“True unconditional love.”
Without hesitation Eli moved in the second Katerina let go of Dalton, dropping him to his knees, and ripped the flesh from the side of his neck with his fangs. He fell backwards like a sack of potatoes, clutching at his throat and gasping for air. Unnaturally thick black blood spewed out of the huge tear in his neck. His eyes widened in horror as the black ghostly entities that had taken up residency in his body started surfacing again.
Each one that released appeared to be ripping itself out from underneath his bubbling skin because more dark blood squirted out of every torn opening they exited from, leaving him screaming in agony. They swirled above him, howling their ear deafening wails and making the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end.
A demonic voice suspired from deep inside of him. “This isn’t over, Ashford! She is almost dead!”
Davin rushed at me, cradling my body up against his solid chest. He was breathing so hard it made my head move up and down with each breath he took in and pushed out. My eyes rolled into the back of my head, and although I couldn’t see him anymore, I could still hear his beautiful voice beside me.
“Stay with me, Adelay! The curse is not fully transferred lest you die; don’t let him win! Please Adelay, open your eyes!” My body told me it had given up on this fight. “Please Adelay, don’t leave me.”
A woman’s voice suddenly spoke after him inside my head, leaving Davin’s voice a mumble in the distance. “Angels above as well as below protect my soul! Angels above as well as below protect my soul!” It was that horrible voice I had heard before, the voice that had brought all of this evil upon me that had just killed my friend and was slowly killing me.
Rosalinda Babic the gypsy woman. I hated this woman for what she had done to me, but my hate wasn’t physically bringing her to me; instead, she continued to speak to me inside my mind. “Angels above as well as below protect my soul! Say it, child!”
“You wicked woman, this is all your fault.” I silently spoke back to her, hoping she could hear me too.
“Say it, child. You still have the power inside you. He cannot take what is still yours, what is rightfully yours. If you let him win not only will you die, but also so will your vampires. That one over there is almost gone.”
I swallowed, trying to inhale a deep breath that only shot pains through my stomach again, but I had to try because I couldn’t let Sully die because of me. I squeezed my eyes tight trying to calm the pain.
“Angels above as well as below…” I paused to suck in another breath. My lungs throbbed and rattled from the fluid that filled them.
“Say it!”
“I can’t.”
“Yes, you can! Say it!”
“Protect my soul.”
“Again child, say it again.”
“Angels above as well as below protect my soul.” This time I was able to take a bigger breath without feeling like my stomach was ripping to pieces from the inside out. I said it once, twice more.
A blanket of warmth unexpectedly came upon me, quickly encasing my entire body with a supernatural fever that pumped through every vein inside of me. I felt like I had been lit on fire, but it wasn’t painful in the slightest, just comforting, soothing; powerful. I slowly opened my eyes to a soft white light that radiated off of every inch of my burning skin.
“You’re doing it, child. Say it again.”
“Angels above as well as below protect my soul!” I screamed it out loud, making Davin drop my head out of his hands.
He clearly couldn’t hear her inside my head and wasn’t expecting my sudden outburst when only minutes ago I was half dead in his arms. My body rose off of the ground by some invisible force that wasn’t in my control. The horrendous pain that I had felt just vanished and was replaced by a steady heat. All of my wounds went numb and then began to miraculously heal themselves, disappearing completely as though they were never there.
My breathing was normal again, my eyes could see clearly again, and I felt all of my weakness just fade away. Time seemed to stand still until my body had been completely rejuvenated. Once everything repaired itself inside me, whatever had me suspended in the air let go, and I fell back to the ground. Davin’s soft touch on my face opened my eyes. He held my head gently in his lap stroking my matted hair.
“Nooooooo, you little bitch! That curse is mine!” Dalton's red eyes were wild with fury, but there was no strength or fight left in him anymore. He was slowly dying.
His face had aged dramatically, his bloody stringy hair had turned completely white, and every bone in his face stuck out even more on his already gaunt features. Eli picked up the dagger; slashing his throat from one side to the other in the same fashion Xander had done to himself. Dalton’s face went blank as he fell forwards into the snow in a pool of his own blood. Finally, this hellish nightmare was over.
Eli ran over to where Katerina was hunched over Sully, holding his head in her milky white hands.
Rosalinda’s voice spoke to me again. “You can still save him child. If he tastes your blood, your vampire will be healed, but only if you offer it to him. You control your fates now. Not I or anyone else, only you.”
I sat up, pushing Davin out of the way so that I could get to Sully
