I closed the distance between us and skidded to a halt slightly behind him.
Zyacus turned his head slightly. “Sorry, my father and I were in a heated discussion or I’d have been out here sooner.”
This felt way too familiar, and my stomach lurched when I saw several pairs of red eyes, they were stepping out of a portal and surrounding us. How could they do that! Then it hit me, this is my vision! I turned to the left and when I saw Aric running toward us I yelled. “Get out of here!”
A red orb formed in Zyacus’s free hand and it propelled toward the blood drinker chasing Aric, blowing up on impact.
“Aric,” Senica yelled as he rose. “Take your dagger and cut your throat.”
“No!” I shouted and ran at him.
Aric took his dagger in hand as commanded and when I reached him, we fought over it. “Let go,” he said as if in a daze.
Zyacus threw magical attacks that exploded as at least five other blood drinkers tried to come at us.
“Aric, listen to me,” I wrenched at his fingers as he slowly brought his dagger upward. If I was only stronger! “Don’t listen to him. You don’t want to kill yourself, please stop!” He kept fighting against me. “Zyacus help!” I shouted.
“I can’t!” he shouted back.
The tip of the dagger pierced Aric’s skin. “Stop! Stop!” Then it sunk into his neck, and tears cascaded down my cheeks. Blood bubbled out of his mouth, poured from beneath the blade and he fell into me, I struggled to hold his weight and had to guide him to the ground. “Why!” I cried. Why wasn’t I ever wrong? Why did this happen? Why did Senica have to use Aric?
Senica appeared next to me, wrenched me up by my hair and sunk his teeth into my neck. I screamed. His arms were like a vice around me and the harder I fought, the tighter his grip got. He was inhumanly strong and perhaps he thought I was completely helpless until I dug my thumbnails into his eyes. Roaring in pain, his fangs retracted and he pulled back. I smashed my elbow into his chin. The moon glinted off the dagger at his waist. I tore it from his belt and plunged it into his neck. “You’ll die just like Aric.” I drug that blade across from ear to ear until Senica went limp and crumpled to the ground at my feet.
“Visteal!” Zyacus roared, and over Senica’s shoulder I saw him chop a head off, and cut down another.
I clamped my hand over my neck before Zyacus appeared at my side. We stood back to back while three other blood drinkers circled us. The female hissed, baring her fangs. The two males watched the blood smeared on my neck and down my chest with precision. They wanted a taste. “Solaris adonus,” I whispered to Zyacus.
A white light blasted out all around us, blinding me but I heard them screaming in agony. When the spell subsided I still had white spots in my vision but the vampires were piles of ash. Zyacus grabbed my face in his palms, inspected my wound then the manacle on my wrist. “Damn him, Damn them all.” He wouldn’t be able to heal me with the kirune on me.
“I’ll be fine for now.” The punctures had stopped bleeding.
I knew he wanted to say more but it would have to be later. We dropped down beside Aric. He wasn’t breathing and I didn’t think anyone could survive losing the amount of blood pooled underneath him. I touched his chest to feel for a heartbeat but there wasn’t one.
With tears in my eyes, I looked to Zyacus who was staring at Aric. “He’s gone,” Zyacus whispered. He sounded shocked, like he couldn’t believe it. “He’s—dead.” Gently, he pulled the dagger from Aric’s neck and sat it down beside him.
The word hit me like a blow and I sat back on my behind and rested my chin on my knees. He was another person I couldn’t save. He was my friend, Zyacus’s cousin, and Legacy’s love, I’d failed us all. He was dead.
Not even thirty seconds later, Aric sucked in a rasping breath and sat up coughing. Startled, I scrambled back on my hands and Zyacus jumped up. We stared at him for a few moments before Zyacus mumbled, “You were gone.” His wide eyes were fixed on Aric’s neck.
To my surprise the dagger wound was completely healed and we hadn’t given him a potion.
“I feel…” Aric said, looking at his hands that he rotated out in front of him. “I feel different. Something is wrong.”
I stared at the mark on his wrist slowly fading to flesh color. I thought about the death curse that he was born with. He would die but… “Oh no,” I murmured. They both looked at me confused. “Aric— you’re a vampire.”
Chapter 36
At first Aric sat silent. Both Zyacus and I stared at him, waiting for him to speak. His eyes went from the ground to his cousin, then to me, fixed on my bloody neck. Zyacus stepped in front of me, blocking Aric’s view.
“You need to get away from me Visteal,” Aric said, voice hoarse. “I smell your blood and—” he rose up and Zyacus immediately grabbed him by the front of the shirt. “Visteal go!” Aric shouted and I ran.
The last thing I wanted was for Zyacus to have to kill Aric, really kill him this time, to protect me. I got ten yards before Bindy appeared directly in my path, I crashed into her and she grabbed me roughly. “Oh thank God you’re alive. I’ve been looking everywhere for you!” She paused and touched my neck. “You’ve been bitten.”
“Yes, but I’m fine.” I looked
