“It is possible, and I’m here to kill you. With the Sea Witch as my witness, you will face your reckoning,” Solomon vowed, lunging forward.
We were supposed to do everything possible not to engage Prime, or his vampires, until we had Jameson back on our ship. Solomon was letting his feelings guide his actions, and it was going to get us all killed.
I wouldn’t let that happen.
Closing my eyes for a brief moment, I called on the power within me, ready to use it in order to do what needed to be done to save our people.
When I opened my eyes again, Evander had moved to intervene with Solomon and Prime, but the darkness inside me lashed out at him, using our connection to halt his movements. He paused in the shadows, taking a step back and turning toward me. No one noticed that I had intervened, because as soon as Solomon lunged for Prime, the other vampires surged forward as well, and the battle began.
With Evander under control, I made my way toward Jameson, ducking and dodging the riot around me. Using my enhanced speed, I rushed around Jameson’s guard—who happened to be one of the men present when I had been attacked in the galley during my time here. I had planned on incapacitating the pirate, but when I realized who he was, my inner vampire had other plans.
Keeping a tight grasp on the hunter’s dagger, I plunged it hilt-deep into his heart. I hadn’t known his name, but he was vile enough to sit by while someone tried to harm me. He deserved to die, and I had no regrets—maybe later when the adrenaline ceased, but I didn’t have time to think about that.
Before the guard fully turned to ash, I yanked the dagger out, and turned to defend myself against a second opponent I sensed drawing nearer behind me. I slashed out with the blade, but he reacted faster than the first one and danced back away from my jab. Stalking forward, I continued to embrace my vampire side to aid me in the fight. My eyes sharpened, and I saw the micro-flinch as the vampire made his move, but Jameson’s groan distracted me, and the pirate sank his claws into me.
Hissing in pain, I ripped my arm from his grasp, pressing my other hand to the open wound as I waited for it to close with my accelerated healing. As much as I wanted to make sure Jameson was safe, I couldn’t let him be a distraction until there weren’t so many vampires trying to kill us.
Backing up to Jameson, I whispered an apology and moved him against the wall, out of the way. When I brought my full attention back to the pirate, he was no longer alone. I still had the hood covering most of my face and didn’t think anyone had figured out who I was yet, but I needed to be careful. Bracing myself, I bent my knees and pounced. There was no time to waste, and I needed to stay on the offensive if I had any chance of surviving.
The dagger sank into the second guard as I landed exactly where I had intended, the little bit of Solomon’s training having done its job, but I wasn’t prepared for the second vampire to attack me from behind.
My body landed harshly on the ground face-first, and my attacker pinned me down before I could react. He was twice the size of me, and I was more than a little worried I had gotten myself into a bad situation. My eyes suddenly met Evander’s, who still stood out of the way of the fight and under my compulsion.
“Evander, help me.” The command was evident in my voice, and he moved without hesitation.
Air whirled around me, and the thud of my attacker being thrown against the wall resounded much too close to Jameson. Moving with precision, I didn’t hesitate to finish him off before he could harm anyone else. The magic from the dagger burned through the vampire within seconds.
Free from attackers for the moment, I quickly checked on my team. Solomon was still standing against Prime. They seemed to be arguing more than fighting, which was fine with me. I wanted a chance to finish Prime myself. Two of our crew were down, one a vampire who I knew would heal on his own, but the other was one of Ruth’s hunters. Robert’s eyes stared back at me, but there was no life left in them.
My heart constricted, and I turned away, unable to handle the pain when I needed to remain on the offense. Moving with the intention to return to Jameson’s side, I came face-to-face with Evander as he blocked my path. His normally-green eyes were red, and his gaze pierced the blackness that my cloak provided. His jaw clenched, and indecision flitted across his face. Though I had freed him from his obligation to Prime, it seemed he was still hesitant to completely abandon him.
“I didn’t think you’d be here,” he stated, shifting his weight back and forth.
“You thought I would stay away, aboard our ship, safe, when Jameson was here?” My voice was filled with ice so cold that it nearly made me shiver. I tightened the hold on my vampire side, not realizing how out of hand I had let it get when I was fighting for my life.
“I didn’t realize the lengths you would go to get him back,” Evander replied, showing his emotions with the statement. Somehow, he’d begun to care and was worried that I was there—concerned for my safety—but what he didn’t know was that I was no longer afraid. If I was killed, I would come back to life, and I would keep coming back until I had rid the world of the vampires that preyed on the innocent and followed the orders of a madman.
“I’d do anything,” I hissed, walking toward him with every intention of killing him as my hold on the darkness weakened.
“Even sacrifice your life?”
I laughed, the sound foreign to my ears but mine nonetheless. “As you have witnessed, I can be killed, but I’ll keep returning from the dead. You may be immortal, but I can quickly end that with the blade in my hand. If you kill me, just know that I’ll be back.”
His eyes widened and, suddenly, turned back to their natural green color. For the first time since I had met him, he appeared vulnerable and open. We stared at each other for several moments, and something passed between us. Something we had been close to sharing after all of the breakfasts and talks when I was imprisoned on the ship.
Evander didn’t want to be there any more than I did. He had been turned by Prime, and he had done what needed to be done in order to survive in the vampire world. He had manners, was kind, and that was the real him—the part of him that still had humanity—one he had to hide away from everyone.
He had been lost until I gave him a reason to hope, and my compulsion had finally given him that.
I lowered my dagger, reeling from all that had been revealed in those silent moments, when we had connected even after I compelled him. I decided that Evander wasn’t bad. He was just a fighter, trying to find the best way to survive, like we all were. I had read him all wrong before, and all need to kill him fled from my body.
The darkness pulled back as empathy for him rose to the surface. How many other vampires felt the same way? There could be many more who were lost, adrift in a dark sea of hunger, losing a little bit more of themselves as time passed.
There hadn’t been any hope for them before, and I swallowed as a thought occurred to me.
I could be their hope.
How many times had others attempted to turn me, and it never worked? I had held on to my humanity as my vampire magic brought me back to life.
“You need to kill Prime,” Evander whispered as he took a step closer to me, “or figure out a way to release the others like you did me. Not all of them will choose the right path, but we can figure that out later. I have finally learned what Prime had planned for you. You need to end him before he finds out you are alive and gets his hands on you again.”
My grip tightened on the dagger, the hilt digging into my palm as his words hit me harder than any physical blow. Solomon’s statement about what the Sea Witch had seen also surfaced, and I knew I had to act. Not for Jameson or because Evander told me to, but for myself. I would not become whatever evil Prime wanted from me. I would not let the vampires around me suffer because of his greed any longer. He had taken away their choices, their free will, and their humanity—all in exchange for what? Prime had nothing to show for all the havoc he had caused.
Taking a step towa
rd Prime, I watched while he and Solomon continued to battle, and doubt began filling my mind. The darkness within me was no longer lifting me up but tearing me down, whispering thoughts of failure into my head.
I shook my head at Evander. “I can’t do this. I need to take Jameson, and we need to go.”
“What do you mean? Didn’t you come here for this? You can’t just walk away.”
Taking another step back, I bumped into Jameson. Glancing down at him, I noticed he was awake, and I bent closer.
“Lavinia,” Jameson whispered, and my heart stilled. The sound of my name on his lips eased everything inside me. “Whatever he’s talking about, you need to do it. I’ve known from the very beginning that you could do anything. You are strong and fierce. If anyone can do it, it’s you.”
“He wants me to kill Prime, but I need to get you out of here first. That’s the most important thing to me.”
He used the last of his strength to pull me closer and press his lips to mine. “I’ll be fine. Go do what you were made to do. This is your purpose.” His hand rested over my heart. “You just have to believe in yourself.”
I sucked in a breath as the tightly-coiled rope that was wrapped around my heart loosened. For the first time since he had disappeared, I could breathe again. In that moment, I knew there was nothing more powerful than the bond between Jameson and me. Our connection had been created by our refusal to give up our humanity. We still felt, laughed, and cared about others. But most importantly, we loved. That was a bond that could never be broken.
“I do believe, but I still can’t leave you here defenseless,” I whispered as renewed strength filled me.
Evander cleared his throat from behind us. “I can keep him safe.” He bent down and glanced between the two of us, waiting for one of us to agree. The changes in Evander were clearly seen, but I wasn’t sure I trusted him with the most important person in my life. Apparently, Jameson did.
“Go,” Jameson urged. “Evander knows you’ll kill him if anything happens to me, and he appears to want to live. Prime doesn’t know you live. The advantage is yours. Go.”
My heart nearly broke at the thought of leaving him injured, but I knew he was right, and we would have a reunion later.
“I love you,” I whispered quietly.
“I know,” he answered, and a small smile spread across his marred face.
I searched for his blue eyes for another moment before I turned away, unable to see them through his injuries. The fight was still going, but it had slowed as more people became injured or worse. I noticed several piles of ash littering the deck, and my heart eased a bit, knowing none of the ashes belonged to my crew.
The only thing that could turn a vampire to ash was a hunter’s dagger. Solomon must have been able to stab vampires as he engaged Prime. My gaze searched for them urgently and finally spotted both men, but it wasn’t without difficulty. They were moving so fast that it was nearly impossible to make out who was who.
The rage returned, and the darkness uncoiled inside me, but this time I didn’t fear it, and it wasn’t tearing me down. This time, I understood how I needed to use it and what its purpose truly was.
I was Prime’s reckoning.
Adjusting my grip on the dagger, I surged into the fray. As vampires stepped into my path, I either tossed them aside or stabbed them without a second thought. I avoided the ones with scents that I recognized, because they were on my side, fighting with everything they had.
Spinning while pulling the dagger from the chest of a pirate, I lunged into the blurs that were Solomon and Prime. I pushed them away from each other, and they both paused, turning to see who had dared to interrupt their fight. Solomon’s dagger pulsed with a light brighter than I had seen before, and Prime’s pain-inducing sword was grasped in his hand.
I flung my hood off and watched with satisfaction as Prime’s eyes grew wide again in recognition.
“I thought…” Prime couldn’t find the words to finish his sentence, and it gave me pause. I knew in some sick way that he cared for me, but I needed to ignore that knowledge and focus on all the people he had hurt, including my mother.
Before he could recover, I shook off the thoughts and rushed him, knocking his sword aside while plunging my dagger deep into his chest without regret. We stared into each other’s eyes, and it took every ounce of my strength to hold his stare, but I had to see with my own eyes the moment he was no longer a threat. When he could no longer hurt the people I cared about, my family. I also wanted him to know who had killed him.
After several moments of silent staring, he still hadn’t turned to ash. Panic began to rise, and I withdrew the dagger, shoving it into his chest again. He gasped, and his breaths gurgled in his throat, but his body remained. Horrified that he hadn’t turned to dust, I backed away from him as he fell to the ground on his side, blood spilling from the wounds I had inflicted.
“I don’t understand.” I spoke to no one in particular, glancing between the dagger in my hand and Prime, wondering why it hadn’t worked.
“Prime is the first vampire, Lavinia. Unfortunately, today we learned that it’s going to take more than a thrust from a hunter’s dagger to kill him,” Solomon answered from behind me.
“But… I thought,” I began, then trailed off, looking at Prime’s crumpled form on the deck. A crimson puddle formed around him as his red eyes watched me while he went through the process of dying and coming back, just like I had done so many times.
“I thought the same, but my dagger was also ineffective,” Solomon confirmed, grasping my arm and pulling me away from him. “We must go.”
Prime started to wake and tried to rise, but his hand slipped in the puddle of his own blood. I cried out in horror when he tried again, his red eyes never leaving my face. Bile rose in my throat as I leaned on Solomon. My adrenaline had diminished, and the fight was catching up with me.
When Solomon drew me away from Prime, we turned to find the fighting had ceased on deck when Prime fell. Lots of red eyes were on us, and I worried the battle may have only just begun.
Evander stepped forward, leaving Jameson’s side to address the vampires. “You have a choice to make today. You can walk away from Prime and have your freedom back, or you can continue to fight with this monster. Either way, we are walking off this ship, and there will be no more lives lost today.”
Evander may have switched sides, but it appeared Prime’s crew still respected his authority. As we moved across the deck to get Jameson, not one of them bothered us. Murmurs ran through the crowd as pirates made their choice of whose side to join.
Grasping Jameson’s arms, Solomon pulled him to stand. I moved toward the edge, and we all walked the plank, which was once again poised between the ships. Once we were safely on the other side, I looked over my shoulder one last time to find several men from Prime’s crew hastily crossing to our vessel, before it was too late.
My eyes met those of Prime, and the hatred and pain in them reached me.
I had chosen a side, and it wasn’t his.
He would stop at nothing to snuff out the threat I now was to him. I was certain. A sinister smile spread across his face, and I took it as a promise that, one day soon, he would find me, and I might regret trying to kill him.
Swallowing, I straightened my shoulders, letting my answer shine through my own red eyes.
I was ready, and I’d be waiting.
Chapter 17
Everyone boarded the ship, including several vampires who were once a part of Prime’s crew. Prime would need time to recover from my blows. His former men joined the others as we weighed anchor and set sail without hesitation. Our team and the vampires that had chosen to come with us all worked together, and we were soon leaving Prime’s ship far behind us.
I was reeling from everything that happened, but I pushed it all aside as I led Evander and Jameson to the room we used as an infirmary. Evander gently helped Jameson onto the bed, then took a step back, while I grabbed sever
al canteens filled with animal blood that I had stashed in there. Settling behind Jameson, I propped him up as best I could against my chest and pressed the edge of the container to his lips. He tilted his head back and drank deeply while I tried to ignore Evander’s watchful eyes.
“What is he drinking?” he asked after Jameson emptied the first canteen.
“Goat blood. He has never had human blood.”
“Prime beat him badly when he refused the human blood. He could have caved, but he didn’t.”
Jameson took the canteen from my hands and lowered it. “That’s because I knew I could survive the beating, and I wasn’t willing to lose my soul just to avoid the bruises.”
Evander glanced between the two of us, perplexed. “You’re both an anomaly. You fight so hard to live differently, and it only serves to place a target on your back. Why?”
My heart hurt for Evander. He didn’t know love, and that was more important than anything Prime could be fighting to achieve.
“Why not?” Jameson countered. “Doing the right thing is not always the easiest path, but it remains the best path for us.”
Evander didn’t respond, and I hoped he was ready to answer some of our questions.
“You mentioned knowing what Prime wanted with me. If you’re truly on our side now, then I’m sure you’d like to share that information with us.” I met his gaze and considered forcing him to tell us, but using that kind of power was more than I thought necessary for the situation. Furthermore, I finally had the swirling darkness within me caged up again, and I didn’t want to risk losing control.
“Are you sure you want to do this now? Shouldn’t we wait until Jameson is healed?”
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