Barbie- The Vampire Hunter Boxset

by Lucinda Dark

  There was something wrong with that, something wrong with him. It was as if he wanted her to get closer. Katalin’s words raced back to my mind from her earlier explanation. If Arrius truly wanted to open a portal to the underworld, he would want the strongest hybrid in existence. He’d tried to create that with Torin, but…

  A hybrid made of more than two species would have the strongest blood, my beast spoke in my head, bringing my fears to life at the worst possible fucking moment. Because it was at that moment that Barbie reached him, her talons ripping through his vest and shirt as she dove for his throat.

  And even as darkness overcame me, I knew I was too fucking late.

  Chapter 47

  Torin

  Fire poured into my stomach and rocketed up my throat until I felt as if lava would spew from my lips. It ate me up, rotted me from the inside out. The pain was intense and yet, at the same time, negligible when compared to the pain of seeing Barbie and Maverick tied to a stone wall as they watched me experience what I was sure was my impending death. Every single one of my nerves felt scraped raw. As if someone had taken a rusty spoon and carved it into my flesh, trying to dig out everything that I was.

  I gritted my teeth and bore it, closing my eyes and turning my head away. From the moment I’d woken, I’d known I was going to die. Arrius had made that quite clear as he’d ordered me strung up and beaten and bled. My vampire’s hunger curdled in my guts but there was nothing to be done. I gagged as bile raced up my esophagus. Fissures formed over my skin. The smell of burning flesh reached my nostrils, making it that much harder to keep from vomiting.

  “Torin!” I heard my name as if coming from down a long tunnel. The chants were overshadowing everything—the men and women who blindly followed my father’s orders were practically screaming them. At least, it sounded that way.

  You need to get up. That voice. I knew that voice. It wasn’t coming from outside but from inside. It was my vampire. Get up, he ordered again.

  I can’t. Even in my own mind, my voice sounded weak.

  Our mate is in trouble, he said. Barbie. Her name brought up the image of her face, but not like it usually was. Usually, her brow was puckered with tension and her eyes were like steel. When I thought of her now, however, the only image of her came from the memory of lying in bed with her. Her face had been turned towards me, her blonde hair fanned out on the pillow and my arm as she’d snuggled against me.

  An explosion rocked the cave, reminding me of where I was. Some of the noise level dropped as the chants were cut off, but that was only followed by even louder screaming.

  Torin! my vampire screamed my name, but even in my head, it was only a whisper. Everything was heavy. I was sinking—deep down into some dark corner of myself that I hadn’t known existed.

  A hand reached through the darkness, latching onto me and dragging me back out, and suddenly, I was face to face with my own image. Except, it wasn’t me. It was my vampire. His eyes glowed, illuminating his—my—face as he snarled at me. Accept me, he growled.

  What?

  He shook me, his talons ripping out of his nail beds and sinking into my skin until blood welled up from my flesh. Accept. Me. He gritted the words out and pain lanced through me once more, stealing my breath away. If you don’t, he continued, we’ll both die and so will she.

  Barbie. No. I couldn’t let that happen.

  Then accept me, he repeated for the third and final time.

  How? I asked.

  In answer, he tilted his head back and arched his throat towards me. My eyes lit on the column and I swallowed hard. There would be no turning back after this. Forcing my thoughts down—along with all of my doubts and fears—I dipped my head down and felt my teeth, my fangs touch my vampire’s throat. One bite. They sunk deep, blood pooling in my mouth, on my tongue, sliding towards the back of my throat. I drank him down. With each mouthful, he grew weaker, but I grew stronger.

  I closed my eyes as I sacrificed this last bit of myself. There would be no more wavering. I had decided. I had to accept him even if it killed me.

  Moments later, my eyes opened. A flash of golden scaled skin flitted overhead. I blinked, blinded by heat and fire as a dragon’s massive jaws unhinged and a spray of actual flame emerged. Black dots danced in front of my vision.

  My throat was raw. I swallowed against the sharp spikes of agony turning over and over under the surface of my flesh. My skin was blackened. My back felt strangely stretched as if something beneath was trying to work its way out.

  Arrius stood in the circle as his followers scattered under the dragon—Maverick, I realized. The creature dipped low in the high ceiling of the cave. Fire rained down. He was aiming for those escaping. But where was Barbie? I tried to lift my head despite how heavy it felt. Her chains remained clinging to the wall—but she was gone.

  Maverick’s dragon dove towards me, claws outstretched. A witch’s fire tore across my vision—slamming into him and turning everything bright as I faded back into the oblivion.

  Chapter 48

  Barbie

  To be honest, I always thought I’d die because I’d said something sarcastic at the worst time. Not by trying to kill myself so a demon could possess my body. Maybe in the next life, I’d be smart enough to choose better boyfriends. Perhaps ones that weren’t related to the monster who had killed my family and my best friend.

  Holy shit, I thought, every other thought in my brain freezing as I just went over what I’d just thought. Had I just admitted that Torin and Maverick were my boyfriends? Wow. What a fucking time to think about that.

  Barbie! Satrina’s power slammed out of me and I came back to awareness with all the gentleness of a being thrust in front of a bullet train. I crash landed into my own body, feeling every ache and pain straight down to my fucking bone marrow. Large wings stretched out of my back, shielding me and snapping back and forth, aiding my movement as I ducked and weaved through other vampires in my effort to get to Arrius fucking Priest.

  I looked up and locked eyes with him. He grinned. The bastard knew I was coming for him. I couldn’t wait to wipe that smug smirk off his face when I ripped out his throat. Esperanza had moved away from his side; her arms rose up and she conjured a ball of fire, sending it spiraling through the room. A moment later, the mountain shook overhead. My head snapped around, I watched as Maverick, in dragon form, shook his big head back and forth after having been sent crashing into the cave wall.

  Esperanza would have to be taken care of, but it would be later. Because I was not letting Arrius live another fucking moment. We were ending this. Now.

  I flashed forward, aiming for his throat as a crack split open on the ground. Is it the portal? I asked.

  No, Satrina replied, her tone sharp and brisk. But we must kill him and the witch before any more blood is spilled. Vampire ash is still potent for magical spells. And this cave is far too full of it already.

  The witch bones? I asked.

  Yes.

  Shit.

  I lifted my head and met Arrius’ gaze straight on. No more waiting. No more searching. No more hunting. It all came down to this. To me and him. I wouldn’t let him overcome me. Not this time. The skin of my back stretched as my wings flapped. I darted forward, pushing harder—faster. I stretched my arms out, talons at the ready.

  I would cut through his throat and saw through his bones to behead him even if it meant using my fangs. Whatever I had to do, I would. Now, Barbie!

  Satrina didn’t need to tell me twice. I dove forward, reaching for him. My eyes widened a split second later when a flash of a blade appeared at his side—one of my holy swords. He shouldn’t have been able to wield it—but the gloves … the gloves! I realized. That’s why he was wearing gloves, to protect his skin from the holy blessing of the swords. So, that it wouldn’t burn him as he lifted it and thrusted it out towards me.

  There was no stopping. I was moving too fast. Suddenly, I was frozen in the moment as my own body was impaled on the sword
he thrust out. Blood spilled over the ground and the mountain shook again. The scent of brimstone filled my nostrils.

  “Thank you, Barbie,” Arrius said. “I couldn’t have done this without you, truly.”

  I spluttered, hanging on my own sword as my body came to a stop against his. I coughed, blood spewing forth. He didn’t even seem to mind that several droplets had landed on his cheek. Instead, I watched with a sick sort of horror as he reached up with his free hand and wiped it off with his thumb only to tuck the digit in his mouth and suck it clean of my blood.

  “No…” I rasped. It couldn’t end like this. That’s not how it was supposed to go, not how this was supposed to end.

  The portal! Satrina’s cry in my head shook me down to my core. My own fear hadn’t scared me as much as hers. If Satrina was afraid, then we were well and truly fucked. And definitely not in the fun way.

  Once again, the mountain shook. Arrius withdrew the sword from my chest and I collapsed at his feet as blood poured out. It slid over the stone, reaching for where Torin still lay.

  “I honestly didn’t even know if this would work,” Arrius admitted as he tossed the blade he’d used—my own fucking sword—haphazardly. The clang of metal scraping on stone reached my ears. “But I thought killing two hybrids would be the best option.”

  My heartbeat was loud in my ears and even though I knew it was as slow as it should have been after the turn, each thud was like another nail on my coffin being nailed down. Each singular thump in my ears, in my chest, was another gush of blood from my wound. And it. Wasn’t. Fucking. Closing. I held my trembling fingers over the injury, shaking as I tried to staunch the blood flow. With it, the dark powers that had been inside of me—the source of Satrina’s abilities—began to disperse.

  “Oh that won’t work, dear,” Arrius said. I lifted my head again. He smiled down at me. Cruelty and a glimmer of satisfaction lit his eyes. It was the expression of a man who was sure he’d won. “I coated the blade with Devil’s bane—anti-demon. It won’t be closing any time soon.”

  I’m so sorry, Barbie… Satrina sounded weak, her voice barely a whisper in my mind. We tried … we gave it our best shot.

  “No.”

  “It’s over,” Arrius said.

  “No,” I repeated it. I couldn’t stop repeating it. It was the only thing I could say. No. No. Nononononono. I said it until the no’s ran together, until it hurt, until my voice threatened to give out.

  Arrius scowled. “Stop.” It was a command, but not one I heeded. He would kill me anyway. There was no way I’d give him this satisfaction.

  “No. No. No. No.” The wings at my back grew heavy and soon enough they, too, disappeared—turning to ash against my back. The temperature in the cave ratcheted up to almost unbearable levels. Too hot. Everything was too hot. What vampires still remained groaned as they tried to get up. Over half of them were gone, turned to ash by Mav’s rainfall of fire. I turned my head, and saw that he was unconscious several feet away—his body having shifted back to human form. “No. No. No,” I kept going, shaking my head back and forth.

  “I said stop!” Arrius’ voice echoed into the cavernous room, bouncing off the walls. I stopped talking as a figure appeared at his back. A familiar face—one I hadn’t expected. I watched as she bent down and retrieved the sword. Her hands began to smoke as the holy swords burned her. But not by a single batted eyelash did she reveal her pain. Instead, she brought the sword up and swung it downward.

  Arrius turned at that exact moment—something must have tipped him off, perhaps it was my inability to tear my gaze away. It was too late, however. The sword continued downward in an arc at the same time he thrust his hands out—talons ripping through the fingers of his gloves and right into her chest.

  Silence pressed downward—keeping every single person still alive, still conscious, suspended in time. Arrius’ head fell forward from his shoulders and then it rolled right off as the rest of his body—centuries old—disintegrated into nothing but dust.

  “Ashes to Ashes. Dust to fucking dust,” I muttered.

  The blade clattered to the ground and my eyes snapped to where Katalin stood, the front of her robe soaked in her own blood. She stumbled back and went down, her head lolling to the side as cracks began to form in her skin, chips of it breaking away.

  I crawled towards her, slowly, painfully, until I was at her side. Talons hadn’t just torn through her chest, I realized when I made it. Arrius, in his last fucking moments, had ripped her fucking heart out. All that remained behind was a hollow hole and a partially dead heart—most of it missing. She turned her cheek and looked up at me.

  “I think…” she said, stopping as a shudder worked through her and more fissures began to form along her arms and face. “In another life … it would’ve been a joy … to truly fight you.”

  I didn’t know what to say to that. So, I asked, “Do you think you would’ve won?”

  She laughed. “Not at all, but it would’ve been a fun way to go.”

  When I smiled down at her as the cracks caved in on themselves and her face began to deteriorate, it was full of remorse. I kept it up though, as her body sunk in on itself beneath the robe—her limbs dematerializing, her heart crumbling into nothing. And when I spoke again, I knew she couldn’t hear me. Yet, the words came anyway. There was no denying them.

  “Yes,” I said. “It would’ve.”

  Epilogue

  Barbie

  A week later…

  The sun rose over the flat roof of the Cactus Inn Motel—fat, red, and round. “Do you have everything?” I turned my head at Torin’s question as he approached the car—the new SUV we’d purchased along with several other things as soon as we managed to escape Ashwood Mountain.

  “What’s there to have?” I asked. “All I’ve got are the clothes on my back.” I grinned as dust swirled up against my ankles as I swung my legs back and forth.

  Torin rounded the SUV and settled against the car at my side. “You’ve got me,” he argued. “And Mav.”

  I lifted a hand and brushed a stray lock off his forehead. “Maybe you’re right,” I replied. “Or maybe I’ll dump y’all in the next town over.”

  “Ahh, there’s that Barbie attitude we’ve come to know and dread.” Mav’s voice came around the other side as he strode out of the motel room we’d stopped at to grab showers and rest up before we decided what to do next.

  I snorted. “Sarcasm isn’t an attitude,” I said. “It’s an art form. One I dedicate my life to.”

  An eternity with a smartass, Satrina commented dryly. How exciting to look forward to.

  I smirked but didn’t respond. I knew she cared about me, even if she was just using me as a portal to the mortal realm to alleviate her boredom.

  The red wood door with a hanging six that, if one went by the numbers on either side, was probably an upside down broken nine, slammed shut at his back. The card reader beeped, letting us know we were now locked out. Didn’t matter, though, we were done here.

  Mav strode around the SUV, popping open the trunk and tossing in the new duffle bag of clothes and supplies we’d procured. I listened as he slammed the trunk lid closed and walked around to the front—where we were parallel parked against the curb. Unsurprisingly—in the middle of the desert Ashwood Mountain had been situated in—there were few cities and towns and even fewer tourists. Aside from our car, the motel parking lot was empty.

  “How’s the wound?” Torin asked, his hand sliding across my stomach—fingers grazing the bottom of the giant scab that now took up a lot of Barbie skin real estate.

  I caught his hand in mine and held it. “Sore,” I said, “but healing.”

  “Not fast enough,” Mav mumbled.

  “It’ll be fine,” I said. “Any news on where Esperanza went?”

  Torin shook his head. “No. It’s like she just disappeared.”

  “Do you think she really wanted to help him?” I asked, thinking back on when Katalin had taken Arriu
s down—shocking both him and me—and how immediately after, the black witch had turned and walked out.

  She wasn’t the only one to escape, either. A couple of the vampires who’d been in attendance of the ceremony gone wrong had managed to get out as well. I’d been far too hurt at the time to chase her—or them—down.

  “I don’t know,” Torin said. “I’d like to think not. She did try to help us.”

  “Maybe she thought she had no other choice,” I offered.

  “There’s always a choice,” Mav disagreed.

  I sighed. The three of us grew quiet, our breaths the only noise aside from that of the surrounding nature—insects buzzing and birds chirping as the sun’s colors bled into the rest of the sky. “So,” I said, “what now?”

  It took a moment for anyone to reply. “I don’t actually know,” Torin said, sounding a mixture of tired and lost.

  “We could go home,” Mav suggested.

  “Can we though?” I asked, turning to meet his gaze. “I mean, we just killed the most powerful vampire in the world, and you and I are no longer human. Can we really go back to being … normal?”

  “We never even graduated,” Maverick pointed out. “I don’t know about you, but I’d like to do that.”

  Torin snorted. “Go figure. The jock wants to graduate.”

  “You were a fucking jock too, asshole,” Mav said, leaning around me to punch his shoulder.

  I shook my head. “Who cares about graduation,” I said. “We did something a bit more important.”

  “Saved the world?” Mav guessed.

  I nodded.

  “Perhaps…” Torin hedged.

  Both Mav and I turned and stared at him curiously. “What’s that supposed to mean?” I asked.