like I had been lit on fire, but it wasn’t painful in the slightest, just comforting, soothing; powerful. I slowly opened my eyes to a soft white light that radiated off of every inch of my burning skin.
“You’re doing it, child. Say it again.”
“Angels above as well as below protect my soul!” I screamed it out loud, making Davin drop my head out of his hands.
He clearly couldn’t hear her inside my head and wasn’t expecting my sudden outburst when only minutes ago I was half dead in his arms. My body rose off of the ground by some invisible force that wasn’t in my control. The horrendous pain that I had felt just vanished and was replaced by a steady heat. All of my wounds went numb and then began to miraculously heal themselves, disappearing completely as though they were never there.
My breathing was normal again, my eyes could see clearly again, and I felt all of my weakness just fade away. Time seemed to stand still until my body had been completely rejuvenated. Once everything repaired itself inside me, whatever had me suspended in the air let go, and I fell back to the ground. Davin’s soft touch on my face opened my eyes. He held my head gently in his lap stroking my matted hair.
“Nooooooo, you little bitch! That curse is mine!” Dalton's red eyes were wild with fury, but there was no strength or fight left in him anymore. He was slowly dying.
His face had aged dramatically, his bloody stringy hair had turned completely white, and every bone in his face stuck out even more on his already gaunt features. Eli picked up the dagger; slashing his throat from one side to the other in the same fashion Xander had done to himself. Dalton’s face went blank as he fell forwards into the snow in a pool of his own blood. Finally, this hellish nightmare was over.
Eli ran over to where Katerina was hunched over Sully, holding his head in her milky white hands.
Rosalinda’s voice spoke to me again. “You can still save him child. If he tastes your blood, your vampire will be healed, but only if you offer it to him. You control your fates now. Not I or anyone else, only you.”
I sat up, pushing Davin out of the way so that I could get to Sully before it was too late.
“What are you doing, Adelay?” Davin was right behind me.
I fell to my knees next to Sully, knowing that I didn’t have much time left. “The gypsy said that my blood could heal him. I just have to give it to him willingly.”
Eli looked at Davin with a look of concern for what I was about to do, but also a plea for help hid silently behind his beautiful hazel eyes. His son was dying, and he was relying solely on me to bring him back.
He swallowed. “Adelay, there’s something you should know if you do this.” Eli hesitated to say more, then looked again at Davin who continued where he left off.
“If you give him your blood you will be able to save him, which I want more than anything; but you must know that in turn you and I will no longer be able to be together as one. You can only share your blood in this manner to the one you are destined to be with. You will be bound to Sully as his life mate.”
“What? How can that be?”
“It’s just the way it works. You’re sharing something sacred to save his life, so in turn he gets yours. I have no explanation or power over this.”
My head spun in a million different directions at what fate my sole decision would make for all of us. Everyone’s future rested in the palm of my hand. I loved Davin more than my heart could ever love another person, but if I didn’t do this then one more innocent life would be taken because of me. I’d lost Xander, and I would forever suffer with that burden; but I didn’t have to lose Sully.
He had proven he was far more than the arrogant, egotistical man I thought he was. He had laid down his life for me, and he loved me just as much as Davin did. Davin held my face to his, letting me feel his breath on my lips. I knew what he was feeling this very moment and it scared me to death.
“Adelay, you have awakened feelings in me that I never experienced before, but always dreamed I would. I love you more than I ever knew I could love someone, and our time together has made me the happiest man alive; but that is my brother dying right there, my flesh and
blood. And if I put my own selfishness and happiness before him, I couldn’t live with myself. I am willing to let the one thing go that makes my life one hundred percent complete and makes me want to continue on living; even if it means I will be miserable and alone for the rest of my life. If I can’t be with you as your lover and soul mate, then at least I will be able to still see your beautiful face every day with my brother and remember what we shared and what we will always feel for one another.”
Sully groaned quietly as his body started to quiver spastically. He was in a lot of pain and losing what little bit of life he had left. If I was going to do this, it had to be done now. It wasn’t about me and Davin anymore, or our happiness; it was about the man in front of me who was dying and was dying trying to protect me.
“I have to do it, Davin. I can’t let him die for our happiness. We couldn’t live with ourselves if we choose otherwise.”
He nodded, squeezing his eyes closed before kissing me softly and letting go of my face. “I know. I love you Adelay, and always will. You will always be in my thoughts, forever in my heart.”
“I love you, too, Davin. You have to know that will never change as long as my heart beats or there is a breath in my body. I’m doing this because I love you, and your family doesn’t ever need to be broken.”
“My family will not be, but my heart will be broken forever.”
With that I held my wrist over Sully’s mouth that was slightly parted with his head tilted back in Katerina’s arms. Tears moistened her porcelain face. She looked at Davin with so much compassion in her beautiful aqua eyes. At that moment, I knew she was feeling his sorrow right now; but she was also feeling her other son’s pain.
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