They scrambled upright just before I reached them but couldn’t move quickly enough to avoid my attack as I tackled them, hooking an arm around each of their necks.
We slammed into the ground, gouging a crater into the concrete beneath us. Fabian was pinned under me but Erik managed to roll free.
I slammed my fist down into Fabian’s face, feeling bone shatter beneath my knuckles. I hit him again and again, pulverising his flesh before Erik grabbed my arm as I swung it back once more.
He forced me upright, catching my other arm and jamming his knee into my spine as he tried to rip my shoulders from their sockets.
I ground my teeth, straining against him, my muscles bulging with effort as I fought to free myself before he could break anything.
My eyes fell on Fabian as he lay still in a pool of his own blood while his face began to reform. The hand on his remaining arm twitched then snapped into a fist as his undead body began to function again.
I ground my jaw, digging my heels into the floor and forced my weight against Erik so that we started to move backwards.
He cursed, pressing his knee into my back more firmly and grunting with effort as he pulled harder. Pain flared inside my right shoulder as something gave way.
I slammed him back against the wall of the building beneath the statue and bricks crumbled from it, raining down on us. His grip loosened but he didn’t release me.
Fabian got to his feet and snarled as he started running towards us, the damage to his face still mending as he moved. Erik’s grip tightened again as he fought to hold me in place so that his brother could finish me off.
I slammed my weight back again and the statue groaned as I loosened its foundations but still the parasite clung on.
Fabian leapt at me, throwing a fist into my face.
Callie started screaming and I couldn’t help but look her way. She clung to the cage bars, her eyes desperate as she watched the two demons take the upper hand. The pain in her gaze ripped a hole in my chest which was far more painful than any injury I was forced to endure.
Fabian drove his fist into my gut again and again as I struggled to try and rip free of Erik’s hold once more.
His knuckles collided with my ribs and I felt them crack.
“Fabian please!” Callie screamed desperately. “Stop! Please!”
He hesitated for a moment, her pain clearly affecting him because of their bond. He looked back at her, seeming unsure.
“For fuck’s sake, focus Fabian,” Erik growled.
“What if she can’t forgive me for doing this?” Fabian breathed, his eyes still on Callie and my anger grew as I ached to force his gaze away from her.
“She would never choose you either way, parasite,” I spat.
Fabian’s head snapped around to me again and his lip curled back in a feral snarl.
“She belongs with me,” he said. “The gods picked us for each other.”
“Well I don’t give a fuck what the gods want.” I shoved my weight back into Erik and used his hold on me to lift my feet from the ground. Before he could release me, I slammed both of my boots straight into Fabian’s chest and kicked him as hard as I could, launching him away from us.
He was thrown all the way to the river, crashing into the water and disappearing beneath the waves.
Erik snarled angrily and released his grip on my right arm before grabbing a fistful of my hair and yanking my head back so that he could lock his arm around my throat. He threw his weight onto my back as he caught his wrist in his other hand and tried to choke me.
I reached over my shoulder, clawing at him as I tried to rip him off of me as his grip tightened.
I spun around, trying to shake him loose as he clung to my back like a damn bloodsucking monkey.
A bellow of rage announced Julius’s return to the fight and a fierce smile lit my face as my brother finally recovered from his injuries.
Erik grunted with effort and reared back, trying to rip my head from my shoulders. I caught his arm and tore him from me, throwing him to the ground with an almighty crash.
He rolled over and jumped to his feet before I could close in on him again, baring his fangs as he glared at me.
Fabian leapt back out of the water but Julius was ready to intercept him. He held the vampire’s severed arm and swung it at him like a club.
Julius laughed and a dark smile grew on my face as I stalked forward, rotating my shoulder as my gifts began to heal the damage done by my enemy.
Erik snarled at me before turning his back and racing to his brother’s aid.
Fabian cursed as Julius continued to beat him with his own arm while laughing like a madman, keeping the vampire back with the vicious blows.
I chased after Erik but couldn’t match the monster’s speed and I bellowed a warning a moment before he could reach Julius. My brother looked up, spotting Erik as he raced at him and dropping the arm as he tried to defend himself from the collision.
They fell into the river with a tremendous splash which sent water flooding over the land, drenching me.
“Julius!” I bellowed as I sprinted to dive in after them.
Fabian leapt into my path before I could get there, his arm knitting itself back onto his body as he held it in place.
He bared his fangs at me and raced to cut me off.
We collided with the force of a hurricane and fell to the ground once more. He managed to get on top of me, throwing his forehead into the bridge of my nose, breaking it and sending pain racing through my skull.
His hands closed on my throat and he slammed my head back onto the ground again.
I smashed my fist into his face, cursing him as he fought to keep me from helping my brother.
My heart pounded as the seconds ticked by and still there was no sound of Julius returning to land. Fabian smiled through the blood pouring from his shattered cheek as I punched him repeatedly and he clung on through sheer determination, pinning me in place.
He knew Julius’s time was running out and my heart ached with fear for the last remaining member of my family.
I sank toward the riverbed, dragging Julius down with me as he tried to prise my hands from him. He pounded a fist into my cheek, but I didn't stop. I had the advantage under water. I didn't need to breathe. And Julius was already growing frantic as we dropped into the murky depths of the Hudson.
His nails clawed at my back as I locked my arm around his neck, forcing him to the muddy floor. As our feet hit the bottom, sediment rose around us in a growing cloud. Bubbles streamed from Julius's nose, sailing above us toward the faraway surface. He landed a kick to my gut, managing to throw me off. Before I could catch him, he started swimming upwards, powering toward safety.
My eyes locked on an old anchor on the seabed and I snatched up the rusted chain attached to it, swimming after him with all my might. When I gained on him, I wrapped the chain around his ankle. He jerked violently as the weight stopped him advancing.
I swam back a foot as he tried to swing a punch at me, missing me by inches.
Silence stretched around me, but a frenzied thump reached my ears. It took me a moment to realise it was Julius's heartbeat.
His eyes widened in panic as he fought to untie the chain, his movements growing jerky, keeping his fingers from following his commands. His heartbeat grew louder and louder. Faster and faster.
Montana's pained expression filled my head, reminding me of how she'd looked when she'd seen this slayer in pain. He mattered to her. And doing this was going to hurt her too.
Julius's body spasmed as he took in a lungful of water.
Guilt found me in the darkness, ripping at my heart, begging me to be better than this.
I ground my teeth, willing myself to let this man die. He'd hunted us all these years. He'd put my family through hell.
You caused his father's death, Idun whispered in my ear and I shuddered as warm fingers stroked my spine.
I clenched my fists, willing away the doubts trickli
ng into my body.
Julius fell deathly still and his heartbeat slowed to a dull thud, barely perceptible even to my heightened hearing.
Let this happen. Let him die, Andvari encouraged and I glimpsed the whites of his eyes in the muddy water before he drifted away again.
Anger burned through my veins. The gods were playing with us all. We were just pawns in their twisted games. What were we fighting over that hadn't been caused by them?
I stared at Julius as he floated like driftwood, moving with the pull of the tide. He was done for.
And together, Fabian and I would be able to end Magnar.
I looked toward the surface and a decision formed in my mind, not one of the gods, but one of my own.
Fuck!
I yanked the chain free from Julius's ankle, dragging him up to the surface as fast as I could, cursing the gods with every powerful kick of my legs. The waves were choppy up above and Julius was a dead weight in my arms. It might already have been too late. His face was ghostly pale and his lips were turning blue. We'd floated far out into the river and I didn't think the others could see us.
Good, because this never fucking happened.
I spied Magnar battling with Fabian before the statue. The girls were crying out to them but I couldn't tell what they were saying as thunder boomed like a gunshot overhead, swallowing all other sounds.
I swam for shore, circling out of sight into the thick shadow of the statue which was leaning over the water. One more hit and the whole structure could go over.
I threw Julius from the river and his back impacted with the rocky shore. He nearly coughed his lungs up as he woke and relief swept into me.
I dove under the water before he saw me, swimming in the direction of the others.
You're an idiot. You had him and you let him go!
I shook off the thoughts, determined I'd made the right choice.
My fight isn't with him. Or with Magnar. It's with the fucking gods.
“You’re alone now, slayer,” Fabian hissed between gritted teeth as I fought to buck him off of me.
Julius had been beneath the waves for an eternity. Or maybe it was only moments. Rage and grief flooded me in equal measures as I began to lose hope.
“I’m going to tear your guts from your body and force them down your foul throat,” I snarled.
Fabian’s fist slammed into my side and pain flared through me as a harsh crack sounded and my ribs broke. I coughed, bringing up blood and he laughed.
He punched me in the same spot again, sending stars swimming across my vision.
I caught his fist as he aimed for the same place a third time, squeezing as hard as I could until I felt his fingers shattering.
Fabian tried to rip his arm from my grip but I gritted my teeth, clinging on as I twisted my hand sharply, feeling his wrist snap.
He jerked back, rolling off of me and I released him as I tried to follow. The pain in my side flared angrily and I coughed up more blood as I made it to my hands and knees. He must have punctured my lung and I cursed him as I struggled to draw a breath. The injury would heal but not quickly and I didn’t have time to spare. Julius needed me.
I tried to push myself to my feet and Fabian’s boot landed in my side, sending me flying through the air.
I crashed into something and a metallic gong rang out as I slammed to the floor.
Someone was screaming but I was still struggling to breathe and for a moment I couldn’t open my eyes. Darkness loomed as I started to lose consciousness and more blood pooled from my mouth. I couldn’t shake it off. I couldn’t rouse my muscles into action. I needed oxygen but each breath was a torrent of pain and I couldn’t draw enough in.
Soft hands touched my arm, shaking me with a desperate urgency as I struggled to remember where I was.
“Get up, you have to get up!” her voice was pleading and her pain set something stirring in my chest but I couldn’t quite remember what.
“Magnar,” she begged, forcing her tongue to bend to her own will instead of Idun’s. The sound of my name on her lips drew me back to her. She was fighting for me as I should have been fighting for her.
I groaned as I forced a breath into my lungs and agony blossomed in my chest. But it paled into insignificance as I opened my eyes and found her looking down at me through the bars of the cage. She was so beautiful. This perfect thing which had been so damaged by this world. I wanted to take her pain from her and make it my own. If I could make her happy for even a moment then I knew my life would have been well spent.
I managed to reach between the bars and my fingers brushed along her cheek for a fleeting moment, the moisture from her tears coating my skin.
Callie’s eyes turned from me and she looked up fearfully as footsteps approached. She reached out as far as she could, spreading her arms across me as if she could protect me from what we both knew was coming. My body was failing me. It wouldn’t heal fast enough and I could hardly breathe.
“Please,” she begged and tears streamed down her face. “Please- I’ll do anything you want. I’ll leave with you. I’ll be yours; you can have me and I’ll stay with you for as long as you want me. But just let him live.”
Fabian stepped over me, nudging my injured side with the toe of his boot, drawing a hiss of pain from my lips. I could feel my gifts flowing through my body, fighting to repair the damage to my ribs but it was too slow and I still couldn’t draw enough air into my lungs.
“You would leave with me?” he asked her and I could hear how desperately he wanted her to do just that. But I would rather die than seal her to that fate. I knew she wasn’t bluffing, she would give herself to him to save me. But I wouldn’t let her do it. I would die first. If I was dead she wouldn’t have to go with him and I knew she’d fight to escape, she would have a chance to be free.
“No,” I growled, ignoring the pain it caused me to speak. “If you take her, I’ll never stop coming for you.”
Fabian snarled, placing his boot on my chest and pressing down so that agony raced through my body. Callie screamed but I blacked out for a moment and when I came back to myself he’d released me.
Callie’s touch had left me too and she was standing within the cage, holding Fabian’s arm so tightly that her knuckles had turned white.
“You swear you’ll be mine?” Fabian demanded, staring into her eyes like he was searching for a lie.
Callie’s eyes fell to me and a desperate sob broke from her chest. “Yes,” she breathed. “Just let him live.”
Fabian’s eyes narrowed as he followed her gaze and I could see jealousy flaring in his expression. No matter where he took her, he could tell she’d always be with me in her heart.
I wouldn’t let her condemn herself to a fate at his side just to protect my miserable existence.
“She’ll never stop loving me while I live,” I growled and I could see the truth of my words hitting him like a physical blow.
He knew I was right. And he knew what he had to do.
My eyes slid to Callie as he pulled his arm out of her grasp and a desperate sob broke from her lips. She was all I’d ever dreamed of. If I had to give my life to protect her then I’d do it willingly. I only wished it wouldn’t hurt her like I could see it would.
Fabian grabbed my arm and hurled me away from the cage. I hit the ground hard, rolling over several times and coughing up more blood. I tried to force my body to do something, anything, but I could barely push myself up onto my knees.
My enemy reached me in a blur of motion and kicked me back down so hard that the concrete split beneath me. He leapt on top of me with a snarl of anger.
Fabian wrapped his fingers around my throat and started to squeeze as he leant closer to me.
“When you’re dead, I’ll take my wife back to my bed and show her what it’s like to be with a real man,” he growled as I fought to prise his hands from me. “I’ll make sure she forgets all about you and then I’ll give her the gift of immortality. She will stand by m
y side for the rest of time while you fade from memory as you should have done a thousand years ago.”
His words lit fear in my soul and I desperately tried to fight him off but my strength was leaving me.
Darkness started to curtain my vision as my damaged lung burned with pain from the ribs which pierced it. Fabian’s fingers gripped me tightly, cutting off what little oxygen I could find.
My arms grew slack and her screams began to fade away. I didn’t want to leave her. But if I had to die to keep her safe then my death would mean more than I’d ever hoped it could.
With me gone she wouldn’t have to go with him. She could fight. She could have a chance at the freedom this life had denied her.
My only regret was that I wouldn’t be there to share that freedom with her.
The life we could have had slipped away like the sun setting into an eternal night. Any chance of happiness, of having our own family and living out our days together were suddenly, unalterably over.
My cause had always been the driving force of my existence. I’d let my thirst for revenge guide every move I’d made. But now I realised there had been so much more to life. And it was too late to grasp it. I'd chosen vengeance over my human desires. And that path had stolen everything from me: my family, my soulmate and ultimately...the final desperate beat of my heart.
I strode from the river and water poured from my body in a stream. I spotted Fabian on the ground holding Magnar down, his fangs buried in his throat. The slayer looked weak, close to death. He was trying to fight, but it was clear something serious was wrong with him.
“Stop please stop!” Callie screamed and Montana held onto her with silent tears coursing down her cheeks.
My newfound resolve had taken root inside me. I had to end this. I had to convince them all of who our true enemies were.
Montana called my name as I sprinted toward Fabian, her tone laced with relief. I couldn't spare her another glance, though my heart burned in my chest, tempting me her way.
I came to a standstill behind my brother and grabbed his shoulder, pulling him off of Magnar.
Age of Vampires- The Complete Series Page 100
