Replica(76)

“It’s deeper than sex, Rachel. You have a true blood bond she never shared with me.”

“Because you fucking wouldn’t let her, you uptight prick. You broke her heart for decades and now you think she’s just going to start something with you? Because you changed your mind?” I was pissed as hell on her behalf.

“I’ve seen the error of my ways. I love her. Love her with a depth you could never understand, but Lea and I will never share a true bond if you stand in the way. So I need to eliminate you. Stravinsky made me special. I’m stronger and more durable than any other vampire created. With Lea by my side, no one will be able to defeat us. We can rule the world for eternity.”

“Then you never really knew her at all,” I spat. “Because that’s the last thing she would want.”

He was only two feet away now, and he bared his teeth, his fangs glistening in the moonlight. “I would tell you this wouldn’t hurt, but that would be a lie,” he sneered. “I want it to hurt. I want you to pay for stealing her from me.”

I swung my blade upward at his chest, but his hand darted out too fast to see, knocking the knife from my hand hard enough to break the bones. It clattered against the side of the truck.

He slammed me against the truck, his hand around my throat. Bright lights shot through my vision as the already sore spot on the back of my head screamed with pain. I gasped for breath, clawing at his arm, but he just grinned, showing me his other hand. Claws sprang from his fingertips.

“I can make this look like an unfortunate werewolf attack.” He slashed at my right arm. “And Lea will never know the truth.”

Hot burning pain filled my bicep, but my scream was stifled from my constricted airflow.

He tilted his head. “I could go for the humane kill—a deep slash to the gut—but where’s the fun in that? I’ve learned I like to play with my victims.”

He slashed at my left leg, tearing through fabric and flesh. Blackness had replaced the bright lights, and my lungs were burning from the lack of air. I tried to kick him, but my un-oxygenated muscles lacked the coordination to make it effective.

He grinned as he lifted me to eye level, my feet dangling beneath me. “Naughty girl. I would love to play longer, but I think it’s time for the kill.”

“You’re fucking out of time, all right,” Lea growled as she crashed into him, throwing him sideways to the ground.

I could feel the fury radiating from her as she smashed his head with her fist, over and over until his grasp on my neck loosened.

Strong hands pulled me away from the now blurry pile, and I breathed deeply, trying to refill my lungs as tears stung my eyes.

Antonio swung me up into his arms, strode to the side and handed me to Ivan.

“What the fuck do you think you’re doing?” Ivan asked, gently taking me.

“I’m going to fucking kill him.”

Ivan’s smile was grim. “I think you’ll have to fight Lea for it.”





CHAPTER 35





LEA



Calvin jerked in my hands, but I tightened my grip on his forearm until the bones ground together. He stared up at me. “Kill her, Lea. She’s the only thing between us.”

I saw it in him, something that happened to many young vampires. He was not the Calvin I’d known; his mind had cracked under the strain of the change, and I’d been too stupid and blind to see it. There was no way I could let him go now, not like this. And there was only one way to truly help him—to honor the person he’d been.

I pulled him with me, dragging him toward the carnage of the werewolves. Back the way we’d come, a second chorus of howls lit up the night air. “How many more are coming, Cal?” As I purred the words, I could hear Rachel barking something at me. She wanted to know what I was doing, and I couldn’t blame her. He would have taken her life if I’d gotten there a moment later.

Killing him kindly. His mind is broken.

I knew she didn’t fully understand what I meant, but she relaxed—which allowed me to focus. Whatever information Calvin had, I wanted. It might just save us. But that would mean drinking him down. I pushed him to his knees. “I’m going to bind you to me.”

His eyes lit up, like a child in candy store.

I ran a hand over his head and tightened my grip on his hair, tipping his head sideways. I didn’t give him warning, but I softened the bite and pushed a sense of pleasure into it. A final goodbye. He sighed and dug his fingers into my waist, gripping me hard.

His memories flowed through me. I saw myself through his eyes, the mix of love and hate, of pride and disgust he’d felt for me throughout the long years we’d spent together. And then the night Stravinsky had turned him and broken his mind, how he’d put him back together just enough to function.