AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“You’re fucking crazy, dude.”
A blur fills the space between us and then a blood-drenched and very, very pissed-off Ambrose is standing between me and Michael.
“Ah, the soon-to-be late king.”
There’s an eeriness about Ambrose that sends a chill down my spine. I’m not afraid of him, not exactly, but in front of me is a vicious, deadly predator, greater than any apex mammal on Earth. When my mate speaks, it’s with such a deep cold that it burns.
“You are a child in this world,” he says, as if each word is being written in stone. “You are playing with a power you have not earned, that you do not understand. You claim I have arrogance from ruling too long? You have the foolish arrogance of a child who still believes themselves immortal.”
Michael snarls something, and then they’re fighting. It’s wild and unrestrained, but I can’t look away. Ambrose is no longer using his knives, and he isn’t striking to kill. How the hell is he still willing to keep Michael alive? I stagger to my feet, needing to get down in case Michael pushes Ambrose back towards me. Scoping the area, I realize there’s no one left on the ground. All that remains are piles of bodies all wearing black.
And blood. So much blood. My gorge rises and I slap a hand over my mouth to keep from vomiting.
Someone stalking along the top of the other row has me looking towards them. The briefest panic disappears as I recognize Lan. Then Ashe and Eris drop down from the open window above, both landing with enviable ease like cats. Ashe meets my eyes and gives me a nod before looking at Eris. She grins and leaps from her spot to behind Michael.
I scream when Malachi is beside me without warning, flinging myself away. Before I can topple over the side, he catches me deftly in a gentle but secure grip.
“Apologies,” he murmurs and plucks the gun from my hand.
“Jesus, dude,” I shake my head but look back at my mate. Ambrose was right. Michael fights with sheer power, trying to muscle his way to victory. Yet he isn’t as strong as Ambrose, though it may not seem that way. Ambrose fights with precision borne from centuries of experience.
Michael is a bumbling bear, and Ambrose is a savage wolf, striking only when necessary and delivering critical blows. Ambrose could have killed Michael by now, and from the growing fury on the man’s face, he knows it.
“Is he just... toying with him?” I ask, unable to look away from the display of brutality in front of me. With the other Nightshade vampires at such ease, I find myself relaxing too.
Michael lunges with a guttural roar, a last-ditch effort at violence. Ambrose steps aside and under Michael’s arm, letting the man stumble past him. Ambrose’s expression is one of poised cruelty, and he grips Michael’s hair with one hand as he slams a knee into the man’s back. My stomach twists at the sound of bone breaking and Michael’s scream of pain. It’s the same scream that a cornered rabbit cries before the fox strikes.
“Eris, now.” Ambrose barks, glaring down at the man now on his knees. I think he’s only on his knees because Ambrose is holding him up by the hair. I’m utterly hypnotized by the scene in front of me.
Eris, dressed as badass as when I first met her, strolls up and around Ambrose like she’s out for a sunny stroll in the park. There’s even a bounce to her step, and when she meets my gaze, she gives me a jaunty wink before spinning on her leather-booted toes and gripping Michael by the chin. He moans in pain and thrashes against Ambrose’s hold as her metal nails pierce his skin.
She begins speaking, and I think it’s Latin. Whatever it is, though, sends another wave of goosebumps over me. I’ve never seen magic done before, but this is definitely magic and very powerful magic at that. As she continues, Ambrose joins in, speaking in tandem with Eris for a few lines before falling silent, leaving her to finish it alone. He’s not the only one silent. Michael Garner is glassy-eyed and still, as if his soul has been drained from his body and now he’s just a living husk. I wait for him to fall dead as the others did, but when Ambrose releases him, he stays upright.
“Leave us,” Ambrose orders Eris, who bows dramatically before dropping down the side of the crate. Ashe goes to follow, but halts when Ambrose snaps his head to him. “Stay.”
I think Ashe is going to argue but then he stands with his hands clasped in front of him, his hard gaze trained on Michael. Looking over my shoulder, I watch Eris pick up one of the bodies and I have to look away as she brings it up to her mouth.
Ambrose is crouching in front of Michael, who’s now slack-jawed but his eyes follow Ambrose’s every movement.
“Throw yourself to the ground,” Ambrose bites out unexpectedly. My eyes widen as Michael does exactly what he says without hesitation, and I flinch at the wet thud at the impact. Ambrose doesn’t look back at me as he steps off the crate and into the empty air.
“Come on,” Malachi says softly, opening his arms.
Speechless, I let him scoop me into his arms and squeeze my eyes tight as he jumps to the ground below. It’s not even jarring when he lands, and when he sets me back down on my feet, it’s in time to see Ashe and Lan land in tandem. They may as well have just taken a step forward for all the impact they showed.
They approach Michael, lying limply on the floor. A groan lets me know he’s not dead. Together, they lift him onto his feet, and turn their attention to Ambrose. Soldiers awaiting their king’s orders.
“Michael Garner,”—Michael twitches at Ambrose’s voice. Holy shit, is hehealing?—“You will never struggle against the Nightshade vampires. You will allow them to escort you home. You will tell no one of this night. You will give these two vampires all the information about the Rapture you have had altered. Then you will recover and continue your life until I have further instructions. Do you understand?”
Michael’s jaw pops back into place as he opens it to speak. “I understand.”
Ambrose nods to Ashe and with Lan’s help, the two drag Michael out of the reopened garage door. Ambrose still has his back towards us and I take a step forward. I freeze when he says Malachi’s name.
“Sire?” Malachi responds without hesitation.
Ambrose turns his head to the side, enough I can see his sharp cheekbone and the streaks of blood on his face.
“Leave us.”
