Deuce yanked free of the roots with his vampire strength, snapping them into multiple pieces. My stake came down where he’d been standing, but it met nothing except air.
It happened in the blink of an eye. Deuce was already back where he started, looming over my wife. I ran faster than I thought possible to reach them.
I couldn’t kill Deuce. I’d tried what I could, but nothing I had in my arsenal would work. The only thing I could do was defend Ava from whatever he planned on doing to her.
Deuce let out a wild laugh at the same time I felt the blood on the battlefield begin to leech out of the mud. Something whizzed through the air the moment I reached Ava, and without thinking, I threw myself on top of her. I immediately drew her into my arms, covering her as I turned my back to Deuce. I protected her from whatever blow he was sending her way, using my body as a shield over hers.
I heard the sound of a whip crack, along with the tear of fabric. A sweltering pain sliced across my back, and I gave a wretched scream, a sound emitting from my mouth that was like nothing I’d ever made before.
My first thought was that Deuce had somehow lit a fire upon me, until the whip cracked against my back again. I felt the warmth of my blood seeping through deep wounds. I realized with horror what he’d done, just how powerful his vampire magic had become. Deuce had used his blood magic to control the blood on the battlefield, morphing it into a whip that sliced my back open with every strike. He struck me again, and I yelled as loud as I could at the torture, though I did nothing to defend myself. I only held Ava tighter, refusing to let her go.
“What are you doing?” Ava shoved at me, her cries desperate. “Why are you protecting me? I don’t deserve this!”
She didn’t think she was worthy of my love and protection, but she was. She was the most precious thing in the world to me, and I’d go down defending her. I’d put my body on the line for her, and I’d make the sacrifice freely, with no protest or objection.
There were consequences to everything in life. This was my consequence, and I loved every second of it, so long as it brought me closer to her.
Ava struggled to get out of my hold, but I was far stronger than she was, so she remained wrapped within my embrace even as the whip struck me, ripping open my back and splitting the muscle down to the bone.
Deuce laughed maniacally, clearly gaining pleasure out of my agony. “Come on, Bandit! I want to hear you scream.”
I needed to fucking do something. Deuce had broken every spell I tried and dodged any weapons I attacked with. I tried the last thing I possibly could. I attempted to shift. I knew it was the only way to end his attack. His whip wouldn’t be able to slice through my strong wyvern scales, and then I’d simply bite his head off and be done with him.
Scales rippled across my skin, but I couldn’t gain hold of the magic, and they faded away. An aching horror twisted in my gut, because Deuce had caught on to what I was doing, and he ended my spell before it began. There was nothing else I could do but take this pain.
And I would. For her.
I gasped as he delivered another blow. It sliced so deep into my back I could swear the whip touched my spine, but I refused to give in.
Twin-flame mirroring. Ava’s spine had been ruined in the Infernal Underground. And Deuce was wrecking my back now. She’d given up her body to protect all of us back then, so I would give up mine for her now. I kept my focus on Ava, making sure my body curled around her and that none of the whip’s strikes touched a speck of her skin.
“Charlie!” Ava protested in a high-pitched wail. She shoved her arms against my chest once again, but she couldn’t make me move. “Let me die! Don’t do this for me! Please stop.”
Another crack of the whip, and I was left trembling. Weakness overcame me, and it took all my strength just to shield Ava. I tried to compartmentalize the pain, but the vicious assault caused my head to spin. Blood poured from the deep cuts and dripped onto the ground. The pools of blood were only there for only a moment before Deuce gathered them with his power, turning my own blood into more strands of the whip, which he used to beat me with.
A cry of pain erupted from my lungs as the next blow caused my back to arch. My senses faded, and the battlefield ceased to exist entirely. All I heard were my own screams. All I felt was the sharp, ungodly pain of the whip slicing through inches of muscle and tendons. The one thing that kept me from passing out was the faint warmth I still felt from Ava’s body pressed against my front. I held on to that sensation for dear life, though it was quickly fading as I teetered on the edge of consciousness.
“That’s it!” Deuce cheered. “Louder!”
Ava’s fist pounded against my chest as she sobbed, but I couldn’t move. Deuce and I had been brawling for years— inside the ring and out of it— and I’d never won a match against him. He’d always beaten me. I just couldn’t gain the upper hand on him. This time, it looked like he was going to win for good. The least I could do was make sure he didn’t take Ava out with me.
Because that’s all I lived for anymore. Her. I would die, and she would go on. She’d take care of Casey, and my family would be fine. Despite the brutal, bitter pain, Deuce couldn’t take anything from me anymore. I’d be okay.
A wild battle cry filled the air, and I was vaguely aware of footsteps approaching the area. Deuce drew back his whip to strike me again, and I braced for a blow that never came. Armor clanged as someone slammed into Deuce, knocking him off his feet.
“YOU WILL NOT STRIKE MY PRINCE!” a voice echoed across the battlefield, strong, noble and true.
Eddie. Despite our broken bond, our fragmented friendship… he’d come for me.
Through the mental fog clouding my mind, I heard Deuce lunge for my former guard, but he stumbled forward like he missed him entirely… or had phased right though him. Eddie was an Elvish Grand Master with the power to phase through solid objects. He must’ve phased himself through Deuce, which was enough to piss the demigod off and distract him for a few moments. Deuce cracked his whip, but I didn’t hear Eddie cry out. The whips must’ve passed right through his transparent form.
“Eddie, wait for us!” Kallie came tearing in from across the forest, and I sensed Danny’s vampiric power as he raced behind her, both of them tossing spells at Deuce like mad.
While Eddie, Kallie and Danny had Deuce distracted, several other people raced over to me. I heard the clop of hooves, then the hurried footsteps of multiple people. Gentle hands landed on my shoulders. I let them peel me off of Ava while I trembled from the pain. They laid me on my side.
“Shit.” I somehow managed to piece together that it was Ez. “His ribs and spine… Deuce cut right down to them. He’s lost half his blood volume!”
“That bastard,” Ava spat. Her tears had morphed from something fractured to something fierce… ruthless, intentional.
