Angels and Hunters (Stoker Sisters 2) (19 page)

Skars gaze shifted and Sadie immediately knew he’d grown suspicious. His fist tightened about her hair and Sadie winced as tears of pain filled her eyes.

“What freakin’ game do you think you're playing?” Skars shouted. He yanked her away from him, holding her at arms’ length, her feet barely touching the sand.

“Ah!” she cried, no longer able to contain the tears. In the distance she saw Keegan, shift and jitter as Delilah kept control of him with hushed words to his ear. But the Strigois were quickly approaching and the battle was about to begin. If they were to do something to save her it would have to be now.

But it was Ashwin who finally ceased playing the game. He rammed into Skars, his physique suddenly bulking up larger and darker than Sadie had ever seen. Gideon the Destroyer had returned in full vampire warrior form. Skars finally released his painful hold of her and she fell helplessly into the sand, her head aching.

Skars also shifted in form, turning into an ox of a vampire.

Ashwin took a hold of Skars’ head and jammed it into his knee. The blow threw Skars off, sending him reeling back a few steps, but he quickly shook it off and set on the attack.

His leg rose, high and strong, striking Ashwin in the jaw.

Of similar size and strength, their fight was vicious and unrelenting. One fierce blow brought on another and neither man would back down.

In the distance, Keegan, Alexis and Delilah were equally busy fighting off one Strigoi after another.

“You're a traitor,” Skars called out to Ashwin as blood trickled from his nose. Standing a few paces from Ashwin, he seemed as winded as he was angered. “You dare turn on me, Gideon? You dare turn your back on who you are… what you are? You're a Strigoi.”

“I’m of Dracule.”

“You made a pact!”

“You're nothing but a demon. Your power means nothing to me.”

Skars threw a punch into the air, missing Ashwin by a foot.

“You allowed the demonic side of vampirism to take over. You invited the demonic dark side into your life as a vampire. From the very beginning, you’ve deliberately defied Dracule’s rules. Thanks to you, the world now views vampires as evil. Thanks to you, Dracule lost his life.”

“Dracule painted a beautiful but unrealistic picture of what vampires were, of what they could be. His rules were ridiculous and his dream of saving the world that of a seven year old boy.”

The insults darkened Ashwin until Gideon the Destroyer grew larger, huge, dangerous and determined. In response, Skars grew larger still, releasing the wrath and power of the Agar. When they clashed together again, their blows led to more blood.

Feeling helpless and powerless, Sadie crawled back away from the violence of their blows as their fighting came closer and closer to her. Blood splattered and dotted her clothing. She could feel the splatterings on her face.

She had to do something, yet she felt paralyzed. In the distance, Alexis threw a Strigoi over her head with ease. Keegan staked another, his war cry filling the air. And Delilah, no longer frail looking and delicate as she took on her larger, fiercer form as Mina, fought for her life, for the lives of all vampires.

If Sadie had admired her before for being the wise and beautiful mentor, nanny and friend she’d always been, she was in complete awe now as she watched her fight with ease and confidence. Not a trace of fear showed in her eyes; not a moment of hesitation or confusion. Each move was measured, sure and meant to kill.

With a stake in each hand, she easily killed more Strigois than Keegan and Alexis combined.

Chapter 17

S
adie was temporarily paralyzed as everything buzzed so quickly around her. Everyone she loved was in the distance fighting off a veritable army of Strigois, while Ashwin fought Skars with everything he had. 

She had to do something to help, but her mind was a blur of vague thoughts as she contemplated everything that had happened in the last hour; her passionate embrace with Ashwin, Keegan returning to her side with such concern in his eyes, and Delilah and her sister ready to fight so valiantly.

Her heart ached for all the love she had to give and all the betrayal she’d felt as Ashwin had released her into Skars’ hands. Shaking off all the emotions and pain, she turned to Delilah and Alexis. Above all that was where her heart truly needed to be. But the moment she’d determined her next step, to go to their aid, Skars snaked his hand around her neck and quickly brought her back into his hold.

She struggled, kicking and clawing, tearing at his skin, biting into his jacket, but incapable of breaking skin. As though dealing with an errant child, Skars lifted her off her feet and carried her away.

“Ashwin,” she shouted as she instinctively called for help from the man she nonetheless trusted.

Sadie felt the jolt as Skars’ jerked back. Ashwin had jumped his back, but his attempt to save her was quickly halted by warrior Strigois. Despite the imposing figure he was as the Destroyer, he was brought to his knees as three large Strigois rushed at him, knocking him to the ground.

In a heartbeat, Skars shifted into high gear, quickly leaving everyone behind as he floated across the beach sand. Sounds of fighting and battling soon faded into a distant hush as Skars easily carried her away, unhindered.

His speed increased, making the nearby ocean waves a blur of salty froth. Helpless to fight him, Sadie prayed as she was brought higher and higher into the blackened sky.

An answer to her prayer came in the way of a tight grip on her ankle. Glancing down, Sadie saw Mina holding on tight. The grip was almost painful, but Mina succeeded in pulling Sadie free of Skars’ grasp. She fell, from higher than she had imagined they’d flown, but it was no longer Mina there to soften her fall, but Delilah.

Skars stopped, suddenly, his face painted with crimson rage. His roar of anger filled the air and his eyes blazed with the animosity of a thousand years as he gazed upon his lifelong nemesis.

“It’s time you fought me directly, Agar, and not my students.” Delilah quickly reached him, flying up to wage a battle in the night sky. “Are you afraid of what a battle with an Ancient can do to you?”

“Fear not for me,” Skars said through a sneer. 

He threw himself at her, and they tumbled together high above as Sadie could only watch from the sand below. Her admiration of her tutor and mentor grew with every strike from the delicate and fragile Delilah. Each blow had Skars reeling and struggling to keep the upper hand. Not only did Delilah show her immeasurable strength, but she continually outsmarted Skars, twisting around in the air and attacking him from behind, flying around to surprise him as he anticipated a blow from the left, only to receive an unexpected kick from the right.

She was winning. She’d saved Sadie from certain ill fate. Just as she’d done so many times throughout her childhood, Delilah proved once again to be worthy of her charges.

Under the pale glow of the moonlight, Delilah prepared for a fatal blow. She pulled back, hung in the air for a tense moment then charged Skars. But the old demon would not succumb so easily. Anticipating Delilah’s move, he held one huge hand out at the last moment, seized her by the neck and brought her in close for a deadly bite.

Horrified, Sadie stood back as her beloved mentor plummeted through the air to land at her feet. Though softened by the sandy beach, her fall nonetheless resulted in a painful thud, her head left to lay at an odd angle.

Chapter 18

A
loud cry pierced the sky. At first Ashwin was certain it was Sadie’s cry of pain and anguish at her fallen mentor. In an instant she was up and rushing to Delilah’s aid. But he quickly realized the cry of sorrow emanated from his own mouth. Before Sadie could even approach her, he was at Delilah’s side.

Throughout their lives, he’d always shared Delilah’s pain, though never as intensely as he did that very moment. Surely her wounds were far more severe than they had ever been before.

His grief hung on every gasp and cry as he reached out for her and pulled her limp body to his chest.

Their bond was something that had grown throughout the centuries. From her days as Mina, when Ashwin had first been turned, he’d held her in high regard. He’d even reluctantly admitted to himself that he’d once harbored a great desire to have her for his own, to gain her love. Not the brotherly love she’d so easily adorned him with, but the passionate and fiery love… the love she’d reserved only for Dracule.

As he held her in his arms he gazed at Sadie, truly understanding for the first time his intense attraction to her. Sadie and Alexis, both raised by Delilah’s hand, held the qualities he’d so cherished in Delilah, especially Sadie.

And now, as she looked at him with love, concern and fear for Delilah’s life clearly written in her eyes, he knew she felt the same foreboding sense of loss that he felt.

“Mina,” he whispered into Delilah’s hair. “My dearest Mina. You can’t leave me now. We’ve still so much to accomplish. Come back to me now, Mina, and help me finish what we’ve started in this battle against Skars.”

He pulled her closer, willing her to return to him. “Dracule’s legacy cannot survive without you. Mina, you must hear me.” He laid his lips to her forehead, remembering the young vampire he’d first known. His beloved Mina. Not only had she been forever beautiful to behold, but her wisdom, patience and diligence as she’d guided him into the world of vampirism had greatly touched him.

A new vampire herself and she was already doing all she could to help ease his transition from human to new vampire. He fell in love with her then, and though she never returned his love, he always held the hope that one day she would. She’d impressed him from the very first moment they’d met. She’d guided him from the daydreams of a silly adolescent to the worldly ideals of a man. She was the woman he could never have…her heart belong to Dracule, and he was as devoted to his maker as she. As his first post vampire crush, she’d proven to be what all women should be; strong, intelligent, independent and with a heart filled with compassion for mankind.

Delilah was dying. His Delilah, his Mina. They were the only two Ancients who can stop Skars, who can help guide Dracule’s daughters to their destiny. He loved her, and he loved Dracule…his descendants. But Delilah…she had always been there for him, even when they were apart, he knew she was around…that her presence was enough to keep him loyal to Dracule. She was the glue to holding his legacy together, for fulfilling the vampire legend, for keeping all vampires from succumbing to the demons all vampires faced. He set his lips over hers, tentatively at first, as though fearing the effect on her fragile state. Though cold, her lips tasted sweet and he knew he’d not completely lost her.

A soft sigh, as gentle as the evening’s breeze, hushed in his ear.

“Yes, Mina,” he said, kissing her cheeks and squeezing her tighter. “Come back to me, my sweet Mina.”

“Ashwin?”

Smiling he gazed down at her, eager to meet her gaze. Her eyes were still tightly closed, and on hearing a light stirring at his side, he realized his name had not been called by Mina but by Sadie. In his desire to bring back Delilah, he’d forgotten her presence.

The moment he looked up at her, he knew the wealth of pain he’d callously showered upon her. His passionate embrace with Delilah… Sadie had witnessed it all.

“Sadie…” Ashwin said, looking pained and torn. “Delilah and I had so much history together…I can’t let her die. I have to do everything I can to help her, to save her. Please forgive me.”

Sadie turned away. How could Ashwin not love Delilah? They were the only Ancients left, besides Skars. Skars, Delilah, and Ashwin…entwined together forever as Dracule’s legacy.

“You okay, Sadie?” Keegan said as he came to her side, his arm sliding easily around her waist.