Blinding Light (The Bloodmarked Trilogy Book 2) (4 page)

“Right. Who is this silent partner of yours anyway, and what does he have against me?”

He smiled a wolfish and completely untrustworthy smile. “He’s shy, but don’t worry. You’ll meet him when the time is right. He and I share this common interest of killing you. We’re both kind of big on being the biggest badass.”

“I’m the common enemy. So what happens if I die? You kill each other?”

“You got it, baby.”

I stood there weighing my options, but I refused to play any more of Shane’s games. So that left me with one option. Kill him before he killed me. The two things I wanted to do were to get Gavin out of here and inflict a lot of physical pain on Shane.

I looked over at the lifeless form that hung from the beam and winced. He was completely out of it now. I thought about how Shane weakened Gavin, stripping him of his power and reducing him to a helpless victim while he stole his blood and took some of that power into him. I thought about Holly and all those brutal murders he was part of, and I saw red.

“You may have stolen strength, Shane, but I think you forget one thing.”

“What’s that?”

“I am stronger and more powerful than you can imagine. And you made me this way.”

For the first time, anger and a hint of insecurity flashed in his eyes before he raced across the room into the darkness. “We’ll see who has all the power.”

A shadow flew by me, but my eyes were able to track it well enough for me to reach out and grab ahold of his wrist. With everything I had in me, I yanked him back, throwing him into the nearest cement column. Pieces of it crumbled and fell to the ground. His face contorted into pure rage. He quickly righted himself and charged me.

Unable to dodge his advance, he barreled into me like a freight train, our arms locked to one another’s as he pushed me backward. I dug my feet in but they slid across the concrete, easily turning it into gravel. I couldn’t get traction under the loose rock, and Shane used the momentum to throw me off balance while he landed a jab to my face. I stumbled, and that slight fault cost me.

He came to my side and kicked my ribs with all his strength.
Gavin’s
strength. My ribs shattered, and I was thrown several feet, skidding across the smooth cement. By the time I sat up, my ribs were only bruised instead of broken, but the pain was still present. I stood cautiously, and it was immediately reduced to a dull ache.

“Come on, baby. I thought playing with you would be more fun,” he taunted from the shadows.

He came at me again from behind, knocking me into a pillar. Its surface crumbled under my impact. I heard him sneak up behind me, but my fist was already swinging by the time he could make contact with his own punch. It was a direct hit to his nose, and I used that slight advantage to lay into him repeatedly. Striking with both fists and feet, I reduced him to a bloody pulp and plowed through three columns in the process.

When I neared his battered form, I prepared for another kick, but he spun quickly, throwing rock debris into my face. Blinking freed most of the dirt from my eyes, but he was already striking out again. It was no use having my vision back when my eyes were swollen shut from his blows. His hands clamped down on my sides and the feeling of weightlessness replaced gravity, followed by the crunching of my bones upon collision with a stone wall.

The running total of demolished pillars was unknown at this point, but I was sure the structural integrity of the building had been compromised about ten broken bones ago. It was only a matter of time before we were all buried under a pile of rubble and mangled steel. I had to get Gavin out soon.

His heart was still beating at a slow but steady pace, and I glanced over to see him hanging limply.

Shane snuck around and stood above me on the pile of debris behind my head. The tread of his boot drew dangerously close to my face. I snaked an arm out, grabbing a handful of his jeans, and yanked him down next to me. I rolled over with a firm grip on his shirt collar.

My knuckles ached from delivering a continuous stream of hits. My hair had fallen completely free of the ponytail holder that restrained it. It cascaded around my face, making it more difficult to see where my punches were landing.

I grabbed Shane’s beaten body and flung it as hard as I could. The resulting crash preceded a loud cracking sound. I glanced up at the ceiling to witness a fissure splintering across the middle. This place couldn’t handle much more abuse. I needed to end this quickly, one way or another.

Reaching into my boot, I pulled the pilfered stake free and raced over to hide in the shadow of one of the few columns that remained. I glanced over at Gavin, who was now a mere thirty feet from me. I looked back at the exit and tried planning an escape. Shane stepped in front of me, blocking my view of Gavin.

He looked straight at me. “Come on, baby. Don’t quit on me now. I thought we were having fun.”

“Who said anything about quitting?” I asked, gripping the stake tighter.

The small movement drew his attention and he tsked me. “You’re bringing weapons into this. I thought you were better than that. Where did you even find one on short notice?”

“Stole it from your girlfriend, actually,” I said, taking a step closer.

“Where is Emily?” he asked.

“I don’t know. Part of her might be on my hand. Other parts are probably scattered around the block by now.” I shrugged a shoulder.

“You bitch!”

“Oh, don’t act like you gave a shit about her. You never thought to ask about her until the subject came up.”

“She was a good helper, and incredibly giving,” he said salaciously. Gross. “I’m going to revel in killing the both of you. I’m going to-”

His words were cut short when I threw the stake toward him. He dodged quickly.

“You missed, sweetheart.”

I looked directly into his eyes and let the corners of my mouth tip up in an ‘I gotchya’ grin. “I never miss,” I told him.

He looked at me questioningly before turning in the direction of the stake’s trajectory. It took him another moment to process what happened. His eyes bulged when he noticed the IV tube that was no longer connected to Gavin’s arm.

I knew he would be weak, but I only needed him to be conscious. If he was conscious, he could at least pull the other tube out that was siphoning blood. Hopefully it would be enough to get him to walk out of here with me on his own, or at least give him time to escape without me if it came to that.

Before Shane could react and do more harm to Gavin, I tackled him with a force that put us both into the wall. Another boom sounded above, but I couldn’t afford to take my focus off him. I had to keep him distracted long enough for Gavin to recover.

Shane was one awfully pissed off vampire now and fought with a fury he has never shown me before. He threw his weight into me and landed a right hook across my cheekbone. Nothing broke, but it stung like a bitch. His wrath didn’t fizzle out there either.

He launched himself at me and latched onto my outstretched arms. He swung me around in circles like a dance until the centrifugal force knocked my happy ass right into an untouched pillar. A ripping noise rumbled above us, but when I glanced up to see the gap spreading, Shane landed a knee to my stomach.

I double over, realizing my mistake too late. The reaction cost me when my face lined up perfectly with the path of Shane’s steel-toe. When the dancing stars wore off, I was flat on my back in a pile of dirt and rock. Shane came to stand over me, a smug look on his face.

The sound of metal snapping drew Shane’s attention up, behind my head. I tilted my head back, my scalp scraping painfully across sharp rocks. When my vision focused and my eyes settled on the now empty beam, I smiled like the lioness that came across a wounded gazelle.

“Shit,” Shane whispered.

He never recovered from his stupor in time to stop my legs from wrapping tightly around his waist. I brought him down to the ground with enough force to bounce his head off the concrete like a basketball. I rolled on top of him, pounding into him with every bit of vengeance I had.

He managed to muscle me away and sprang forward. He rushed me, and we slammed into something hard and made of concrete. Imagine that. More rumbling echoed through the vast space. A hand curled around my throat and squeezed painfully. He dragged me up against the column, and his jet black, vampiric eyes met mine.

“You know, he wanted you alive. Maybe it’s for the best. I can’t wait to see what he has planned for you,” he whispered.

That was cryptic.

The bite of his fingers digging into my larynx prevented me from responding or questioning him further, but it didn’t matter. While waiting for the pain to worsen, I closed my eyes and imagined Gavin escaping.

The pain didn’t worsen. In fact, the hand that was wrapped around my neck slipped away, and I fell to my ass. When I looked up, I witnessed the most breathtaking sight in the world.

Gavin stood above me, broken chains hanging off his wrists. He peered down at me and once our eyes connected, I was snared. I couldn’t look anywhere else, and I didn’t want to. I gazed at him in awe, drinking him in like he was the last drop of rain to fall in the desert. I never knew I would even get to see him again after everything went down. So many emotions flickered in his eyes that it was difficult picking out one in particular. Seconds, maybe minutes passed.

He was the first to look away, drawn to a choking sound a few feet away. Reluctantly, I tore my gaze from him and spotted a lump on the ground. Gavin stepped toward Shane, prepared for another round, but like the coward Shane was, he fled. He flashed out the exit before either of us could move on him. The building groaned louder, and the sound of popping and cracking echoed through the room.

I looked back at Gavin, who was swaying a little. “We have to go,” I said, standing up.

I walked over to him and put an arm around his waist to steady him. He didn’t say anything, just leaned against me for support while I guided us through the rock fall.

The building was indeed coming down. A low thunder from above vibrated the foundation. We dodged brick and pieces of concrete, stumbling toward the stairs in a quick run, which was more like awkward hopping with the height difference between us.

We burst through the remaining set of doors into the cold night as people started gathering in the street to see what caused the commotion. As it caved in, we hobbled around the corner through an alley and were followed by the roar of destruction and shouting. The dust and debris created a nice fog for us to escape into, but we needed to get farther away in a very rapid fashion.

“Can you run?” I asked, craning my neck to look into his eyes.

Silently, he nodded and pulled his arm off my shoulders. He tested his balance and weight, shifting lightly on his feet. I nodded to him to let him know I was ready when he was. He returned the gesture, and I sprinted away from the noise hoping he’d follow.

When I felt him behind me, I picked up speed until I was sure we were at a safe enough distance. I ducked into a lit alleyway behind a Mexican restaurant I used to frequent with Holly.

Bracing myself, I turned toward Gavin, but nothing could prepare me for the rush of butterflies that were multiplying like rabbits in my stomach. I studied every feature and didn’t realize how much I was holding back until it all broke free. Every simple touch, every fiery argument came back with the force of a Mac truck going eighty. There was so much between us and so much that has happened.

The last time I saw him, I basically told him I never wanted to see him again because of the secrets he kept from me. What he did wasn’t right, but I understood why he did it. He only ever wanted to protect me. He needed my trust before he could answer my questions without me trying to kill him. I couldn’t give that to him before, but after all the times he’s saved my life, I couldn’t imagine not trusting him now.

Tears stung my eyes when I realized he was looking at me the same way. His gaze traveled the length of me in a slow perusal that had my heart doing back flips. When he met my eyes again, a thousand unspoken, yet beautiful regrets peeked back at me. I could get lost in his complicated, tangled depths for years to come if he’d allow it.

The way he looked at me made me want to jump in his arms and cry at the same time. I would fight a million vampires, run across the world in super speed, and then lift it up with my bare hands to see him look at me like that. Only he could look at me like he was seeing everything, inside and out. And I really missed that intense blue gaze.

A small eternity ticked by as we stood locked in each other’s gazes. I cleared my throat.

“Gavin,” I whispered.

Before I could say more, he stopped me. “Lucy, don’t. Not now. Come here,” he said, reaching out his hand.

I took it without having to think about it. He pulled me into the warmth of his strong arms, and I was glad he was holding me up because that intoxicating scent of his nearly undid me. It was so unique to him and smelled like the most expensive cologne. I inhaled greedily and his light chuckle reverberated in my chest.

He wrapped his arms around me, caging me in and gripping my sides so firmly his fingers dug in brutally. His relief emanated from this hug. My dangling legs instinctively wrapped around his waist, and I clung to him so hard that he was going to have trouble prying me off him.