Alliances (Guardians of White Light, #1) (27 page)

Suddenly, her senses screamed at her. Seconds later a blur of movement behind Luke caught her eye.
Vampire.
She grabbed hold of Luke and hauled him away from the door. Moments later, a throwing star bit into the wood of the door frame.

Luke stumbled back from the force of Jenna’s movements, but managed to keep his footing. He watched her draw her stake and assume a fighting stance. He spun around to see his sister standing in the doorway, another one of her throwing stars at the ready.

“Hey, big brother,” Tanya purred, flashing a smile that bared her fangs.

“You need to stand down,” Luke warned her.

“And then you won’t kill me? Come on, Luke. You really think I'd believe that?”

“I
will
kill you, but if you stand down, I’ll make it a quick death.”

Tanya grimaced and rounded on Jenna. “I wish I could be there when Silas rips your throat out, Hunter. At least I’ll have the comfort of knowing that Mathias will get to watch you die
painfully
.”

She lunged at Jenna, but Luke blocked her path, shoving her back with both hands. His power propelled her into a bookcase. It trembled under the impact. She failed to maintain her balance and crashed onto the hard marble floor with a loud thud that echoed around the room.

Luke gripped Jenna’s hand, preventing her from approaching his sister. “She's my responsibility. Help Mathias. Third floor. Throne room.”

“All right.”

Luke offered her a genuine smile. “Thank you.”

Jenna was surprised by his gratitude. He obviously had a great deal of honor. Despite his personal sentiments, he respected the fact that she had saved him from Tanya’s attack. But she didn’t have the time to think more about it. She had a job to do. She had to get to the throne room and ram a stake through the heart of her enemy.

Luke watched Jenna take off, disappearing before his eyes with immense speed akin to a vampire’s. Mathias had been right: she did possess most of their abilities. And none of their weaknesses.

He approached Tanya, who had struggled to her feet. She growled low in her throat as she glared at him. Her fists clenched, her hands shook with ire.

“You have betrayed Mathias, Legion and...
me
,” he told her.

“Mathias betrayed
us
! He’s sleeping with her, Luke! The Hunter!”

“You’re working for our enemy, Tanya!” Luke bellowed. “There is no greater betrayal!”

Her expression softened for a moment and she lowered her voice to a gentle whisper. “Are you really going to kill your own sister, Luke?”

Luke watched her fiery eyes morph to a wide-eyed innocent expression. Had she forgotten so easily? He knew her better than anyone. It wasn’t genuine. She was trying to play him. As if to prove his point, she lobbed her throwing star at him. It cut through the air with incredible speed. But as fast as she was, he was faster. He dodged out of its path. Infuriated, she ran at him, fingers contorted into claws, and screamed shrilly as she attacked.

But he was ready for her. The moment that she made contact, he plunged a stake into her heart.

“You are no longer my sister,” he whispered as their eyes met.

He looked away to avoid the shock and terror on her face. He stepped back and turned away, but heard the unmistakable sound of a vampire’s death: a brief explosion of body into dust. He didn’t look; he couldn’t.

Luke reached the door frame and gripped it tightly to try to compose himself. He had a war to fight. He had to pull it together. He’d just killed his own sister. It had been
her
doing. She was the one who had committed an irredeemable act. If he hadn’t done it, Mathias or Jenna would have. She was his responsibility. But none of those rationales eased the suffocating grief that suddenly gripped him as he leaned against the door frame. He’d murdered his kin. His sister.
Tanya.

CHAPTER THIRTY

Silas roared as Mathias’ blade sliced into his left cheek. He stumbled back and pressed his hand to the wound, angrily wiping away the blood that started to flow. Before he had the chance to recover, Mathias lunged. Silas struggled to parry the attack.

They had been battling for the last half hour and Mathias, experienced swordsman that he was, had controlled the flow of battle for its entirety.

He struck Silas again, ripping through his tactical jacket and forcing him backwards, up the steps towards his throne where he stumbled and collapsed.

Mathias then swept his sword at the handle of his opponent’s, forcing it from Silas’ grip. It clattered to the floor and Mathias kicked it out of the way. He pressed the tip of his blade into the flesh at Silas’ neck, drawing more blood.

“You can’t beat me in a fair fight, Silas,” Mathias warned him. “Stand down.”

He watched an eerie smile creep across Silas’ lips.
Why is he smiling? It’s over.
Before he could figure it out, Silas thrust his right hand at him. Mathias barely saw the blade before it had plunged viciously into his chest.

“Who said anything about a fair fight?” Silas hissed as he ripped the dagger out, twisting it as he did.

Mathias staggered back, trying to maintain his grip on his sword and rise above the searing pain in his chest. The dagger had pierced his heart. Fortunately, it was short, and it wasn't made of wood. But the pain was extreme. Disorientating. Distracting. He failed to recover in time and Silas kicked him brutally, knocking him off balance. He crashed onto the steps in a painful thud.

“You’ve been living a civilian life for too long. You’re weak!” Silas told him.

Mathias gritted his teeth as he struggled to roll to his side. But he was too slow. Silas’ boot pressed down onto his wound, causing him to cry out.

“You’re a vampire warrior. You
were
the best. But you’ve been away for too long and now, look at you, you can’t even deal with a little pain,” Silas taunted.

Mathias let out a garbled roar as Silas ground the heel of his boot into his chest.

“Silas!” a voice bellowed from the doorway.

Silas’ head shot up.

The intruder stepped from the shadows. He couldn’t prevent the shock from showing on his face.
Jenna Knight.

Before he could utter a response or formulate his next move, she was upon him. Her boot plunged into his side, propelling him away from Mathias. He smacked painfully into the wall and clawed at it to maintain his balance.

“Hunter!” he hissed.

“My turn,” she said with a sly smile.

“You move with the speed of a vampire.”

“I’m faster,” she corrected.

“You’re supposed to be on your deathbed. I sent my Day Walkers to kill you!”

“You won’t be sending them on any more missions. They’re all dead.”

Without taking her eyes off Silas, Jenna held out her hand to Mathias. He took it and she pulled him to his feet.

“You okay?” she whispered, gripping his hand tightly.

“Don’t worry about me. I’ll heal,” he said, caressing her gloved hand.

“So, the rumors are true, Mathias,” Silas hissed through gritted teeth as he watched the displays of affection between the two of them. “Sickening.”

Before either of them could respond, the sharp sound of a gun cocking echoed around the mammoth room. Silas was so fast that neither of them had seen him draw the glock that had been holstered at his right hip.

He fired.

Jenna watched in horror as Mathias lurched forward, his face contorted as the demon rose to the surface in response to the searing pain as the first bullet plunged into his stomach. Another shot. And another. His body convulsed amid the brutal onslaught as five more bullets drove into his chest, both thighs, his stomach, his sword-wielding right hand.

Jenna screamed as she watched helplessly as Mathias collapsed back onto the cold tiled floor. She dropped to her knees and reached for him, frantically. She stopped short as she felt a rush of cold air behind her. Adrenaline shot through her, warning her.

“Now, I kill you, Hunter,” Silas said.

Jenna’s eyes narrowed to slits. She watched her lover writhe in agony and struggle against his body’s natural instinct to cry out. She needed to help him. She needed to get him out of here and tend to his wounds, but she couldn't see how she could do that. She had to take down Silas. She had to end this or all would be lost. She had to sever the head of the monster and then the rest—Immortalia soldiers—would fall.

She stood slowly and forced herself to turn away from Mathias and face Silas.

“Modern weaponry lacks the finesse of the classics, but it gets the job done a hell of a lot quicker,” Silas said as he toyed with the glock in his hand.

For the first time in her life, Jenna felt emotion seep into her consciousness during battle. As she watched a victorious grin creep across Silas’ lips, she realized what had been his intention. He’d wounded Mathias to unnerve her, to distract her. As Mathias’ pained groans infiltrated her senses, she felt anguish and fear for her lover morph to destructive rage, so powerful she couldn’t repress it. She couldn’t stop herself from lunging at her enemy.

She plunged her knee into his stomach. Once. Twice. He tried to double over in an instinctive move to protect himself. She used the opportunity to rip the glock from his grip. She spun it in her hand and then lobbed it at the balcony doors. The power behind it was so great that it shattered the glass as it passed through into the thick fog of the dark night.

She executed a flying kick that propelled Silas across the room. He hit the floor hard and skidded into the glass shards. Before he could recover, she was on him. She straddled him, fists pounding him mercilessly, bloodying his face, scraping skin, crushing bone.

Silas struggled against her relentless assault. She was winning! He had to do something now!

“I have something that belongs to your family,” he choked out.

Jenna halted her fist mere inches before it plunged into Silas’ face again. “A key.”

“So, you found it then.”

“What does it unlock?” she demanded, holding her fist at the ready.

“The secret.”

“What?”

“Your great-grandparents were Keepers,” Silas revealed, “Keepers are—”

“I know the legend of the Keepers,” Jenna snapped.

Silas smiled inwardly as he watched her fisted right hand shake. She failed to hide her emotion from him at the recollection of her family’s murder. Perfect. He’d distracted her from battle.
You lose, Hunter.

Silas thrust both his hands into her chest, throwing her off him. He wiped his bloodied face with the sleeve of his tactical jacket. He licked his lips, savoring the taste of his own blood. He grabbed her head and knotted his fingers in her silky hair, and then pulled roughly, eliciting a pained groan from her. He leveraged his grip and began pounding the back of her head against the marble floor. Again and again. She cried out and struggled, but his grip didn’t weaken. He heard Mathias’ weak protests from the other side of the room.
Music to my ears.
He felt her weaken and she stopped fighting. He released her hair and grabbed her shoulders. His sharp nails dug into her skin as he hauled her to her feet and pinned her against the wall.

And then his fangs pierced her neck.

“Silas! Stop!” Mathias roared as he struggled to get to his feet despite his body’s overwhelming need to shut down. But even as he said the words, he knew it would be impossible for Silas to pull back. He was biting to kill.

Silas barely heard him. He savored the familiar coppery taste of human blood oozing into his mouth. He moaned with pleasure as he sucked harder, drawing out more of the thick red liquid. He had never tasted blood as rich as this. It wasn’t just human blood. It was overwhelmingly powerful!

Jenna willed herself to push through the light-headed haze that plagued her. Silas had drawn a lot of blood very quickly, and his assault on her head hadn’t helped matters. Despite the fact that she had ingested the Liquid Death days ago, it didn’t seem to be affecting him at all. Perhaps the drug was time-sensitive. That was the only explanation. She’d thought that the only reason Mathias had been able to feed from her was because he had ingested the antidote. But it seemed that that was not the case. Unfortunately, that realization didn’t help her now. Silas was killing her. She had to act now or he would drain her dry and all would be lost for her, Mathias and their allies.

As she felt him suck harder, deeper, her hand shot out, gripping his neck, pulling him up and away. She glared at him, her eyes boring right through his. She saw the shock all over his face. Her arm shook as she held him off the ground, tightening her grip around his throat.

“I am stronger than Vampire!” she seethed.

She hurled him backwards, propelling him into the far wall. Wasting no time, she strode towards him, drawing a stake strapped to her cargo pants.

“You’ll die if you kill me!” Silas warned her.