by Lisa Marie
“Drink, baby, drink,” he urged quietly, running a hand through her wet hair, smoothing it away from her face.
The seconds seemed to stretch into minutes as Ash and Brie waited for her to drink. Just as Ash was ready to give up, to mourn her with all the ferocity living in his body, he felt Eve’s lips move against his skin. It was the barest of movements, but it was there. Slowly, she took his blood from him, her eyes slitting open to look at him. He could only see the tiniest sliver of green as she drank, not enough to see what she was feeling, if she wasn’t too close to death to feel anything at all.
“I’m sorry baby. I love you,” he whispered, pressing a kiss on her temple, his mind begging her to forgive him.
Brie never let go of her sister’s hand, silently praying to whatever God was listening that Eve would understand.
“Go to hell!” Mark shouted, aiming his gun and shooting the last vampire. He walked through the dust, not caring that it clung eagerly to the wet strands of his hair and the slick leather of his coat. Flora lay in a crumpled mass on the ground and he had to get to her. Seth was making his way to her, as well, his gait quicker than Mark’s pain filled one.
Whatever satisfaction he felt at killing the werewolf responsible for killing his grandfather was buried behind a haze of pain and worry. Seth looked up at him as he came to a stop next to them. He stared back, his eyes asking what he was too afraid to say.
“She’s alive. Unconscious, but alive. A few stitches should take care of her,” he said, pulling off his shirt and pressing it against Flora’s neck.
“Good,” he glanced around the clearing, searching for Sebastian but landing on Brie and Ash instead. His heart stuttered to a stop when he realized that they were hovering over Eve, her body unmoving. “Shit!”
Seth looked up at the curse, and followed Mark’s gaze to settle on the small group.
“Yeah,” he said in agreement, and felt a deep sadness overcome him for his friends. “This is not a happy night.”
“No kidding. Where the fuck is Sebastian?”
Mark started toward the trio, knowing he was leaving Flora in good hands. His gaze darted around the edge of the woods, looking for the vampire. He knew there was a chance Sebastian’s dust was mixing with the mud under his feet, but he wasn’t counting on it.
While he was looking for Sebastian, his mind was centered solely on Brie. He knew what she was going through right now and he wanted to be there, to hold her, comfort her. To do all the things she had wanted to do for him. It scared him a lot how much she had come to mean to him.
When her eyes lifted to his, bright with tears, he felt his heart trip in his chest.
“Oh, honey,” he started, his voice so full of sympathy and sorrow that her chin started to tremble. Then he glanced down at Eve, saw the red staining her lips, heard Ash’s whispered apologies, and anger sliced through him. “What the hell are you doing!?” He reached down and pulled Ash back.
“I’m saving her.” Ash’s words were strong, but his tone suggested he wasn’t sure he believed that.
“You’re condemning her. Jesus, Ash. You have no idea how she’s going to wake up.” Mark shoved the vampire back, his fingers going to Eve’s throat, just as the last beat of her heart faded. “You stupid son of a bitch.”
“What the hell would you do?” Ash shot back, shoving Mark away and gathering Eve against him.
“I wouldn’t turn her into a blood-crazed demon!” He didn’t flinch at the red flashing through Ash’s eyes. He couldn’t believe that the vampire had done this. Who knew how she would be when she woke up. She could be herself, or that blood crazed demon Mark suggested and kill them all.
“God dammit!” He turned his attention to Brie, betrayal that she would allow this coating his black gaze.
“She’s my sister,” was all Brie had in defense of herself, and she stared back at him with a determination he had never seen in her before.
“You’re both fucking crazy.”
“Why, because I don’t want my sister to die? Because he doesn’t want the woman he loves to die? Most people don’t get any choice in the matter. We had an option.”
“Some option. You take away her right to sunlight, real food and a heartbeat. Why? Because you’re both too selfish to let her go,” Mark shouted back, incredulous rage rushing through his blood at an alarming rate.
“Selfish? We’re selfish? What about you? You hold people at a distance because you don’t want to get hurt. How selfish is that? I want my sister to live, however, she can live,” Brie tossed back, tears sliding down her cheeks. Her voice was hard with her conviction, her wet eyes challenging him.
He felt his anger subside a little as he looked at her. What would he have done if he had been there when Cyrus died? Would he have forced Ash to change him? What if it were Brie? He didn’t want to think that he would, but looking down at their grief stricken faces, he couldn’t be sure.
“Just as long as you’re willing to live with the circumstances,” he said cryptically. He gave her a pointed look, his meaning clear.
“I am,” she replied with a nod. When his face softened, her brows drew together in surprise. He knelt down and brushed a soft kiss across her temple, before turning to Ash. “You, too.”
“I am. I-I couldn’t let her die, Mark.” Ash’s face, usually so controlled, was filled with a desperate anguish, his eyes begging his friend to understand.
Whatever Mark might have said when he opened his mouth to answer turned into a yelp of pain as the tip of a knife plunged white hot into his back. Brie screamed, reaching out and catching him as he slumped forward, her hands immediately covering the wound to try to staunch the bleeding. Ash heard Seth growl behind him and he felt his own inner beast reawaken. His heart tore again at the blood dripping through the back of Mark’s duster, over Brie’s shaking fingers and mixing with the rain to run in a crimson river down the back of the leather. Instinct took over, his eyes shining a deep, crazed red, and he rolled to his feet to face Sebastian.
“I’m surprised, Mr. Marshall. I never thought that you would do it.” Sebastian stood a few feet away, his own vampiric visage forward, the red of his eyes full of cold smugness. “You all and your silly emotions. It makes you careless, easy to manipulate and distract.” He held the same knife he had tortured Ash with, the long, lethal blade dripping with Mark’s blood, and a gun. His mouth was twisted into a disgusted sneer, his lips still stained red.
Ash had to struggle to keep control, to keep from lunging at the vampire without thought. Sebastian could see it, his sneer spreading wider.
“I am going to destroy you,” Ash growled, throwing Sebastian’s own words back at him. The older vampire didn’t even bat an eye.
“Oh, God. Oh, God. Mark, no.” Brie was ignoring the vampires, how could she care with Mark’s life slipping slickly through her fingers? She tried desperately to pull the duster off his slack arms, his grunts of pain ripping holes in her heart.
Sebastian glanced over at her, his mouth splitting into a thin, cold smile. “Come now, Brianne. Haven’t enough people died because of you?” Brie’s gaze shot up to his and he had the satisfaction of seeing that he had hit a nerve.
“Leave her alone,” Ash snarled, taking a step closer to Sebastian, one eye on the knife, one on the gun.
“Careful, Mr. Marshall.” Sebastian raised the gun a notch, reminding Ash to watch his step. “Brianne?”
Brie wasn’t looking at them anymore. She had a hand pressed hard over the seeping wound in Mark’s back, her eyes trained on a patch of grass by her sister’s knee. This, all of this, was because of her. Eve dying, Mark getting hurt, first by Edward now by Sebastian. Seth’s loss of his sanctuary. Ash getting tortured. Flora getting injured. It was all because of her. She pursed her lips against the tremble and blinked to stem the hot sting in her eyes. She took several deep breaths, her arms tightening around Mark. She couldn’t lose him, not when they still had so much to figure out. She looked at his profile, rai
sing a hand to push his dark locks away from his cheek. A brilliant, black bruise marred the skin, making him appear no less beautiful. His eyes fluttered open, the inky depths hazed with intense pain, his breathing shallow against it.
“Don’t,” he gasped, his voice barely audible against the wind howling around them. The wetness clinging to her lashes fell to his cheek as she leaned over and kissed it. “Brie.” As gently as she could, she lowered him from her lap, easily evading his weak, grasping hand and stood. She turned to face Sebastian, her vibrant eyes shining in the darkness, her shoulders proud, her stance tall. “Brie!”
“It’s going to be all right,” she whispered into the wind, her gaze never leaving Sebastian as she started toward him. He smiled, thin and lethal, as she crossed the yard, his gun never wavering from its aim at Ash’s heart.
“Brie, don’t do this,” Ash said and debated whether or not he could get to the vampire before he had a chance to pull the trigger and send him to hell. The distance was still too great. He would be dust before he even got one hit in.
“It’s all right, Ash. This is the right thing.”
“How? You don’t think he’s going to let us live, do you?” he roared. Brie came to a stop in front of Sebastian, their bodies close enough to touch. A flash of lightening exploded overhead, illuminating the pair for the briefest of seconds. What Ash saw in that second had his brows drawing together in confusion.
“He’s correct, you know.” Sebastian brought the hand holding the knife up to drag a finger down her cheek. She didn’t even try to hide the shudder of revulsion she felt. She never blinked, and for the first time in what seemed like years, her eyes were devoid of tears. A cold calm had overcome her when she’d made her decision. Nothing would divert her from it.
“I know,” Brie said, and thrust the hand that she had been holding close to her body forward, sending the sharp edge of the stake she had lifted from Mark deep into Sebastian’s stomach. He howled with rage and struck Brie so hard that she flew back several feet to land hard on the ground.
With a burst of vampiric speed, Ash was across the yard and plowing a well placed kick to the hand of Sebastian’s holding the gun. It went sailing through the air as another flash of lightening flared in the sky. Sebastian swung with the knife, missing Ash by a hair. His other hand attempted to pull the stake free from his body, while trying to block Ash at the same time. It didn’t take Ash long to realize that fighting wasn’t Sebastian’s strong suit. With ease, he caught the knife hand, twisting Sebastian’s wrist until it popped. Sebastian screamed, yanking out the stake and turning it on Ash. It went skittering through the night and, for the first time, as he looked at the vampire rising tall above him, Sebastian felt fear slide through him.
“This is what happens when you let other people do the dirty work,” Ash told him, letting go of control and letting Sebastian see the true face of Celine’s childe. “You die.”
Pure bloodlust filled the unholy red eyes boring into Sebastian, their cold deadness making his stomach twist violently. Pleas and promises slipped from his lips, each whimper for his life making Ash’s crazed smile wider.
“Who’s the weak one now?” he shoved Sebastian away, waiting for the creature to scramble to his feet and start running before going in for the kill.
He felt the hot pain of the knife sliding into his skin, felt the burn of the holy water tipped edge as it dug into his shoulder with Sebastian’s last ditch attempt to stay alive. Ash seized the knife, yanking it from the shaking hand that grasped it with little effort, and wielded it high. He took a moment to savor the sheer terror in the vampires’ gold gaze, before letting out a roar that shook the trees and echoed through the night.
Lightning glinted off the knife as it came down, plunging again and again into Sebastian’s flesh. Cries of agony erupted from the vampire as Ash systematically shredded him, blood flying through the air to coat them both. When Sebastian was no more than a bloody mass of muscle and bone, Ash finally released him to fall to the sodden earth, before swinging the knife one last time. He forced the blade with deadly accuracy through the vampire’s neck, severing the head clean from his body.
Then he turned and walked away, Van Helsing’s knife landing in the pile of dust that had been Sebastian Kane.
* * * *
Brie hesitated at the door of the hospital room, her gaze tracing the outline of Mark’s body under the plain white sheet. He was asleep, thanks to the blood loss and the pain killers that the doctors had insisted on giving him, despite his rather loud objections. The wound in his back had been deep, but hadn’t caused any major damage, so he wouldn’t need surgery. The gashes in his chest and stomach had been shallow, not even needing stitches. But the doctor had still decided to keep him overnight just in case.
After Ash had killed Sebastian, they had wasted little time getting the unconscious Mark and Flora into the Thunderbird. Seth had driven it, while Brie sat in the back, cradling Mark against her. He had regained consciousness by the time they’d reached the hospital, but was too weak to get out of the car himself. Seth had easily scooped him up and carried him inside, something which had Mark feeling a little less than grateful.
Ash had gathered up Eve and put her in Flora’s car, following them to the hospital, before going to find a motel room. He didn’t want Eve to wake up in the busy hospital. None of them knew how she would be and he figured it would be safer to keep her away from people.
Brie knew she should have felt some sort of guilt for forcing Ash to turn her sister. But the thought of losing her had been too horrendous to even consider. She had no doubts that Eve would wake up her usual self, full of piss and vinegar, and not the evil, blood crazed creature that Mark was afraid she would become. Now if she could just be so sure that Eve would forgive them, things would seem a whole lot brighter.
Brie reached out and brushed Mark’s hair off his forehead, her touch tender. He sighed a little and shifted in his drug-induced sleep, leaning closer to her fingers. She smiled, her heart skipping a beat in her chest as she realized how much he had come to mean to her. The thought of him dying had been as sickening as losing Eve. Even now that they were safe, the way he had looked when he had been stabbed caused her stomach to twist. She would always remember it. He had come close to dying, and Brie hated to think how bleak life had seemed at that.
Thankfully, Flora was okay. Seth’s initial diagnosis proved correct and the older woman had already been stitched and released and had blissfully dealt with the cops when they had shown up. Brie had to admit, Flora certainly knew how to get around the law. The cops now thought that they had some group of moonshine crazed hillbillies running around the woods attacking innocent people. She had to chuckle at the remembered theatrics Flora had put on to get the police flustered and make them go away.
She had fully intended on going back to Sebastian when she’d leaned over to kiss Mark. She’d known that the chances of him sparing the others was almost nonexistent. She had hoped that Sebastian would drag her out of there, then come back with reinforcement to finish them off. But, by then, they would be gone. Then she had felt the stake in Mark’s duster and it hadn’t been very hard at all to work it from its hiding place. The darkness the storm provided, not to mention the eye Sebastian had to keep on Ash, had made it simple for her to get close to him. Too bad she couldn’t have plunged it straight into this black heart, instead of his stomach. Aiming hadn’t been the priority at the time. Saving the others had.
“Hey.”
The sound of Mark’s voice, tired and weak, pulled Brie out of her reverie. She smiled. “Hey,” she said back, stroking her fingers across his forehead again. “How are you feeling?”
“Like I got stabbed,” he said with a quicksilver grin.
“Funny.” She snorted. “Do you need anything? Maybe I should call the doctor.” Brie reached for the call button, but Mark’s warm, rough fingers closed around hers.
“I’m fine.”
“Are you sure?�
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“Yeah.” He nodded, a scowl flashing across her face and making her want to laugh out loud. It finally sank in that he was going to be all right. Maybe a little stiff in the shoulder on rainy days, but all right. “Come here,” he murmured after a second, tugging her lightly toward him.
“What?”
He tugged again, moving the arm the IV was attached to with great care and opening up a space beside him. She lost no time sliding into it, sighing when his arm closed around her, sealing her in his protective embrace. They lay like that for a long time, until they both fell asleep, Mark’s face buried in the soft tangle of her hair, her cheek pressed against his heart.
The nurse had come in once to check the dressing, debating briefly on whether or not to wake the young woman. Then Mark had shifted, his sleep slack face grimacing in pain, but his arm tightening further on her waist. The nurse had decided that his wound inspection could wait an hour more before turning and leaving, closing the door behind her with a quiet click.
* * * *
It seemed to Ash that it took hours for Eve to finally awaken, and each minute had been agony on his battered nerves. He knew that he was taking a huge risk, one that Mark had every right to be concerned about. But he couldn’t … he just couldn’t let her go. In the space of a few short days, she had become the world to him, and there was no way he was going to go through this life without her.
When her eyes had finally fluttered open the next day at sundown, he had just closed the door. Seth had brought them some clothes and blood, reminding Ash that this was indeed real. He now had a childe that he had to teach to be a vampire. Somehow, the responsibility didn’t seem as huge as it should have.
“Ash?” Eve asked, her voice husky and small, confusion written clearly across her face.
“Hey,” he cooed, crawling onto the bed to wrap her in his arms, his nose drinking in the sweet scent of her hair. He was careful of the thick bandage on her throat where Sebastian had bitten her, tearing apart Ash’s claiming bite. “I was worried,” he told her, pushing aside all thoughts of Sebastian to concentrate on Eve. He looked down into the eyes he loved so much, his own shining bright with hope, worry and fear. The hope burned brighter when he didn’t see anything other than fatigue in her emerald gaze.