His fear for
her slammed into him with the force of a car hitting a guard rail at eighty
miles an hour as he took in the sight. Christopher held a fire sword against
Sophie’s sweet neck. He heard her heart beat race, her pupils were dilated, and
the smell of terror vibrated off her with so much intensity he felt his own
teeth lengthen. His desire to protect her drove his own sanity level close to
the edge. The instinct to kill kicked in and he jumped in front of Nicolai with
a hiss and a deadly light in his eyes.
“Back up,
vampire or I’ll slice her head off.” Christopher snarled angrily and pressed
the sword closer to her throat, cutting into her skin. Gio could smell her
blood on the air which only kicked the predator in him into higher gear. It was
like a demon on fire in his very soul. Adrenaline pushed through his veins with
so much force he didn’t know if there was anything that could stop him from
tearing the cupid boy’s head off his shoulders.
"Careful,
brother." Nicolai warned, his voice so low only supernaturals could hear.
Christopher
let out a nasty laugh, "yes, careful, brother." He spit each word.
"You wouldn't want something to happen to the pretty, novice witch."
Sophie was remarkable. She didn’t
scream, only let out a tiny cry as the fire blade cut through her skin as
easily as melted butter. Her mortality, her softness, her ability to compartmentalize
the attack were the only things keeping the deranged angel hybrid from taking
action. Her strength and unexpectedly calm demeanor in the face of this tragic
turn of events helped Giovanni find a clear head. If she could be strong in the
face of danger so could he. Besides, if he made a move there was no doubt in
Gio’s mind that Christopher would kill her. The very idea of losing her before
he even got to know her was the greatest torture he’d ever felt.
Gio held
both hands up to show he was unarmed. “You don’t want to do that, Christopher.
Sophie is the only one that has been able to give your sister relief, she may
even be able to heal her given enough time. Otherwise, your sister will become
one of us. You don’t want that, do you?” He chose not to tell him Tiffany’s
sire was dead. It was a secret he’d never reveal to his enemies.
“Tiffany
isn’t getting better and your people are trying to take me into custody. Trying
to take me away from her. I won’t be detained by a filthy, scum-sucking
vampire. I’d rather die and I’ll take her with me.”
He laughed maniacally-there was the look of insanity lighting his eyes, “That
would really weaken your town wouldn’t it?”
He was right. If the town lost Sophie, there would be some
major damage control needed to repair it, but that wasn’t what Gio cared about.
If he lost Sophie there’d be hell to pay. He'd go rabid and take out every person
Christopher ever cared about one by one, slowly, methodically, and when the nephilim
had no one else, he'd exact his own ugly form of vengeance.
“You'll die
if you harm my daughter, I have no doubt Gio is ready to tear your head from your
shoulders and then I’ll torment your soul in the after life.”
Rafe replied
angrily as he entered the room. “I will torture you and anyone else you love. I
promise you that you won’t go softly into the night.”
“Do you
think I care?” He asked, his words not matching the fear in his blue eyes.
“Yes, I
think you do.” Sophie answered him. “I think you care about your sister, I
think you care about this situation, and you care whether you live or die.”
“How do you
know that?”
“I can feel
it.” She placed a hand on his arm and he screamed in pain - the shock of the
pain transfer caused him to release her and she managed to slip free from his
grasp. When she was free, Giovanni grabbed her and pulled her against him, but
not before Christopher crumbled to the ground.
“What did
you do to me?” Christopher groaned in pain, his body a tangled mess on the
floor.
“I don’t…
know.” Sophie looked around, desperate to help the man that just cut her neck
open and threatened her life. She wanted to go to him to help alleviate the
pain, but Giovanni wasn’t loosening his protective grip on her arms.
“Sophie is a
healer, but as a witch she also works at keeping balance so she also has the
ability to kill. Balance must be maintained.” Chelsea
“So I killed
him?” Sophie looked helpless, desperate to help him. All she wanted to do was
get away from him, she didn't want to hurt him and she had no desire to kill
anyone. Except maybe Gio after watching him hold the blonde in his arms minutes
after they shared the most passionate kiss she'd ever felt.
“No, it
takes a lot of power to kill, and there are no grim reapers here so my guess is
you gave him a nasty bite of what you could do as a warning.” Rafe smiled
proudly at his daughter which made Sophie’s stomach turn. How could he be proud
of what she did?
Sophie shook
her head. “But I didn’t want to kill him. I just wanted him to let me go.” What
if she accidentally killed someone with her untrained powers? It was in that
moment she knew her fate was sealed. She wouldn't go to Florida
“No one can
blame you for defending yourself, Sophie.” Giovanni spoke softly to her, so
soft she wondered if anyone else could hear him. His voice tickled her ear and
sent shivers down her spine. She cursed her body for reacting to him. Gio
fought the desire that was rising in him from the smell of blood, and an
ingrained desire to claim her as his. She was almost killed and he was helpless
to save her. It would never happen again. “Rafe please take your daughter. I
think Christopher and I need to have a little talk.”
Rafe took
Sophie’s hand and helped her toward the door. She resisted, but her father's
hold and determination was stronger than her desire to stay. The rest of the
strangers in their home parted like a lake in the wake of a speed boat and Rafe
was just as fast as that boat in getting her out of the room. Only the
vampires, captain Logan, and AnnaBella, remained in the room. Marissa closed the
door and stood guard. Sophie didn’t want to imagine what was happening to
Christopher behind the closed door, she didn’t want to, but her imagination had
a mind of its own. The pictures she was creating were gruesome. What did vampires do to their enemies,
she wondered to herself?
Out loud she asked, “What are they
going to do to him?”
“Vampires
aren’t very nice to those that cross them or their friends, and you seem to be
important to Gio.” Marissa smiled coldly, a spark of jealousy played in her
eyes. “I wouldn’t expect the nephilim to enjoy the conversation they’ll have.”
“We have to
help him. He only reacted out of desperation.” Sophie pleaded with her father.
“Please, he is scared and alone. His sister is dying and we can’t help her.” It
amazed her that she could feel all of that during the short time he held her
captive. If Giovanni kills him she didn’t know if she was going to be able to
forgive him. She knew he was a vampire, but she didn’t want to think of him as
an evil being, as the monster he mentioned outside. She promised she wouldn't
think of him as such, but in that moment, she was beginning to rethink that
promise and wondered if it was possible to keep it. She couldn’t, no she
wouldn’t date him if he was an evil being.
“He won’t
kill him.” the clingy blonde told her as though she was reading her mind.
“Listen,
whoever you are…”
“Marissa.”
“Marissa,
I’d like to make sure of that myself so if you’ll kindly move out of my way?”
“No.”
Marissa’s perfect face left little room for doubt. The conversation on her side
was over.
“Who do you
think you are? This is my home, and that is my patient and her brother.”
Marissa
rolled her blue eyes and sighed heavily. “And that’s my consort
who wants to have a conversation with your attacker.”
She laughed, “Most people would be appreciative of such a powerful ally.”
Sophie’s
face took on a confused look. “So what, because you’re his mistress that gives
you right to…” Copyright @2014 Jami Brumfield
You can get the whole story from Amazon.
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