Part 8

He laughs when he sees me. Laughs. Jackass. We'll see who's laughing after this is all over. OK, it'll probably be him. But there's something to be said for bravado- warranted or not. "Well, at least she went out fighting," they'll say. "Fighting badly, but fighting." My fingers wrap tightly around the candlestick and a glare at the laughing vampire.

With a strong- I think- thrust, I aim my weapon for his heart, just where Spike taught me. Lestat blocks it easily, knocking my arm away with one hand and backhanding me with the other. I crash into the wall behind me, falling unceremoniously amongst the dust and debris to the floor. Every part of my body aches but with shear will power I stand and face Lestat, still clutching the candlestick.

He growls impatiently. "I grow tired of these games," he says and reaches out to take my meager weapon from me. I jerk it away just in time and try to swing it in under his arm. With a move so fast I didn't even see it, he grabs my wrist, twisting it painfully, and pulls me to his chest. I cry out as he wrenches my wrist around in a direction it was never meant to go and with a sickening crunch my hand goes limp.

The candlestick falls to the floor. Fuck. OK, it's desperation time. I start to scream and kick and claw, trying to free myself from his grasp. Over my cries I hear his voice, "Why are you fighting this? I am giving you eternity."

"I don't want it," I growl, stilling my thrashing for the moment.

"Hmm." He seems to consider this and momentary hope swells in my chest. But then he says, "Oh well." And his fangs are buried in my neck.

It hurts. It hurts like never before. There's no pleasure in this. Only intense pain. I can feel my blood rushing into his mouth, some pouring down my chest in the same streams Spike had cleaned off earlier.

Spike. Oh God, Spike. He's never going to know. I'm going to die and I've never told him how I feel. He'll think I didn't care. No. Please no. I can't die like this. I can't go without telling him.

Things begin to grow hazy and dark and I fight the blackness, whimpering pathetically with the last of my strength. "Spike…love Spike…so sorry…" I murmur. If Lestat hears me he ignores me- merely continues drinking. "…love Spike."

*****

It was her scent that led me here. But it was her scream that made me find her. If my heart beat anymore it'd be pounding as I find her limp in Lestat's arms. She's not dead, though.

Rage I haven't felt since I was last around Angelus swells inside me and with a roar I tackle Lestat, catching the ponce by surprise. We roll along the floor and when we stop, I'm punching him, leaning over him, his face a bloody mass under my fist. But then he regains himself after his initial shock and with a powerful push of his legs, I'm flying through the air.

It's not a split second after I hit the ground before I'm up again, charging him with the feral growl of my demon. Bloody ponce. Fights like he looks- weak. It'll be a while before I finally dust him. This bastard is going to pay. Slowly.

A kick for daring to even look at my woman. A punch for touching her. Another punch for biting her. A foot to the crotch for doing it in my bed. He falls to his knees with the last one and while he's there, I introduce my knee to his face.

But he grabs my knee and suddenly I'm on the floor. That was a bit unexpected, I must admit. Even more unexpected is when I'm lifted into the air by my throat and smashed against a wall.

"Who are you?" he growls.

I laugh, though the pressure on my neck is intense and painful. "Spike."

"Well, Spike, it's nice to meet you." Lestat grins and suddenly I feel something pressed against my chest. It's a bleeding candlestick. A wooden candlestick. Oh bloody hell.

But before he can end my unlife, his face contorts in shock and pain and he turns to dust before my eyes. When the dust clears, I see Jade standing before me, panting, bloody, and holding a jagged piece of wood. In her shaking hand.

"Cor, love-" She stumbles forward and I catch her in my arms.

Her heartbeat is slow. I can hear it. But she looks up at me with those beautiful green eyes- eyes that are hazy and distant now- and she smiles.

"I love you," she whispers and closes her eyes.

TBC…….

One more chapter to go, peoples! And yes, I know I'm evvvviiiilllll for my cliffhangers.

Anyways, please please please review and if you like this story, check out my others- especially the prequel to this "Jade" if you haven't already- on my website "A Reason for Unliving" www.geocities.com/saffire457