Taste of Torment

Chapter Seventeen

(Sam)

How could I not relish the utter shock on Eloise’s face just then? I slung the huge pole aside. “Go help the squad, Jared. This bitch is mine.”

Jared sighed at Eloise, shaking his head sadly. “You really should have known better.” He then smiled at me. I could sense his amusement. “Have fun, baby.”

Oh I bloody would. This waste of skin and fangs had had this coming since the evening she arrived. Jared kissed my temple, and then he was gone…and I was so, so happy because I could finally do what I’d been fantasising about doing for weeks. “Just think. If you had a better aim, someone would be laying a bunch of roses over my ashes right about now.” Using the energy clinging to me, I conjured my energy whip and lashed it tauntingly at Eloise.

She jerked back, gulping. “You’re going to attack someone who’s unarmed?”

“Yep.”

Her eyes bulged. “But that’s not fair!”

“Fair? You want to talk about fair?” I lashed the whip at her legs, slicing the skin. “It wasn’t fair when you tried to kill me – particularly since you slyly attacked me from behind. It wasn’t fair when you spent weeks trying to make my life hell. It wasn’t fair when you repeatedly flirted with Jared, my mate. And it really, really, really wasn’t fair when you betrayed the entire Hollow and almost caused the death of everyone in it.”

I slashed the whip along her chest, making her cry out. “Look at the destruction around you, Eloise. If you hadn’t betrayed us by telling Covington where the tunnels were, he couldn’t have invaded the place like this. And all these people wouldn’t be dead. So am I going to kill you? Yes. Yes, I am. And I’m going to enjoy it.” I lashed the whip again, curling it around her body and pinning her arms to her sides. That usual smug glint was absent now. “You weren’t fair to us, so tell me why I should be fair to you?”

To my total shock and horror, the whip suddenly split – yes, split – and Eloise dropped to the ground. When the portion of the whip that was wrapped around her body faded away, she quickly scrambled to her feet. That was when I saw Dana in my peripheral vision coming towards us, holding a large energy axe. I was betting that she had been aiming for me, not the whip.

“Impressive,” said Dana. That squeaky voice was annoying as shit. “The whip, I mean. I’ve never been able to conjure one of those. This is more my thing anyway.” She waved the axe around. Smug once more, Eloise laughed in delight, though the sound was shaky.

“Two against one?” How typical of them to take advantage of the fact that I was on my own. “Fine, if that’s how you want it. Novo.” A red Dexter hissed as he left his tattoo form, and was now curled around my leg. Eloise and Dana stiffened. “I figure this evens out the playing field a little.” I gently coaxed him to the ground. He stayed there with most of his body raised from the floor, ready to strike. He hissed at Eloise, making her gulp. Oh she knew just how badly he wanted to take a bite out of her. He’d had her in his sights for a while.

I spoke to Eloise. “So, basically, this is what will happen: if you try to attack me while I deal with dear little Dana here, Dexter will deal with you. If you try to run, he’ll be on you before you can even retreat one step. That’s why snakes of this breed are called ‘Strikers’. So be a good girl and wait there nicely, and then you’ll have your turn.”

Dana snorted. “You don’t need to run, Eloise. I can handle her.”

“Now that you’re hyped up on hybrid energy, you mean? It doesn’t work like that. Your system’s not made to take it because you’re a Pagori, not a hybrid. That’s why your hands are shaking and you’re looking a little unsteady. I’d imagine you’ve got a killer headache as well.”

The pain etched into the lines of her forehead told me that I was right. “It doesn’t matter, freak. What matters is that you die. And now the end is near.”

“And so I face the final curtain,” I sang, daring her with my eyes to act.

Snarling, she charged toward me at vampire speed and swung the axe at my neck. She was fast and sharp, I’d give her that. But I’d pre-empted her. I slammed up my shield, watching in satisfaction as she collided into it and then bounced backwards, hitting the ground hard. I pursed my lips. “Not bad.”

I was kind of curious as to what she could do, about how in control of her gift she was. Feeders were extremely rare, so I hadn’t met many. Had the circumstances been different, we could have swapped notes. But considering that I was sure her high-pitched voice was capable of making my ears bleed, I doubted that we’d have spoken for long whatever the circumstances.

Hissing, she jumped to her feet. “Drop the shield. Or are you too scared to fight me?”

I chuckled. “Anyone who knows me would tell you that even if I was scared, I’d still challenge you – no one gets away with hurting my mate. You’re going to suffer. And I’m going to enjoy making you suffer.”

“Then let’s play. We both know our power level is even right now. This will be all about who has the best techniques.” She remoulded her axe into a spear and aimed it at my shield.

To my surprise, the spear actually pierced it enough to make the shield shrink like a balloon. I could have reinforced the shield, but I instead let it fade away. “Again, not bad.” Before she could attack again, I blew out a long breath of energy; an air blast powerful enough to send her crashing into the tree behind her.

Pagori speed had her in front of me in a blink, aiming a hard punch at my jaw. But having the Pagori speed that came with being a hybrid, I was just as fast. I caught her fist and yanked hard, dislocating her wrist. Then I grabbed her by the throat and slammed her onto the ground. Flat on her back, she inhaled sharply, and then went into a fit of coughing. I circled her body as she slowly gathered herself. Taking a moment to check on Eloise, I saw that she was frozen in place, wide-eyed. Dexter’s unblinking gaze was still locked on her.

Finally, Dana popped her wrist back into place and got to her feet. “You bitch!”

“Sorry, old habits die hard.”

“Kill her, Dana!” screeched Eloise. Ooh, bloodthirsty. Of course, she soon shut up when Dexter hissed at her again.

“I’m curious; can you tap into the natural elements?” I’d always been able to do it, but I’d found that controlling them wasn’t an easy feat. As an ice-cold wind whipped me up and flung me at a large piece of rubble, I cracked my head hard. “I’ll take that as a yes.” But the wind hadn’t been able to send me very far away, I noted. Even with my hybrid energy giving her gift a boost, she hadn’t coped too well with the natural elements.

Feeling the wound on my head instantly heal, I quickly got to my feet and strode towards Dana…who, I then noticed, was weirdly smirking at something behind me. I might have thought it was a trick to distract me, but I could hear footsteps in the grass.

“Looks like it’s about to become three against one.”

Rather than glance over my shoulder, I turned slightly, allowing me to keep my peripheral vision on both Dana and Eloise as I swiftly checked who was seemingly coming to join us. Well, fuck a duck. Joy. I didn’t move as she approached. I’d let them all think that I was scared, let them think that my death was a sure thing, and that I was ready to admit defeat. With Dexter as back-up, there were still pretty good odds that I’d come out of this alive.

When Joy reached my side, she stopped, glaring hard. I expected an attack and inwardly braced myself for one, but instead she swerved to face the others and focused her gaze on Eloise. Joy’s irises were then glowing amber as pure hatred contorted her expression. She pointed at Eloise. “I want her.” Joy briefly glimpsed at me as she added, “I despise you, but it would be kind of…inconvenient if you died, because Jared would die with you. But her…she has to die. She made him betray me.”

Well, no, that wasn’t quite what had happened. Jared had never been her partner, and they had never been exclusive. But Joy had never been normal, so she saw the world a little differently. “You can have her…as long as you make it painful.”

Joy curled her upper lip at Eloise. “That I can do.” Then she morphed into a man twice her size and advanced on the bitch. Huh. I hadn’t seen that coming.

I shrugged at Dana. “Looks like it’s just you and me now. And it’s time for you to go home to Fraggle Rock.”

The axe was suddenly back in Dana’s hand and swinging forcefully at my head. I jerked back, wagging my finger. Conjuring my whip, I lashed it at her legs, leaving deep gouges in her flesh. Off balance, she stumbled and lost her grip on her axe, which winked out. Not giving her the chance to conjure it again, I held my hands up and sent flames shooting out of my palms. Her skin sizzled and blistered, and her high-pitched scream was piercing enough to crack windows. Honestly, I was surprised that my ear drums hadn’t burst. Tapping into the element of water, she did her best to put out the flames.

Hearing a cry of agony, I briefly glanced at Eloise and Joy – oh yeah, Joy was definitely putting her through some serious pain. I was pretty sure that I’d just heard Eloise’s spine snap. Crap, that had to hurt like fuck.

As Dana’s scream faded, I looked back to see that her flesh was half-healed and her gaze was dark and sparkling with fury. “You burned me! You fucking burned me!”

Well, yeah. Had she been expecting mercy or something? I blinked rapidly, baffled. “I thought I’d been pretty clear when I said that I’d make you suffer. Oh, you thought I was all talk?” I gave her a gentle, pitying smile. “No, luv. You’re not the first person I’ve hurt, and you won’t be the last.”

Seeming a mixture of incredulous and wary, she shook her head. “You’re crazy.”

“A little,” I allowed. “But mostly it’s just that I have a violent reaction to silly little bitches like you. And like I said, no one hurts my mate.” Then my whip was in my hand again and I slashed her face with it.

With a loud cry, she flinched away. To her credit, she recovered quickly, conjuring a large boulder to shield her. I simply sucked in the energy from the boulder, making it crumble to pieces. But apparently she’d been ready for that; her axe was back and she aimed for my legs this time. I jumped, barely dodging the weapon. She slammed her palm into my chest hard enough to send me zooming backwards. I hit a tree, making the breath whoosh out of me.

Dana smirked. “Hurts, doesn’t it?”

It did, actually. Dusting off the pants of my brand new suit, which was torn, singed, and stained with blood – Fletcher was going to go ballistic – I got to my feet. Then, before the movement had time to register in her brain, I conjured a small energy ball and fired it at Dana. It caught her shoulder, and the impact knocked her to the ground once again. Of course I could have thrown an energy ball deadly enough to kill her as opposed to simply knock her down. But death by energy ball didn’t seem painful enough for someone who had hurt Jared. Death by Dexter’s venom, however…Yeah, that sounded much better. And he was clearly hoping to join the fun, because he was slithering around her, hissing. Eyeing him warily, she froze, obviously worried about making any sudden movements.

As I came to stand at her feet, Dexter moved his intelligent gaze to me. I knew he wanted permission to attack…so I gave it to him. At my nod, he immediately spat venom into her eyes. Crying out, she scrubbed madly at her eyes. That was when Dexter struck – in a movement that was a pure blur, he bit her upper arm. Again, she cried out, flinching away from him. But it made no difference – there was no dodging Dexter: he bit her again, this time on her leg.

“Dexter’s venom is pretty cool, you know,” I told her as he began to curl around my body once more. “A single bite can put a vampire through a truly ugly experience. Stage one is temporary blindness. Stage two is temporary mental disorientation. And stage three is temporary paralysis. Lucky for you, however, you’ll get to escape all that…because a second bite is fatal. Yep, it causes an all-consuming, agonising pain that’s swiftly followed by death. But I think you’re already coming to realise that, aren’t you?”

Her agonised cries told me that, yes, she was. Maybe I should have felt bad for her. Maybe I should have wanted to end her pain. But this person had thrown an energy ball at Jared and laughed at his pain. She had been part of the plan to take over The Hollow, and she had enjoyed every second of the pain that she had put me through. Furthermore, she would happily have killed me if she could have done. So there was simply no ounce of mercy in my system.

I turned away from her, and that was when I saw that Joy, now back in her own form, was standing over a pile of ashes. Eloise was dead. Fabulous. Realising that Joy was watching me rather intently, I tensed. Responding to that, Dexter – who was now twined around my waist – hissed warningly at her. Had she changed her mind about having a duel? I hoped not. A part of me felt a little sorry for her and I did kind of appreciate that she hadn’t joined the other two bitches in trying to kill me. Besides, what I most wanted right then was to get to Jared.

“You’re going to walk away from her?” asked Joy, sparing Dana the briefest glance. “You’re not going to make sure she’s dead before you go?”

“Oh she’ll soon be dead, don’t doubt that. Besides, if I kill her quickly, she can’t suffer.” And I’d promised Dana that she would. It was her fault that she hadn’t listened.

“You’re doing that for Jared, aren’t you? It’s your revenge for hurting him, isn’t it?”

I nodded. “I’m not going to give him up, Joy.” She needed to understand that, needed to finally accept it, because I’d really had enough of her bollocks.

Joy sighed. She looked…sad. “And he won’t give you up. For him, it’s only ever been you. I hate you for it.” But there was no heat or threat in her words.

“I know.” In her position, I wouldn’t have been having warm, fuzzy feelings about her.

“No matter what I did, I couldn’t make him leave you.” She swallowed hard. She still seemed sad, but now she also seemed resigned. “Take care of him for me.” Then, in a blink, she was gone. I supposed that was Joy’s version of a truce. Although, considering the emotional rollercoaster she was constantly riding, there was every chance that she’d change her mind about it tomorrow. But for now, I’d put it out of my mind. It was time to find Jared. Time to kill Covington. Time to end all this.

(Jared)

Thanks to the appearance of our allies, the number of Covington’s vampires had increasingly dwindled. Set on getting to Covington, the squad, Jude, Ava, Cristiano, and I had focused on getting through the nine circles of vampires guarding him while our allies took care of the others. Harvey and his telekinesis had been a huge help – which was exactly why a vampire with the ability to temporarily steal a gift had targeted him. Bollocks, as Sam would say.

At that point, we’d had to instead fight our way through them. The first six circles of vampires were now destroyed. If I could just manage to get through these other motherfuckers, I could get to the bastard. But said motherfuckers weren’t making it easy.

For example, there was the Keja who kept throwing balls of ice at me – and they hurt like fuck. Then there was another Keja who was creating cracks in the ground that were wide enough and deep enough for people to fall down. Unfortunately, some had. There was also the Pagori who was covered in beetles and was throwing them at everyone; beetles that happened to bite. Worse, we also had to deal with a chameleon who was creeping up on people and snapping their necks before they even realised someone was there. He really had to go.

As an idea suddenly came to mind, I spoke to Denny. I want you to find that chameleon for me. I doubt you’ll get your hands on him because the son of a bitch is fast. But spray him with that ooze of yours. Then we’ll be able to see him and get a clear shot.

Denny nodded. You got it.

I badly wanted to contact Sam, find out if she needed me. But I was conscious that doing so could distract her – that was the last thing she’d need while she was in the middle of a duel. But I repeatedly checked on her through our link, ready to teleport to her if need be.

As another ball of ice suddenly struck my shoulder, I cursed and stumbled. It was hard to get to the little shit responsible – who bore an uncanny resemblance to Professor Snape – because he was being shielded by someone with the gift to deflect. His gift was similar to Butch’s, which meant that I knew where its weaknesses lay. Of course such a gift was a substantial one, but its weakness lay in the simple fact that it didn’t encompass a person’s entire body. The shield would only stretch as far as the sides, leaving the person’s back vulnerable. Noticing that Chico was not far behind him, I ordered, Chico, shoot the Professor Snape lookalike.

As the poisonous thorns embedded in his skin, ‘Snape’ cried out and burst into ashes. His protector swerved around in surprise…giving me the perfect opportunity. I aimed a bolt of lightning at his back, satisfied by the idea that he couldn’t shield anyone else.

Harvey was suddenly at my side. “We got a problem. Stuart managed to squeeze his way through the circles by staying in particle-form. He reassembled in front of Covington, and now he’s trying to take him out alone.”

“What?”

“Stuart’s got a lot of anger in him after what happened to him. Right now, he doesn’t care that Covington’s yours to kill.”

But my real problem wasn’t that. It was the knowledge that Covington was pretty powerful with his gift of enchanting objects – he could make anything deadly. The simplest object could become a weapon. “Shit.”

With renewed vigour, I attacked the vampires in front of me, determined to breach the protective circle and get to Stuart. It was clear that the rest of the squad had noticed what Stuart had done, because they became just as vigorous. Soon Salem, Ava, and Cristiano had tackled the chameleon, David and Butch had dealt with the ice-ball-thrower, Max and Chico and Jude took out beetle boy, and Harvey and Denny helped me destroy the Pagori who liked to create cracks in the ground.

Trusting the squad to tackle the others, I fought through the remaining vampires in front of me and charged directly into the circle…just in time to see Stuart stabbed in the heart with the same knife that had earlier nicked Antonio’s throat. Fuck. Torn between the urge to run to Stuart’s side and the urge to attack Covington, I hesitated. Covington took advantage of that moment of hesitation, slicing at my arm with his knife. It was so unnaturally sharp that not only did it tear through my sturdy leather jacket and t-shirt, but it took away layers of skin. And I knew then that this knife could probably cut through just about anything.

“Which will it be, Jared: your revenge, or your squad member’s life?” Covington’s eyes were glinting with malevolence and a hint of madness. “Look at him, Jared. The life is draining out of him. I’d say he has under a minute left to live.”

“Then it’s a good thing that I’m here,” said a new voice. Paige. She was with Stuart, placing her hand on his wound. At the same time, Evan appeared and slung a half-dead Langley at Covington, knocking him to the ground. Covington shoved Langley away and went to get up, but then he froze – most likely because a black panther was looming over him. Evan, Alora, and Imani watched with satisfaction as Paige walked over to the two vampires who were sprawled on the ground.

“No!” I yelled. “Covington’s mine!”

Paige smiled, but it wasn’t a nice sight. “Yes, but Langley’s mine.” Then she slapped her hand over his chest and he screamed as something seemed to ripple down her arm and onto his body – Stuart’s injury. When Langley was finally nothing but a clump of ashes, Paige stood upright and released a deep, cleansing sigh.

When she didn’t hit the ground crying out in sheer agony at the breaking of her blood-bond to him, I frowned. “I thought Langley was your Sire.”

“He was,” she replied.

“I cut their bond a long time ago,” said Imani as she helped Stuart stand. He nodded in thanks at Paige.

“That was why Langley hadn’t been able to track Paige,” I mused. Shrugging off the matter, I returned my attention to a snarling Covington. His gaze was darting in all directions, clearly noticing what I’d already sensed. Everyone was now circling us, watching intently. The battle was over. His vampires were dead. He was the only one left…and there was absolutely no way that he was getting out of this alive.

At my signal, Alora urged the panther away from Covington. Laughing humourlessly, he got to his feet. “I guess you’re very pleased with yourself, aren’t you, Jared?”

“Pleased that a lot of lives were lost tonight? No, far from it.”

He rolled his shoulders, preparing for a fight. “Ready for me, Jared? Think you can take me?”

Yeah, I did, but…“Whatever made you think we’d be duelling?”

His gaze narrowed and he stilled. “You want me dead.”

“Sure I do. And I will kill you. But I never said that I’d do you the honour of duelling with you.”

Covington gawked while the majority of people around us gasped.

“Ouch,” said Harvey. “Now that’s cold.” His voice was approving.

He was right; it was cold to deprive someone of a duel. It said that they weren’t worth the effort. “Why would I duel with someone who has no decency or integrity? You tried to take Antonio’s position, and you tried to take The Hollow. You like to get things the easy way, like to cheat. So tell me why the fuck should I do you the honour of a straightforward duel, knowing that you’ll cheat? What would be the point?”

My peripheral vision picked up the crowd parting, and that was when I sensed Sam coming towards me with Dexter curled around her waist. I’d known through our bond that she was fine, but seeing her alive and unharmed still eased my mind.

Covington’s eyes found her, and he grunted. “Still alive, little hybrid? What a shame. I’d really thought that Dana and Eloise would take care of you.”

She didn’t answer until she reached my side. “They tried – bless their little hearts. Dana’s not actually dead yet. But Dexter’s venom will take care of that within the next twenty minutes or so. I’m afraid Eloise has met a sticky end, though. You can thank Joy for that.”

I frowned, totally confused. “Joy?”

Sam smiled up at me. “She had a score to settle.”

And that score would undoubtedly make absolutely no sense to anyone other than Joy, but whatever. Did she attack you?

No, we came to a truce. I have a feeling it’s just temporary, though. Now, when are you going to kill this little twat?

The crowd parted again, this time allowing Antonio to come forward. But he didn’t enter the circle; I realised that he was handing the matter over to Sam and me, demonstrating his trust in us for everyone to witness. He looked down his nose at Covington. “Being surrounded is not the most pleasant experience, is it? I believe that you were in fact warned that you would not leave here alive.”

“They all were.” Sam shook her head in wonder. “And yet they didn’t just go home. I’ll never understand why people insist on ignoring our warnings.”

Covington’s eyes danced around all the vampires circling him. “You would really back these people? You’re really going to let the hybrid live?”

Sam sighed. “I have a name, you know.”

“She’ll Turn humans! She’ll create her own line!”

“That’s the thing, though, Covington,” said Sam. “I have no intention of ever Turning anyone. I mean, really, do you think Jared would ever tolerate another vampire drinking from me for any reason whatsoever?”

No, I fucking wouldn’t. She was mine – I didn’t want anyone else touching her, let alone drinking from her. And, if I was honest, I’d be jealous of any blood-link that she had with another person. I only wanted her to be linked to me. Yeah, that was unhealthily possessive but I’d never pretended to be anything else.

“I’ll have enough responsibilities with ruling alongside Jared. I don’t need or want the responsibilities that come with having my own line of vampires to care about.”

“That’s the very same reason that I don’t intend to begin my own line,” I told him. The truth was that I’d never even considered beginning one. I wasn’t the ‘paternal’ type.

“You’re an abomination,” Covington spat, breathing hard as he glared at Sam. “An abomination that will destroy us all!”

Sam snorted. “And why, exactly, would I do that? What, pray tell, would make me decide to rid the world of my own kind? How could that possibly benefit me in any way? You’re making absolutely no sense. But then, you already know that, don’t you? You’re just coming up with excuses to try to justify what you did tonight. You’re trying to make the High Masters here turn on me.”

“If anything, her being a hybrid is a good thing,” said Antonio. “Not only does it mean that she can protect our kind better than anyone else, but it means that her being so powerful will discourage vampires from beginning wars in the future.”

That was true: they wouldn’t want to chance what she would do to them, or what I would do to anyone who even dared to harm her. “By trying to kill her and failing miserably, all you did was demonstrate to everyone just how powerful she is. I’m not thankful for that, because too many people have died tonight. But what it means is that all this was totally fucking pointless.”

“Others will come for her,” growled Covington.

“Not if they want to live,” I replied with a menacing smile.

From his place beside Antonio, Luther spoke. “Antonio is right. Considering that vampires would avoid committing crimes purely for fear of her response, Sam is more likely to bring peace to our kind than war – if they can let go of any ignorance they may have, that is.”

“No,” objected Covington, though there wasn’t as much conviction in his voice this time. “They’ll want her dead, just like I do.”

Slowly spinning, Sam ran her gaze along everyone as she loudly called out, “Any one of you that has a problem with me, step forward and we’ll deal with it right here, right now.” Nothing. “Come on, if any of you have something to say, spit it the fuck out now or swallow it down forever.”

I curled an arm around her shoulders, smiling. “My little breath of fresh blunt air doesn’t hold back.” My voice held both pride and adoration.

When nobody responded to Sam’s dare, she shrugged at Covington. “I guess you were wrong.”

“You’re something that shouldn’t exist!” he insisted.

She inclined her head. “Maybe. But it won’t be me who dies tonight.”

“I beg to differ.” And then his knife was flying out of his hand and slicing through the air toward Sam. I expected her to pop her shield up. But she didn’t. She didn’t need to, because the knife froze mid-air.

“Thanks, Harv,” she called out.

“No problem.” His smug smile was obvious in his voice. Clearly his gift was back.

Whistling, Sam grabbed the knife by the handle and then passed it to Antonio. The next move was nothing but a blur: her whip was suddenly in her hand and it quickly snapped tightly around Covington’s body until he wheezed. He struggled to free himself, but it was useless.

“Just thought it would be a good idea to keep your arms pinned to your sides,” explained Sam. “We can’t have you throwing anything else, can we?”

“Harvey,” I called.

He stepped forward. “Yup?”

“Does this mean your gift is back and in full working order?”

His smirk was wide and excited. “Yup.”

“Good. Hold this bastard up for me. I want everyone to watch.” I wanted everyone to see what would happen if they considered betraying us ever again. I needed to make a point to all vampirekind that betrayal wouldn’t be tolerated – that an attempt on my mate’s life wouldn’t be tolerated. I couldn’t risk others coming for Sam. It had to be this way. There had to be a display that the people here would never forget; a story that would spread like wildfire.

Covington’s eyes widened as Harvey elevated him high in the air using his gift. He struggled once more against the grip of Sam’s whip, but still he couldn’t get free. Eyes bulging with both fear and fury, he glowered down at me. “You won’t duel with me because you know you’ll lose!”

“I won’t duel with you because you don’t deserve the honour of one.” I smiled grimly at him. “And this is the part where you’ll pay for what you did – for hurting my mate, for hurting Antonio, and for bringing death and destruction to The Hollow.”

Driven by a combination of fury, grief, and a need for vengeance, I held up my palm and sent a charge of electricity crashing into his brain…but not a charge high enough to kill him. No, that would be for later. What I intended to do was deliver a charge of electricity to every single vulnerable spot of his body, one by one. And I did. He screamed and repeatedly begged for me to stop, but I ignored those pleas. Then, finally, when I knew he was close to death, I delivered one last high voltage bolt to his chest. That was all it took – screaming, he exploded into ashes.

The looks on everybody’s faces told me that the message I’d sent had been received, loud and clear. It was a message that would spread. And only a fucking idiot would ignore it. Sam slipped her hand into mine, and everyone bowed slightly. I had to smile when Sam groaned – she hated bowing. If there hadn’t been so many deaths, the vampires here would have undoubtedly cheered at Covington’s demise, but most of them were still raw with anger and pain at how many lives had been lost.

Antonio came forward, sighing at Sam. “You should not have offered your life for ours,” he admonished.

No she damn well shouldn’t have.

Her voice was low as she asked, “Aren’t you at least a little pissed off that I would have risked so many lives to protect Jared?”

“No. I would not have expected any other response. And neither would the vampires around you have done.” Murmurs of agreement spread through the crowd. He placed his hand on her shoulder. “But I do appreciate the sacrifice that you were willing to make for us all. Still, do not do it again.”

“She won’t.” I flashed her a reprimanding look. She just rolled her eyes. That hot little ass was definitely getting spanked later. Using our bond, I sent her an image of her naked and bent over my knee with my hand raised above her ass. She gasped in outrage, turning to face me fully. “Oh it’s going to happen,” I assured her, my tone dark. And what did she do? She sent an image back to me…an image of Dexter biting my ear while she laughed in delight. Damn crazy bitch.