Endure (14 page)

Images of my mother and Willy being slaughtered poured in and Dante grinned. Next came Rayna being torn to pieces by a gang of vampires. Her body laid torn open on the warehouse floor, showered in moonlight and bathed in blood. Then the images faded and Dante looked down on me. He appeared as a foul beast from the depths of an unknown hell. Fangs and claws jutted from skin that dripped black ooze. His eyes glowed with fire and his size magnified with each passing second, creating a monstrosity of a vampire to tower over me.

All the anger and determination I had sucked back into my soul as his power infiltrated my mind, taking control and warping my thoughts. Dante’s laughter filled my ears and before I could prepare for it, his claws tore across my stomach.

Liquid rolled over my skin and the wound stung as air slipped through the tears in my clothes. His hand grabbed my throat and the slimy coating from his clear skin ran down my neck. He lifted me with ease, his grip tight and his claws lingering along the sides of my face. The sharp-edged bone pressed into my cheek and a stinging sensation followed. He stared into my eyes and he seemed to be his normal size, but I couldn’t be certain. His power drove through my skull, causing painful shocks to explode through my brain. The fear he’d implanted amplified with every moment his hand touched me. Between fear-infused trembles, I realized I could no longer breathe.

A scream and a distant roar shattered the moment. I couldn’t tell if it was Rayna or the voices in my head, but the air never returned to my lungs. Dante growled and hung me over the railing, his words a demonic rumble. “I cower to no man.”

His grip vanished and air rushed past me. Dante’s laughter filled my mind, or was that the souls inside me laughing? When I hit the floor, a flash of bright light blinded me. The pain was sharp and I thought I might vomit, but I swallowed the bile that rose in my throat.

I didn’t hesitate to bring the water forward. Waves crashed into me and enveloped my wounds, pulling them shut in an angry rapid of power. What should have taken minutes took seconds, but Dante was just as quick. Standing before me, his empty gaze swallowed me and I squirmed back across the floor. My magic was back and holding his power at bay. The overbearing fear and terror he had forced into my mind faded, but my confidence didn’t return. I still felt terrified of his presence.

Alessia and Caterina stalked forward on either side of him, their fangs bared and archaic roars shaking their throats. Vincent’s own roar came to life. It was loud, ear curdling, and fierce, sending shivers of power along my skin. Vincent lunged over my body, and tackled his sister to the ground.

Before I could get to my feet, Rayna’s whip cracked in an unsuccessful blow. Dante’s arm reached up and let the whip coil around his forearm. The silver claws embedded in his suit jacket but he stood unfazed. With a quick tug, Rayna was off her feet and flying toward him. Alessia stepped forward and caught Rayna by the throat. She roared as she threw Rayna back across the room.

Caterina and Vincent rolled across the floor. With Caterina on top, Vincent used her momentum against her and kicked her over his head where Tiki waited for his moment. His sword cut down through the air, but in mid-flail Caterina kicked his arms away and landed on her feet. Her claws tore over his chest and blood splattered the ground. Tiki grunted but didn’t stop pressing forward. The vampire struck out with movements I couldn’t follow, cutting Tiki twice more and forcing him to drop his blades. With her next attack, Tiki grabbed both her wrists and pulled her arms apart, smashing his forehead into her face.

Dante paid no attention to his surroundings. His eyes were all for me, but there was no time for him to attack. Vincent’s claws tore across his back, lighting Dante’s eyes up in a golden flare, and then he was gone in a blur. Vincent was ready, and as Dante appeared behind him, he swung back toward his father. His claws swiped left and then right, but he was no match for Dante’s speed or power. In a few hazy movements, Vincent’s blood sprayed across the floor and he lay limply on the other side of the room.

I now stood face to face with the oldest vampires in the world lurking over me. Their eyes were full of rage and with each step they took toward me, my stomach twisted.

Air magic burst from my body and the trio flew back into a wall. To my surprise, they fought against the white magic. Dante grinned and his fangs sparkled.

“This is your best? This is the power that is to stop Ithreal and protect the gods from his wrath?”

I flung the element against them again but no matter how much magic I channeled, it only seemed to slow them down. They leaned forward as though moving a wall and stalked closer, gaining an inch at a time. I pushed the magic like a corporal weapon and my words came out through gritted teeth. “I’m not here to protect the gods. I’m here to protect the dimensions and everything in them. The gods can fend for themselves.”

Dante laughed. “Is that what they told you? That you’re some kind of hero?”

I looked to my left and right, hoping for the reassurance of a friend, but they weren’t there. Each of them was held hostage by a different vampire and more flooded into the room from the stairwell. Demonic stares glowed from the shadows of the second floor and dozens more stood behind the railing.

“You were not built to save anyone except those selfish bastards in the Otherworld. They sit on their marble thrones, watching us…always watching. Bound by their oath to never return and leave the worlds to suffer their own fate. They’ve invested their lives…their hopes, in you. It’s a disgusting act of faith; one that I will happily destroy.”

I shook my head and stepped backward. “What would you know about it?”

“Hmmm, I don’t know…perhaps because my parents birthed the Sovereign—direct descendants from the vampires of the true Underworlds.” Dante laughed. “It was reckless of you to come here, and since you’ve the intelligence of an insect, I’ll do the math for you. That makes me a second-generation vampire. After slaughtering my own parents for their archaic rule, I am the oldest and purest creature left to exist in this world. And that makes you an ant against me!” The last words were screamed with such rage and power my knees nearly buckled.

Vincent rose from the ground, covered in blood and hardly standing. He couldn’t even acknowledge me. His chest rose and fell but he was motionless on his feet, using all his energy to stay partially hunched.

“Let me guess,” Dante said. “Vincent didn’t tell you what you were really up against? Surprise, surprise.” He motioned to the other vampires. “Bring them to me.”

The demons thrust my friends forward, shoving them to their knees. Tiki and Rayna tried to fight back, but these were born vampires and they were too strong. They dragged Vincent in front of Dante, holding him up while his head fell back to stare at his father.

Dante stared at his son and then ignored him completely. “You ended their lives by coming here, hunter, and that’s a pity. This one is quite pretty.” Dante ran a finger along Rayna’s cheek and I lunged forward, but clawed hands pulled me back. Dante grinned and paced in front of us.

Alessia and Caterina had remained quiet and any time they tried to speak, Dante’s hand silenced them. After Alessia’s second attempt, Dante cast a glare that could shatter stone. “Silence!” His voice was monstrous. “You with your pity, you’re as weak as one of those animals we call food. Offering this terrible excuse for a vampire a plea? Offering him immunity? Your fate will be thrown before the Sovereign itself.”

“Yes, Dante,” she whispered, lowering her gaze.

Dante’s shoes tapped along the floor until he came to stand in front of me, the smell of death spilling from his mouth. “Not exactly the ending you’d envisioned, was it? You thought you’d fight to the very end and come back with a miraculous win against your father, saving the worlds.” Dante laughed. “He was trying to become a god, Chase; and you, the chosen one, have failed at every turn to stop him. Yet here I am, holding the Protector, his summoner, and their band of misfits captive and about to end it all. All that power inside you should be mine. I’m about to save the world and all I get is the pleasure of killing the one stupid enough to oppose me.”

I looked up at the second floor and courage began to seep back into my body. The fear that had swelled in my stomach evaporated and a smile tugged at my lips. Dante tensed with anger and his hand hammered against my face. Black dots swarmed my vision, but I shook them away, not letting the pain diffuse my grin.

“You’ve lost, boy! What the hell are you smiling about?” He pushed his nose against mine and the scent of copper filled my nostrils.

I didn’t pull away or let his attempt at intimidation faze me. I looked into his eyes, let him feel my magic rising, and whispered. “I’m not as stupid as you think.”

A quiet rumble began in Dante’s throat, but it was hushed as a body hit the ground beside us. Pale skin cracked, bright red and orange embers breaking out across its body before it exploded in an eruption of ash. A roar came from above as vampires were torn from the railing. Panthers, tigers, lions, and all of Chief’s pride tore into the vampires on the second level. All the doors on the main floor burst open, and werewolves flooded the room in an angry pack.

Fire magic exploded over my arms and the hands holding me vanished. The vampires behind me screamed as I pushed the element over them. Their bodies lit up in a scorch of burning flesh before their ashy fate was met.

The heavy wooden boards that covered up the warehouse windows shattered, and ropes fluttered through the openings. Eric slid down into the warehouse on a repelling line with hunters alongside him. Streams of sunlight warmed the room, setting vampires on fire in every direction. The demons holding my friends burst into flames and roared as they scattered to the shadows. Tiki and Vincent tackled Caterina, who fought back with deadly talent, avoiding each stream of sunlight. Her body arched around the sunlight and she struck out with her claws, tearing into Tiki’s arm.

The elevator on the second floor dinged and as the doors opened, Marcus walked into the room. His arm swung to the side and two silver blades rotated end over end, piercing Alessia in the back. She roared and charged toward him, but Rayna’s whip snapped on the air, catching Alessia’s cheek and tearing her face open in a gush of red.

Dante and I stood in the middle of the raging war. His black gaze scanned the room and a spine-chilling growl resounded before he lunged. I dodged his first strike, then his second, countering with my fist smashing into his jaw. I put more power into that punch than ever before. A flood of strength filled my body and my limbs, offering me a force I’d never known. My arm was a blur and when my fist made contact, Dante’s jaw shattered beneath my knuckles. The bones cracked and loosened, and then I was pushing into soft broken flesh. His claws tore across my stomach, cutting the top layer of skin I’d healed. I grabbed the hair that framed his face and used it as leverage, pulling his head down toward my knee. I brought my leg up hard and blood splattered my pants as his nose broke. Dante staggered backward, blood running from his mouth and nose. The muscles in his jaw flexed and he winced. Through his transparent skin I saw all the broken pieces of his jaw floating loosely inside his face, and like a floating puzzle it reassembled itself. He moved in a haze, his claws wounding my back and my arms before I caught sight of him. I swung my fist, but he was too fast and claws cut across the back of my leg, tearing into the muscles.

I dropped to one knee, screaming in agony while warm fluid gushed out of my leg. Dante’s chest heaved with jagged breaths. He looked like a beast—his shoulders raised up by his ears, claws protruding from his fingers, and eyes full of hatred.

“I…cower…to…NO ONE!” He arched back his arm to lay a final strike, and I didn’t stop to think, I only reacted.

I channeled the first element I felt. Flashes of light arced between my fingers and each hair on my body rose. Static electricity snapped around my ears and a blinding light surged through the warehouse. Brief coils of light rolled over my arms before bursting in every direction, striking demons all around me. Power built in my chest and a ball of energy grew between my hands. Before I knew what was happening, the light vanished and a second later, a striking burst of light exploded over the room, and everything went white.

I squeezed my eyes shut and lines of color flickered behind my lids. Colorful dots swam around me and when I opened my eyes, there was darkness. It took a few moments for my eyes to adjust, and dimly, the room came back into view.

Red and yellow embers danced in the air and the ceiling rained ashy flakes of what were once born vampires. I climbed to my feet, pain shooting through my leg the moment I tried to put any pressure on it. There wasn’t time to heal myself. I staggered backward, trying to avoid any oncoming attacks and regain my balance. The bright dots that had become a part of my vision merged together and faded to reveal Dante not moving in for the kill, but standing frozen in front of me.

His eyes were locked on mine, his broken jaw hanging open, dripping with blood. His head canted slightly to the side as dark lines moved up over his face from beneath the collar of his shirt. The lines jutted left, then right, and after a few moments, all those lines branched off into widening cracks and his skin began to split. Black blood ran from his wounds and his skin began to gray. Sparks of embers sputtered from the growing crevices, and the blood that ran down his skin ignited like an accelerant. Flames swallowed him and he fell to his knees as drifts of smoke smoldered into the sunlight. There were no screams, only a brief gurgling in his throat before his body hit the concrete. His clothes shrank and melted, coiling up before they too, turned to ash. When all that was left was a smoking pile of dust, the warehouse had gone silent.