by Susan Illene
“Yes!”
She hesitated a moment before taking off.
He waited another few seconds for his body to recover and then began the trek back to the rest of the group. They were trying to talk Griff out of what he was doing, but the vampire didn’t appear to be in a listening mood. At least he seemed to be acting alone. They’d yet to see any sign of others helping him, which could have been a good or bad thing.
Bartol hit the perimeter, and his powers drained away again. It was bothersome that it could shield anyone from sensors no matter the distance, but it didn’t drain power until one was much closer. Bartol still couldn’t believe Griff had acquired something with such capabilities. No wonder they had not been able to find the vampire before, and why he’d been able to orchestrate such elaborate attacks on Cori. His movements might have been restricted to nighttime, but he could have come and gone from Fairbanks in disguise and no one would have been the wiser.
“If anyone else tries to come near this house,” Griff shouted, his gaze falling on Bartol in particular. “I will slit Cori’s throat.”
“Let her go,” Lucas demanded. “She has done nothing to deserve this.”
“Didn’t she tell you?” the vampire said, jerking his hostage closer. “My ex-wife here beat me to an inch of my life and then left me for dead in a pile of snow. She doesn’t deserve to live.”
Melena took a cautious step forward. “She was out of her mind with grief over your daughter’s death, and she told me herself that she regretted it. You’re not helping anything by killing her now.”
Griff’s face filled with rage. “If she had never left me, I wouldn’t have been drinking that night. She was the only one who could keep me calm so I didn’t do things like that. It’s her fault—all of it!”
Cori shuddered in Griff’s arms, grief and pain evident in her bruised and swollen face. At this range, Bartol’s connection to his mate was a lot stronger, making it even more difficult for him to watch her suffer. The magic draining his powers couldn’t affect their bond. It was on a metaphysical level that nothing except time and distance could weaken, but even then, it couldn’t cut it completely.
He could sense his mate was losing hope and the will to live. Every word Griff said was like a knife through her heart. The vampire knew exactly which points to hit to make her feel the maximum emotional pain. It was then that Bartol realized why she’d put up with the abuse for as long as she did. This man—or rather monster—had convinced her she was worth nothing and deserved no better than what he gave her.
Cori had spent these last few years finding her strength and rebuilding herself into the incredible woman Bartol met last summer. He could not let Griff tear her back down again. Somehow, they had to save her. She needed to know she was worth something and that everything her former husband said was a lie.
“The sun is going to rise soon,” Bartol warned, doing his best to keep his tone even. He had to keep calm for Cori’s sake. “Please let her go.”
“Oh, thank you for the reminder.” Griff dug into his pocket with one hand while keeping a knife at Cori’s throat with the other. He tapped the screen a few times, glared up at the sky as he waited for a satellite signal, and then put the phone to his ear. “I’ve done all you asked. They’re here, and everyone with angel blood is as weak as you suspected they would be—including the sensor.”
They held their breaths. Everyone who might listen in and recognize the voice on the other end of the line had lost their enhanced abilities. Only the werewolves, aside from Derrick, could still hear at full strength. Unfortunately, none of them would be able to identify the powerful players in the supernatural world to narrow the culprit down.
“Am I free to get my revenge now?” Griff asked.
A long pause.
“Thank you. It’s been an honor serving you.” The vampire hung up the phone. He took one look at the assembled crowd and grinned. “Looks like we’re about done here.”
Griff clutched Cori and moved forward off the porch and into the yard.
“What are you doing?” Bartol asked, his heart in his throat. They were getting far too close to the landmines, and Cori could not survive that kind of a blast. Had the person on the other end of the line been powerful enough to compel Griff to do this, or was it part of his own plan?
The vampire stopped about half a dozen paces from the house and kissed Cori’s swollen cheek. She cringed, but that just made him laugh. “Not long now, babe. You and I are going to be together forever.”
Impotent rage filled Bartol, but then realization struck him, and he glanced at the sky. Dawn was only a few minutes away. If the vampire didn’t take cover now, he’d burn and take Cori with him.
Chapter 29
Cori
She gazed around at all her friends who’d come for her, settling on Bartol last. His reaction to Griff holding her life in his demented hands was the most painful. Everyone was upset, but the conflicting panic and rage reflecting in Bartol’s eyes went above and beyond the others. He was desperate to save her no matter what it took. Too bad he didn’t understand she wasn’t worth rescuing.
If by some miracle Cori survived this day, she would become a liability to him. The mate bond would forever tether them together, whether they liked it or not. He would always feel an obligation toward her, and the last thing she wanted was to cause more pain in his life. Bartol had already suffered more than any man should. It was up to her to end this now and maybe, just maybe, he’d find a way to move on and live again without being bound to a mortal woman with an unforgivable past.
Not that Cori wanted to die. Not really.
There were so many things left in this world that she hadn’t experienced. Now that she was in her darkest hour, she realized she did want to fall in love again someday and possibly try to have more children. She wanted to leave a legacy that would survive after her death. As it stood now, she’d be forgotten in a matter of years. All of her wonderful friends who’d come to rescue her today would move on, and she’d become a distant memory in their minds. Maybe they’d lay flowers on her grave for the first couple of years, but she wasn’t important—not like them. They were the ones with the power to make this world a better place. A woman like her, who’d tried to kill a man in cold blood, didn’t deserve to be a part of that. Better that she stop this before anyone else got hurt.
Tears rolled down her swollen cheeks as she met each of her friend’s gazes in a solemn goodbye. Melena flinched, Derrick growled, Tormod’s eyes flashed, Lucas shook his head, and Bartol…well, he trembled with impotent rage.
Every part of her hurt from Griff’s repeated beatings the past couple of days. He’d brought her to the brink of unimaginable pain over and over without actually killing her. Cori was fairly certain her cheekbone was cracked, and her left arm broken. She likely had internal injuries as well if the agony in her abdomen was any indication. If Griff hadn’t been holding her upright, she couldn’t have stood on her own two feet. Every breath hurt because he’d intentionally left her latest injuries untended.
“It’s okay,” she said in a choked voice, knowing her time was close. “Just let me go.”
Bartol took a step closer, fists clenched at his sides. “You do not need to die, Cori. You are better than this.”
“I’m no hero like the rest of you.” She swallowed and forced herself to say the next words that would help them to let her go. “I’m a criminal who should have been punished a long time ago.”
“That’s not true!” Melena shouted. “You’ve helped us and saved people!”
Cori gave the sensor a weak smile. “It’s not enough to pay back what I did.”
Griff whispered in her ear, “That’s it, babe. Let them see the scum you really are. For once, you’re finally seeing the truth about yourself.”
Bitterness cloyed at her throat. The part of her that had changed over these past few years screamed that Griff was wrong, and she was worth something. She ignored that voice. This w
as the time for her to pay, so she could finally be at peace or at least no longer be a blight on this world. The darkness within her had built with every day she concealed the murder she’d committed, and it didn’t matter that she now knew her victim had survived. She couldn’t live with it anymore. Griff had brought all the guilt back to the surface and drilled it home.
“Mel, if I wasn’t your friend, you’d know I need to be punished,” Cori said, meeting the sensor’s gaze. “You’ve always fought for justice and doing the right thing, which is why I’ve always admired you. I don’t want to ever bring you down to my level.”
Melena gave her a pleading look. “We can work this out. You’re not as bad as you think.”
“Yes, I am.” Cori turned her gaze to Bartol. “And we both know you will be better off without me.”
He shook his head. “No, you are the one who has been changing me for the better. I still need you.”
She wished that was true, but at best she’d sped up his healing process. He could handle his problems from here on out without her if he just kept trying. “Promise me you’ll learn to live again,” Cori pleaded. “Let me die knowing that you’ll find happiness and love and all the things you deserve.”
“Why should I if you’re giving up?” Bartol asked, frustrated.
He didn’t understand this wasn’t only about her, but also about ensuring she wouldn’t be a liability to him or anyone else any longer. “Because you’re strong enough to do it, and I believe in you.”
Bartol glanced at the eastern sky where it was beginning to lighten, then turned his attention back to Cori. “Fight him! If ever there has been a human woman in the world who could defeat those stronger than her, it is you. Don’t let this be the end.”
“I can’t,” she said, voice breaking.
Melena’s face turned red. “Dammit, Cori. This isn’t you!”
“The sun’s comin’,” Derrick warned.
Griff pulled Cori around so that they faced the eastern sky. “I let you get your last words, but now it’s all you and me, babe.”
She could no longer see her friends, but she caught the sounds of scuffles and shouts. Someone was trying to cross the minefield to save her. Why did they think she was worth the trouble when she was nothing more than a criminal? Her greatest achievement was her beautiful daughter, but she’d ruined that as well by letting Griff near her. This was what Cori deserved. Going out with the man she’d tried to kill seemed rather fitting, and she would accept it.
The sky lightened further, and Griff’s exposed skin began to sizzle. She’d wondered if it took direct sunlight or if the early rays would be enough. His arms burst into flames first, singing her jacket. Cori stared in horror at the tiny flames that would soon reach her skin. For as much as she was ready to die, letting herself burn to death wasn’t exactly easy.
Griff’s legs lit up next, and he jerked behind her. “Now you’ll forever be mine.”
All that was left was his face, which he’d ducked behind her back in a small show of self-preservation. It was that, or he wanted to hang on as long as possible to ensure she didn’t get away. How could he have become so demented that he was willing to take her down with him?
Something inside Cori broke. She deserved a lot, but she didn’t deserve to spend eternity with Griff, and she had no doubt Hell would choose that as her punishment if her life ended now. Whether or not she deserved happiness might have been debatable, but maybe she could at least try to make a difference in the world before she left it. All she had to do was choose to live and fight for that chance with all she had in her.
The sun was moments away from peeking over the horizon, and then surely her opportunity would be gone. Cori couldn’t wait a moment longer. Ignoring all the aches and pains of her injuries, as well as the fire starting to burn through her clothes, she lifted her leg and kicked back into Griff’s shin. Her heel broke through his melting skin to the bone. He cried out and tightened his grip on her.
“No, you won’t escape. We die together!” he shouted in a garbled voice, holding her struggling form.
Her clothing began falling away in ashes, and the flames licked along her skin. She screamed as pure agony ran through her. All Cori could think about was getting away from the pain, so she fought even harder. She kicked again and again until Griff’s arms slackened enough for her to twist around and face him. As the blaze crawled up between them, she pushed against his blackened chest, burning her palms. He finally let go, and she collapsed to the ground. Rolling back and forth and crying out in pain, she worked to put out the flames covering her body. They died on her chest and back, but her lower legs were still engulfed. It wasn’t enough. She needed help if she was going to survive this.
Cori rolled once more, and her gaze honed in on a black stone with silver veins. It must have fallen from Griff’s pocket after his pants started burning. He’d meant for it to burn with him so her friends would never know that was the relic that drained their powers. Scraping the flesh from her elbows and knees, she crawled several feet to reach it. Her scorched fingers grasped it tightly. She closed her eyes and dug deep to the center of her very being, pulling on the last bit of strength she had to throw the stone as far as she could toward her friends.
It sailed through the air as she cried out, “Get it away from here!”
She could only pray they would understand.
Crumpling onto her stomach and squishing her face into the dirt, she watched as it landed at the edge of the minefield. Tormod, being the closest to it, snatched the stone up and tossed it to one of the werewolves unaffected by its powers. Several of them had just finished shifting back to human form with the dawn and were still naked, but one of them grabbed the stone. The man wasted no time running away with it.
Cori expelled a breath. No one could say she didn’t try to save herself.
The flames crawled their way back up her body, sending scorching pain through her legs, buttocks, and finally her back. She let out a choked scream, unable to move. At any moment, they would reach her head, and she would lose all will to live. As it was, her vision was growing hazy.
Bartol appeared before her. “Hang on, Cori!”
He stretched his hands out and in a burst of power, extinguished the flames. Her friends appeared next, hovering in a circle around her. She overheard a few others run into the house to check it, but they wouldn’t find anyone in there. Griff had sent away his human minions.
Cori wanted to shout or scream as the pain overwhelmed her senses. She wanted to tell the people who’d come to help her that it was too late and not even Micah could heal this much damage, but she couldn’t force the words from her throat. It was so swollen and sore that she could barely breathe. Lying there in horrible agony, Cori hoped they’d have mercy and put her out of her misery.
“Most of her body is too badly burned,” Micah said, crouching somewhere off to her side. “This is far beyond what I can heal before she succumbs to the burns.”
“We could take her to Kariann,” Derrick suggested.
Melena moved close to Cori and ran a soothing hand through her hair, which had mostly survived the flames. “Bartol said Griff has been hurting her off and on since she was taken, so I’m guessing she’s already had too much vampire blood. If we give her any more, she will start to turn and die.”
“We have to do something!” Bartol insisted, kneeling next to Melena. “We can’t leave her like this.”
Cori coughed. First once and then her hacking progressed into a full fit so that she couldn’t breathe. Micah shouted at the others to move aside and put his hands on her throat and chest. A minute later, she could draw breath again. The only trouble with that was it returned full attention to the burns covering her. She curled into herself, feeling almost all of her skin was scorched black from her chest down. Her clothes were completely gone.
Micah sighed. “That’s the best I can do for her. If I start on her skin, the pain will intensify and send her into shock. She
won’t survive it. Maybe in a human hospital…”
“No,” Melena said, emphatic. “She’ll only suffer more there.”
“Let me die,” Cori whispered, finally finding her voice.
Bartol kneeled over her and took her face into his hands. “I said you’re not dying on my watch. If it is the only way, I’ll give you my blood.”
Lucas grabbed his shoulder. “Don’t. The archangels will make you pay a high price for that, and you’re not in any shape to handle another stay in Purgatory this soon.”
“I don’t care,” Bartol growled. “You’d do the same for Melena.”
The nephilim clamped his lips shut and stepped away.
“Even if you don’t care about that,” Micah said, his gaze regretful. “No human has ever survived drinking nephilim blood. You will likely kill her or make her go mad.”
Melena’s voice rose above the others, “I can do it.”
“No,” Lucas barked. “You’ve pushed the archangels far enough lately.”
The sensor plopped down next to Bartol and stared at Cori. “She has the greatest chance of surviving with my blood, and I swear by all that is holy if you stop me I will shoot you.”
“I am your husband. You will not shoot me.” Lucas moved to grab his wife, but the sensor gave him a venomous look that stopped him in his tracks.
“Back off,” Melena ordered him.
“Please let her do this,” Bartol gazed up the nephilim. “I’ll tell the angels to punish me instead.”
Conflicting emotions crossed Lucas’ face as he stood there, weighing whether saving his wife’s friend was worth Melena being punished. Cori hated that they were even having this conversation. She didn’t deserve this kind of loyalty.
The sensor shook her head. “No, this is on me. She’s a good friend, and I’d save her even if she wasn’t mated to Bartol—consequences be damned.”
“It’s okay, Mel.” Cori inched her hand toward Melena, not quite reaching her. “I don’t want you or anyone else to get in trouble.”