Dying to Date(71)

A silver knife rested at his hip but he didn’t draw it. No matter the situation, no matter how trapped Melissa was, he couldn’t harm her. There had to be another way.

One clawed hand swiped at his chest and he blocked the blow with an arm. Choices, choices. How did both of them get out of this alive?

Teeth flashed passed his face, inches from his jugular, as he dodged his lover. He’d told her before that she was fierce when she wanted to be, and now he was seeing her abilities first hand.

She stalked around him, looking for a weakness. Every inch of her was a predator waiting to tear apart its prey. Each attack was blindly fast, her strikes razor sharp. Had he been watching her fight someone else he would have been awed at her grace.

As it was, he just wanted to stay a step ahead of her razor sharp nails.

Tarian blocked her strike and forced back the instincts that demanded he return the blow. He couldn’t fight Melissa. Which meant his powers were his only option.

It might not be enough, he calculated. Dominic was strong and his presence within Melissa would be hard, if not impossible, to dislodge.

Never before had he attempted to free a vampire of a necromancer’s influence. He didn’t know if he could do it now.

But if he couldn’t, one of them was going to end up dead.

He waited for her next charge then grabbed her around the waist and tossed her to the floor. Tarian followed, rolling on top of her and pinning her hands above her head. Her jaws gnashed as she tried to reach his throat, mindless in her need to spill blood. He was running out of time. When it came to brute strength she had the edge.

“Look at me,” he said, focusing his power on her.

Her struggles grew slower as he pumped his magic into her body. Never before had it been so hard to take over a vampire, but this time it wasn’t the same as pouring magic into an empty vessel. Dominic’s magic already filled her, fighting off his own.

His grandfather’s laughter echoed over him, but Tarian never looked away from Melissa.

“Come on, sweetheart,” he whispered, focusing on her blank green eyes. “Come back.”

Prying Dominic’s influence away was like trying to dry a flood with a Kleenex. Every time he got a foothold in her mind, Dominic was there to push him back out.

Her body bucked beneath his as he slipped again. With a snarl he dipped deeper into his magic. He fought to control not just Melissa but also the bastard pulling her strings. Deeper he delved, feeling Dominic’s essence and chasing it down. Controlling a necromancer of Dominic’s age and strength would be an impossible feat, but he refused to give up Melissa.

Deeper and deeper he went, calling on a well of magic he’d never touched before. Every fiber of his being was focused on one task. Failure was not an option.

Melissa stopped squirming under him. With every prolonged minute in her mind the process grew easier. Threads of his magic attached inside her body, chasing away Dominic’s malevolence. Soon his power flooded her, seeping into every vein and cell.

With a groan he opened his eyes to gaze down at her.

“Come back,” he whispered again. “Come back to me.”

A heartbeat ticked by then another. On the third a miracle happened.

The woman he loved rushed back into her bright green eyes.

Melissa looked up at him, blinked, and then smiled the most beautiful smile he’d ever seen. In that moment, nothing else mattered but the fact that he’d gotten her back.

“Hello,” he whispered, staring down at her.

“Tarian,” she breathed. “I can feel you in my head.”

“I broke my promise.”

There was no accusation in her expression. “I forgive you. Stay in my mind. He won’t be able to control me like this. I can fight with you.”

His joy froze within him.

Choices, choices. Agree to her plan and she’d forgive him the use of his power, but she’d go back into the thick of things. Into a battle she might not survive.

He’d told her he respected her decisions, that he valued her ability to fight and it was all true. But right now, with screams filling the air and Dominic’s presence still prickling along his skin, he didn’t want to put her skills to the test. He wanted her as far away from this as possible. There was no way he’d survive losing her twice.

And there was no way she’d move past such a betrayal. If he took away her choices, he’d have to watch her walk away from him. Permanently.

Which mattered more, her love or her life?

“Tarian,” she said with a smile. “We’ve got work to do.”

“No,” he whispered, moving off of her. “Stand.”

Melissa rose like a puppet on strings. “What are you doing?” she demanded.