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“Julian. Help her,” I beg.
“Stay here,” he says, holding me in place and then stalking toward the scene playing out in front of me.
At that moment, Stacey comes walking through the door. When she sees Marcellus, she pales. Even from this distance I can see her body convulse in fear.
He grabs Stacey by the arm, dragging her toward the door, with Shannon in tow.
“Take your hands off of her.” Julian’s voice bellows through the room.
My feet move in their direction until a hand grabs my arm from behind.
“Marina, you have to leave.” Law is by my side, trying to direct me to a side door. “It’s not safe for you.”
“No. Stop,” I say, trying desperately to get out of his clutches. “I have to help them.”
“You can’t. Let Julian handle him. You have to go. Now.”
Law tries and fails to remove me, as I fight to stay put. I won’t leave Shannon and Stacey.
“I’ve come to retrieve my property. Surely, you’ll allow me my rights, Julian,” Marcellus sneers. “Perhaps we can barter. One for the other?”
He wouldn’t. There is no way he’d allow that monster to take Stacey. Not after everything we’ve shared. Everything I mean to him. He’ll protect her.
“You can’t have either of them,” Julian says in a murderous tone, motioning between my friends.
“Oh no, you misunderstand, brother. I want her,” he says pointing to me.
I jerk back, not understanding what he could possibly want with me and not giving a shit. He won’t touch me. I’ll die first.
Julian grabs Marcellus by the collar and throws him against the wall. He hits it with a smack, plaster crashing. Nobody moves. All the partygoers still, watching the fight in front of them play out.
Julian stalks toward Marcellus’s body, heaped on the floor, when Marcellus springs to his feet, teeth bared. Julian steps backward, acting as a barrier between me and Marcellus. Seeing that he won’t get to me, Marcellus moves toward Stacey.
In slow motion I watch as he grabs Stacey, dragging her body across the room while she fights, screaming and clawing, trying to escape his grasp.Help her, I command myself, but my limbs don’t react. My body is motionless.
“Please. Please,” Stacey screams at the top of her lungs, desperate, savage. “Kill me,” she begs in Julian’s direction.
Julian moves swiftly to intersect them, but Marcellus sees him coming. Taking her head in his hands, Marcellus breaks her neck. Stacey’s body goes limp, falling to the floor.
“No!” I scream, shaking with the vibration from the sheer force of my words.
I clutch my stomach, bile threatening to spill over. Falling to my knees with a guttural cry, I know that there is nothing I can do for my friend. Broken sobs rack my body. I’m so wrapped up in my grief that I don’t see the throngs of vampires piling into the room until Law grabs my arm.
“Get up, Marina,” Law screams. “You’ve got to get up.”
My eyes rise to find Julian, and that’s when I see them. Julian’s being held by two beefy men with glowing red eyes. The party guests are being brutally drained of blood. Cries and screams of terror echo off the walls in a cacophony of horror.
Julian’s mouth is moving as he yells in my direction. Two strong arms pull me to my feet.Bash.
“Get her out of here, Bash,” Law commands.
Bash yanks me off my feet, carrying me toward the hall. I thrash, trying to get loose. My eyes meet Julian’s.Go.He wants me out of here.
“He’ll be safe, Marina. But you won’t. We’ve got to move.”
“I can’t leave Shannon,” I scream.
“He’ll save her, but he can’t if you’re still here. We have to go, now.”
