Taste of Torment (26 page)

I grabbed Jared’s arm. “Teleport Damien, Reuben, and Denny out of there, take them to the bunker under the Command Centre. We don’t have enough manpower to protect them
and
fight.” It was true. We were outnumbered, and we were fighting a losing battle, but not a bloody chance would I give up.

Jared hesitated, running a hand through his hair. “Sam…”

I understood his anxiety. The last time he’d put other people before me, he’d come back to find me bitten by a tainted vampire. “This is different. I have ten people with me. Damien, Reuben, and Denny will die if you don’t move them, and I can’t afford to leave the fight this time.”

Nodding, he gave me a hard kiss. Pulling back, he rushed into the building with me at his side. I helped a weak Denny and a clearly in pain Damien to their feet while Jared slung Reuben over his shoulder. Once Denny and Damien held tight to Jared, all four of them disappeared. Only then was I satisfied enough to leave the building – not happy to find that instead of seeking cover again, the squad had charged into the battle, trying to penetrate the large protective circle of vampires that undoubtedly shielded Covington. While Chico, Salem, Max, and Stuart worked on attacking the circle, Harvey, David, and Butch defended them – just like in training – along with Jude, Ava, and Cristiano.

Hearing a crazy laugh behind me, I realised that the restaurant was being swarmed by vampires who were clearly waiting for the people they believed were inside to finally leave. Forming a large, boiling hot fireball – the likes of which I’d never been able to create before becoming a hybrid – I launched it at the building. It instantly exploded, and so did the vampires surrounding it. Ha.

My dark amusement died a swift death when there was a loud battle cry. Twirling, I gaped as what seemed like hundreds of vampires practically stampeded onto the battlefield through the now broken security gates.
Oh fuck
. I was about to attack them, but then I made out Quentin and some of his vampires. There was also Antonio’s Sire, Wes, and many from his line. In addition, there were the High Masters and their vampires…And they were all helping us destroy Covington’s vampires. Relief, gratefulness, and satisfaction flooded me. I realised just then that I’d truly expected to die tonight; had expected most of us to die. Now I had hope tha
t


I jolted and cried out as white-hot pain pierced my chest. Shocked, I looked down to see a long, metal pole protruding out of my body. It had to be wreckage from the destruction around us, my stunned mind pointlessly deduced. Slowly turning, I found Eloise smirking smugly at me as she toyed with her mane. Oh, the mad bitch had stabbed me.

She winced in mock sympathy. “Ooh, that looks like it hurts.”

It didn’t hurt, it burned and throbbed and caused the most agonising pain to pound through my chest, making the rest of my body feel cold. I wanted to fall to my knees and cry out. It was sheer anger alone that kept me standing. Her smug smile only served to increase my anger. She thought she’d get away with that? She thought that she was oh so clever and had ended me? Ha. All she’d done was save me the trouble of hunting her down. The pole had narrowly missed my heart, thank God. I doubted that even a fast-healing hybrid could have come back from that.

Most likely sensing the agony blasting through me, Jared appeared in front of me. He gaped, reaching out to grab the pole. But then, as if afraid that he’d only worsen the pain, he quickly dropped his hands. At Eloise’s laugh, he snarled at her. “You fucking bitch!”

“I’m so glad that you could be here for this, Jared.” Eloise
tsk
ed at me. “Just because my gift to hide my scent” – well that explained why she’d thought I wouldn’t sense that she had paid my apartment a little visit – “is defensive doesn’t mean that I’m defence
less
, Sam. I did tell you that you would die tonight.”

“And I told you,” I began, slowly pulling the pole out of my chest, “that I’d kill you.” With the pole finally out of my body, my skin instantly knitted together. Eloise blanched. “And I will.”

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?”