“I’m glad you find this amusing.” Lucian chuckled, tilting his head to the side. “What are you thinking about?”

My smile broadened. “Killing you.”

A deep roar of laughter echoed around us. Let’s see how funny they found it when we killed every last one of them. The guardian angels closed in on the field, surrounding it from every angle.

“Cute,” Lucian said, as he glanced around. “I’m almost worried.”

Lucian may have loads of vampires, but we had almost double that in guardian angels.

Mr. Aleksandrov held me tightly by the elbow.

“You forget that I have leverage.” He pushed Mila in front of him and then kicked her to her knees. The ground began to shake. An earthquake was happening. I glanced around as everyone wobbled, trying to keep their balance. Momentarily, Lucian lost his smug façade. The earthquake stopped. I tried to jump forward, but Mr. Aleksandrov’s grip was too tight.

“Let me go!” I shouted, but he didn’t. “That’s your niece!”

He ignored me. I thrashed against his grasp—god, he was strong for an old man, but then again, he wasn’t an old man. Fighting him was futile and I was forced to watch Mila whimper in fear and pain while she struggled to lift herself from the ground.

“You’re a strong goddess,” Lucian muttered as he crouched down beside her. “I could use you.”

“Leave her alone!” I growled.

Lucian straightened up and slicked back his hair. That movement alone made me want to tear his head from his body.

“Let’s get down to business, then, shall we?” He took a few steps closer. “I come bearing gifts.”

Behind Lucian four vampires led out the taken guardian angels. There were eight in total. I scanned the faces of seven unknown guardians until my eyes met Eli’s. He looked in perfect condition save for the dirty uniform, a cut on his bottom lip, and a scrape on his arm.

“I want to play a game,” Lucian announced, addressing the whole crowd. “I want to prove something to you all right now.”

He pulled hard on Mila’s hair, forcing her to her feet. He nudged her forward and she took a few steps.

“Keep walking,” he said to her. She took more steps, getting closer and closer to us. Mr. Aleksandrov let go of my arm and I got ready to run to her.

“Stop!” Lucian demanded when Mila got halfway between us.

She stopped and stared at me, wide-eyed. I looked past her and focused on Lucian. He was smiling smugly at me, causing a nauseous feeling to course through me. Surrounding us, the guardians grasped their silver and poised for attack. Lucian extended his long, pointy finger and gestured for me to come forward. I didn’t budge.

“Don’t worry,” Lucian chuckled. “I’m not going to hurt you. Not yet, anyway.”

I still didn’t move. I wanted to. I wanted to sprint over to Mila and protect her, but if I did, that meant I’d be playing into Lucian’s hands and that was the last thing I wanted. In a rage, Lucian bared his fangs and tore the throat from a guardian angel to his left, keeping his eyes locked onto mine. The vampires chuckled while we gasped and forced ourselves to stay rooted in position. No one wanted to, but it was our order. As the unknown guardian fell at his feet, Lucian moved on to the next one. Blood dripped from his lips and down his chin. The next guardian angel was a tall, red-haired female. She watched me, her expression petrified. Before he bit into her neck, he paused and glanced up at me. “Well?”

Slowly, I moved forward and Mr. Aleksandrov didn’t stop me this time. Cautiously, I made it over to Mila. Beside me, she whimpered as she tried to fight down the sobs that forced their way up her throat. Lucian let go of the pretty guardian and gestured for me to move ten yards to the left. I did as he said. Next, he grasped Eli by the shoulder and nudged him forward. Eli did as he was told, moving quickly in between Mila and I. I frowned, feeling stupid because I couldn’t work it out… but then, Lucian ordered two vampires to the front of the pack and I realized what he was doing. Lucian was making Eli choose between me and Mila, and as the vampires ran at us, Eli did the unthinkable. He chose to save me.

FINAL SHOWDOWN

“No!” I screamed at him, tears burning my eyes. Eli intercepted my vampire and tore the head from its body. I stared at him, horrified by his decision. He told me he wouldn’t save me and so I didn’t expected him to.

A squeal made me snap my head toward Mila. She was alive. Before her stood Hunter and a pile of dust. He’d staked the vampire, somehow. Relief flooded me. Grinding against that relief was my anger at Eli. Mila could have been killed. He was her guardian angel, not mine. Eli remained in front of me, not saying a word. My skin burned under his gaze. I’d missed him and he’d missed me, the look in his eyes alone told me that.

“Well, well, well.” Lucian clapped. “Isn’t this interesting?”

Eli and I glanced around at the surrounding guardians that had witnessed Eli choosing me over Mila and Hunter killing one of his own.

“Oh boy,” I uttered under my breath.

We were going to be in so much trouble once this was all over.

Lucian narrowed his eyes on Mr. Aleksandrov. “This is what happens when guardian angels fall for those they are meant to protect. If it wasn’t for Hunter, your niece would be dead. Whose child will it be next time? Hmm?”

My brow furrowed. Was this all a show to get Mr. Aleksandrov, the higher power, to keep the relationship laws intact?

Lucian focused on Hunter. “I was wondering when you’d betray me. However, I’m surprised you’ve lasted this long.” Lucian ran his fingers through his hair. “Now!” he boomed, setting his sights on me. “Let’s get down to business. I’ve come to claim what’s rightfully mine.”

A growl rumbled in my chest. I was already mad, so referring to me as some kind of business deal got close to tipping me over the edge. Lucian turned to his minions, placed his hands on his hips and sighed. “Kill them all and bring me the Heelian.”

A loud roar broke out from the vampire crowd as they used their super speed to zip over to the surrounding guardians. Gunshots went off. I pulled the stake from my back pocket and staked a tall vampire as she lunged at me. Eli was beside me, fending of three ravenous vampires. As they got closer, I realized the vampires were starving and a lot of them were new—they had translucent skin, making it easy to see the thick veins that pulsed underneath. They weren’t worried about me—they were in a frenzy, driven by the overwhelming scent of the guardian angels.

Smoke entered my nostrils—Mr. Aleksandrov’s house was on fire and the vampires began tearing it apart. I realized Mr Aleksandrov and Mila were gone. I didn’t know if it was a good thing or a bad thing, but I did know Mila was the only edible goddess around for miles and that was not a good thing. Using my fire element, I pulled fire from the house and burned the vampires attacking Eli. We stood side by side as more vampires ran at us.

“You promised you wouldn’t do anything stupid,” he growled as he jammed his stake through the heart of a giant blond vampire.

“I haven’t,” I replied in a huff. Eli grabbed my wrist and pulled me close to him, staking the vampire to my right. “Not yet, anyway.”

He pushed me out to the right, keeping a hold of my wrist as he staked a vampire to my left. From another point of view, this probably looked like we were dancing some form of aggressive, murderous tango. There was a break in the wave of vampires and Eli brought me close to him once again.

“Now isn’t the time for a lect—” He cut my words off by pressing his full lips against mine. We broke apart and he dove into the thick of battle. I stood there staring after him, dumbstruck like an idiot. I wanted to worry about him, but I couldn’t. I needed to stay alive, inject Hunter with the serum, and kill Lucian—all in a day’s work.

I took a step toward the fight when something hard and fast slammed into my side. I dropped my stake as I hit the ground. I tried to spring to my feet, but the cold body had me pinned to the ground. My eyes were squeezed shut and slowly I opened them. Staring down at me were two bottomless, black eyes and blood dripping fangs. That’s all I saw, my fear wouldn’t let me see anything else. Pain seared over my scalp as he pulled my hair and yanked my neck to the side, exposing my throat. I thrashed underneath him, but he was too strong. A scream vibrated through me and caused my ears to ring… but none of that compared to the pain of his teeth sinking deep into my flesh. My scream turned into a gasp and my body started shaking—I was losing too much blood. I grew weaker and weaker as my life force drained from me. Through long tunnels, I could see him evaporate into a pile of dust on top of me. The pain was gone, replaced by a sickening nausea and a light head. I watched the cloud-filled sky as I felt cold arms scooped me up and the noise of the battle faded into the background. The moon was blocked by the canopy of the forest. I couldn’t see the vampire that had taken me. Around me, sticks cracked and dry leaves crunched. Cold leaves slapped my skin and twigs pulled at my hair and clothes. It had happened. Lucian had won and I was being taken away. In my lethargic state, I managed to pull the vial from my pocket and pop the cap off with my thumb. If Lucian wasn’t a vampire anymore, then I’d have a better chance at getting away. I stabbed him in the chest and he groaned in pain, dropping me on the hard forest floor. I expected he was going to drop me, but I didn’t have enough time or energy to position myself properly, so when the fall happened, I landed on my back. The wind was knocked out of me and I gasped for air like a fish out of water.

“What did you do?” the voice groaned. It wasn’t the voice I was expecting. “I’m trying to save you.”

I dropped to my knees and touched the vampire’s hair and face.

“Hunter?”

“What did you do?” he demanded fiercely.

My voice was soft and tired. “I injected you with a serum and my blood. It’ll cure you. You’ll be a god again…”

He rolled over onto his stomach and tried to get to his feet—he couldn’t.

“Th-that’s impossible.”

“It might not be.”

His brows knitted together. “Might? You mean you don’t know for sure?”

I shook my head. Hunter tried to get to his feet, but he couldn’t.

“What happens if it doesn’t work?”

“…you die.”

“Jesus Christ.” He slung his arm over his face and I knelt beside him. From my pocket, I pulled out my phone and put it on his chest.

“I’ll come back for you once this is over. Here’s my phone.”

I turned around and crawled away. I had barely enough energy to stay on my hands and knees, but I pushed through it, forcing myself to carry on. I stumbled uneasily through the forest until I made it back to the clearing. I wasn’t in any shape to fight. I’d lost too much blood and I felt dizzy.

“I thought I’d lost you for a moment there,” a cold, emotionless voice said in my ear.

My lack of strength interfered with my ability to stand properly and my knees buckled.

I started to fall, heading straight toward the hard ground, head-first. I squeezed my eyes closed, it was going to hurt. Only, I never made contact with the ground.

Lucian had me by the shoulder, keeping me upright on two legs. He grabbed my hair and tugged my neck to the side.

“Sorry about that. When battling against newborn vampires with bloodlust, orders can only go so far.”

I slumped down. It was over. Lucian had me. He wouldn’t have if it wasn’t for that stupid vampire that bit me and almost drained me of my blood.

Lucian began pulling me toward the forest, but I dug my heels in. He pulled harder and harder, dragging my feet through the dirt. I kicked and thrashed against him to no avail. While I struggled with Lucian, I pulled Eli’s whistle from my neck and blew it hard. I watched the battle, and as we got closer to the forest line and I thought all was lost, Eli sprinted toward us, moving faster than I’d ever seen him move before.

Lucian dropped me and squared off with Eli. I crawled onto my hands and knees, I needed to get away, but Lucian kicked me hard in the ribs, forcing me back down to the ground. A searing pain shot through my chest and it hurt to move. Even the slightest breath caused me pain beyond anything I’d ever felt. Eli took Lucian’s distraction as a chance to attack. He dove at Lucian, but he evaded Eli’s attack by mere inches. Eli growled in frustration. I watched as a wry smile spread over Lucian’s face. He pursed his lips together and whistled. I lay on the ground, clutching my ribs and whimpering as four vampires joined the fight, outnumbering Eli. Lucian took a step back and the four vampires dove at Eli. With one swing, Eli managed to stake two of the creatures at once, leaving nothing but dust to blow in the slight wind. Vampire dust went into my mouth and I coughed. I clenched my ribs harder as the need to cough increased. As I coughed, I cried, praying my ribs weren’t broken.

Lucian grew angry as Eli killed another vampire, leaving only one. Lucian re-entered the fight and I knew Eli was in trouble. He seemed injured. His left forearm had a huge gash. In the moonlight, the dark liquid trickling from the injury glistened. To my left, a thick stick lay on the ground. I grabbed for it, gritting my teeth against the pain in my ribs. I forced myself unsteadily to my feet. Eli saw me and knew immediately what I wanted to do. I held the stick out in front of me and braced myself for impact. Lucian dove at Eli, but Eli dodged him, shoving the fourth and final vampire into me and onto the stick. I thrust forward and pushed the stick right through the vampire’s chest. With an ear-piercing shriek it disintegrated...