Chapter 33

"I'm sorry I hit you," I said.

He gave me that smile, the one that had stolen my heart, and kissed me. "You said you saw everything," He prompted.

I nodded.

"I do not believe that you did," He replied. "Otherwise you—"

Again, pain shot across his face, distorting his handsome features. I caressed his face to soothe him, wishing I could just race into Freyda's court and end Ocella, but I couldn't. Amelia had warned that the grounds were now so heavily warded that it would take a full coven to breach them. That was why we were leaving it all to Victor and his people. They would suffer casualties, but would have her so outnumbered that she would be buried in bodies.

Eric was looking at me with the same bright and intense expression of earlier. He was trying to tell me something. I spoke the words aloud and let his facial expressions guide me.

"It's true; I didn't watch after you kissed her," I began. "I just assumed that you had sex with her, but you didn't?"

He shook his head. I smiled at the sheer joy of it. He was looking at me expectantly, prompting me.

"Something else happened?" I guessed.

He nodded. He seemed almost desperate for me to understand. I wanted to, but he couldn't tell me and, at the moment I didn't have access to FIN. My phone was with Sai. I searched Bishop's house for a computer but didn't find one. Honestly, even if I had found one, it would have been a long shot to gain access to my personal network.

I told Eric that and he tried in earnest to speak but the pain of it brought him crumbling to his knees. He didn't look wounded, he looked absolutely griefstricken. Bloody tears escaped his eyes. In all that he had been forced to endure, I had rarely seen him cry and I couldn't stand it now, not when I was so close to freeing him.

"A few more hours, sweetheart," I told him. "Then you can tell me anything. I promise."

At the same time I promised myself that I would never again let him out of my sight, at least for another ten years. I wiped his tears and sucked the liquid into my mouth. He kissed me then as though his very existence depended on it, as if the whole damn world depended on the thoroughness with which he kissed me. Heaven help me! After all these years and all that had happened, he still tasted like sin!

His tongue felt so good tangling with mine. Once more I found myself helpless against the onslaught. We made love again but slowly, taking our time. Our kiss was smoldering through me as he began to invade me at an enchantingly leisurely pace. It didn't matter that this wasn't our home in Shreveport. It didn't matter that we were behind enemy lines. He was Mine and I was His, forever. This time when Eric made me cum for him, I bit him, remembering just how much he loved it. He let me take as much as I wanted or needed without taking from me. He was still inside me when I drifted off from exhaustion.

I woke knowing I would be late to the extraction point. I woke Eric and he didn't seem to be in a rush. He didn't even seem to want to wash my scent and my love from his skin.

"I need to meet my brother," I explained. "I love you."

"I love you," He replied. His face, his tone, and his entire demeanor were mournful.

"I'll see you tonight. I promise," I said. I kissed him one more time and raced out the door before reason gave way to passion.

I was late to the extraction point. Nim didn't look the least bit impatient. He was seated in the car looking at the falling sun.

"Sorry," I said getting behind the wheel.

He nodded and I put the car into gear. We didn't have a long way to go and I wasn't all that late. We simply needed to get out of here sundown. That was no problem. I could drive like a bat out of hell. With every mile that passed, my mind was on Eric. What had he been trying to tell me? I knew that it wasn't important. It didn't matter. All that mattered was that I would see him tonight like I promised. He wouldn't thank me for ending his Maker, but I was beyond caring. I just needed him back with me.

It was as if thinking of him had somehow propelled him to my current location! I saw him, dead ahead. I'd only ever seen that look on his face once before, and on that day, Eric had ended my eldest brother. I didn't get a chance to see anything else. Control of the sports car left my capable hands. The car lifted off the ground and several feet into the air.

Nim could have could have gotten out of the car before it came crashing down under the merciless thrall of gravity but he didn't. He reached for my door and knocked it off its hinges. I knew he was going to try to fly us both down to the ground, but then he would be in danger too, well, more so than me. He crawled over me and was hanging at the opening of the door. Instead of giving him my hand, I shoved him as hard as I could, but he wasn't willing to abandon me. He tried to pull me with him, but the force was careening the car face first into the ground below was too strong.

When it came to my brothers there was never a choice. It was instinct. I would die, but I knew that Ocella was behind this so my death would be slow. I just need to endure whatever was done to me until my father arrived. I couldn't say the same for my brother, plus Nim had Blood Bonds with the rest of the family. He could call for help. It might save us both. That thought was on my mind while I came within inches of the asphalt.

I spun at the last second, bracing my feet on the roof of the car and keeping hold on the passenger assist handles on the driver's side. I heard Nim call out for me, but it was the last thing I heard as the deafening sound of metal protested while it was skipped across pavement. I saw the sparks fly. The car bounced on all sides as it landed but it had landed on its top, and then it rolled a few more times than was normal for the speed and trajectory.

My head had been knocked around, but my seatbelt made sure I stayed conscious and in my seat. Aside from my arm I hadn't suffered any real damage. No sooner did I have that thought did I then hear the sounds of fighting as the car began to compress all about me. I heard snarls and growls of what had to be two vampires fighting full throttle.

A part of me wanted to stay in that car so I wouldn't have to fight Eric. How could I do this?

I could taste his love on my tongue… I could smell him on my skin; feel the lingering twinges of his claiming… I couldn't fight him! Yet, I had to.

I knew what it would mean if he took my life… I also knew it would leave my brother fighting two powerful vampires alone. There was only thing I wouldn't do for Eric and this was it. I flipped, and kicked out what was left of the windshield.

I didn't spare Eric a glance, but I heard grinding as the car was reduced to nothing more than a crushed beer can. I shot to the place where Ocella hung over Nim with a long, wicked-looking dagger. His worry over me had cost him, made me vulnerable, and he got injured. Being fastest had never meant so much. Nim was already bleeding from a wound at his side. I couldn't give into the satisfaction of punching Ocella. I just needed to get him away from my brother.

I perched on the back of the Roman and tried to snap his neck when I couldn't I used my momentum to toss him as far as my legs could kick. He was midway in the air when he activated his ability to fly. The instant he did, he was flying right back at me. Though he was closer, it took Eric a second longer to abandon crushing the car. I knew it had taken an edict. I saw him fight it, but it took hold quickly. Those Maker commands had been a part of his day to day for quite some time now.

Eric seemed to teleport in front of me. He didn't have that ability, but his speed was, in a word, shocking! I didn't blink, but then suddenly he was right there in my face! He threw a punch and I dodged, but in the same movement his right hook was connecting with my face. It was with so much force that it sent me off my feet! I could have broken my fall, but I slipped because I was dragging Nim with me. Ocella was fast approaching. How many times had we sparred during our life together? I had won almost every time, and when I lost it had been close. He had been letting me win because he knew speed was my forte. . Not that it would have mattered then; we'd done nothing more than play fight as or role play, 'capture and pillage the telepath.' It had been a prelude to sex. This was a death match. Nim could fight, but any time I could get as he healed would increase his odds of survival. I left him with the dagger I had taken from Ocella, and then I took the two at his back.

I hurled one at the man I loved with everything in me. At the same time I hurled the other at His Maker. He couldn't deflect both. I would attack whoever didn't get stabbed. I couldn't do much damage; I just needed to keep Nim beyond Eric's telekinetic range and speed as well as Ocella's grasp. As much as he knew the limitations of my telepathy and mental attacks, I knew the holes in his telekinesis. Both our abilities were mental, took energy, and were limited by range. Mine was doubly limited by focus if vampires were the targets.

My plan didn't work. I thought Eric would be the wounded one and that I could attack and possibly end Ocella, but that didn't happen, at least not like I planned. Ocella dogged the dagger, Eric didn't move. The blade I'd thrown was embedded in his gut. I knew it had been on purpose. He couldn't defy the edicts but he was finding a loophole and not defending himself was one. Seeing him bleed like that, knowing it was by my hand was hard but I didn't let myself hesitated. I took the opportunity to tackle Ocella. If I could just end him, Eric would be free. I would end his suffering and this fight! I broke his arm then he flung me away.

I stood looking at Eric. His handsome face was so twisted, so tormented. There was nothing familiar to see. His pain, so visible, so inescapable brought me to a place where not even all my pain and heartbreak had. I begged him. This was far worse than Hell. It had all been planned, and that was why Victor and his people were going to sweep through tonight. I had known that Ocella wasn't above making Eric fight me, but I had never imagined it would be like this even as it was happening…

"Fight it," I said, placing myself in front of Nim. "Please."

His eyes registered my presence, but he was beyond seeing. He was going to attack Nim with his telekinesis and I couldn't allow that. I attacked Ocella physically. Even with his special ability he couldn't stop me and Ocella wasn't fast enough, not even close. I was able to tackle The Roman, punch him in his face, and hurl him at Eric. While each second passed in this fight, Ocella had openings to give Eric edicts.

"Kill her, Eric!" Ocella yelled. "Do it! Now!"

I didn't have to wonder if those were edicts. I saw as they took root. The pain that had been easily visible on Eric's face vanished. I saw nothing of the Viking I knew. He was nothing but a tool. I could scream and I could beg. He wouldn't hear. I had to fight because if he killed me as His Maker wanted, he would forever hate himself. I leaned into a crouch and attacked before he had a chance to obey the commands.

Killing me would only be possible if he could catch me. Before he let loose his burst of power, I was already perched on Eric's back tossing him as far away as I could. That left His Maker, and I tackled him before he got halfway to Nim. Unlike the last time we fought, he was going for the kill and so was I. He was fighting on instinct much like I had that day in our house in Shreveport. His fangs were out, and he was a powerful, snarling, clawing mass of fury.

Meanwhile, I was trained in the art of systematically dismantling my opponent. I employed every lesson; I punched, tried to break his neck, but he fought me tooth and nail. It was worse because I couldn't linger on him. I had only half a second before Eric was back in range. I was getting slower as I played this dangerous game. That tactic worked twice more as I fought two master vampires, and I knew it was only because the more powerful of the two was unwilling.

As I tried to toss Ocella at Eric, I got caught. I felt the stillness as his telekinesis took hold of my body. Eric was going to kill me but he was choosing the slowest method, suffocating me. It felt like his powers was slowly squeezing my neck, chocking me. It was all the consideration I needed because I had done what I set out to at the beginning of this one sided fight.

Nim was healed and he rammed into Eric with enough force to send him sailing off his feet and landing in a heap some 50 yards away.

The cutting off my oxygen eased. I gasped and sucked in air. I heard his silent footfalls while Nim attacked Ocella. I heard the crack of bone, the snarls and screams of aggression, but none of them belonged to Nim. He fought as he lived, silently. Eric tried to intervene in that fight, but he was running on fumes mentally. He couldn't use his powers anymore. It was hand to hand combat and I was out classed. He was the strongest opponent I'd ever faced. Then again, I would expect nothing less from The Viking.

Still I did everything I could to keep Eric busy. Nim didn't need much time to get rid of Ocella. It could have been my imagination, but as I diverted Eric's fire, he fought me with more vigor than he had at the beginning of the fight. Something in his eyes changed though. It wasn't pain filled or ferocious. He looked like he had earlier today, desperate. It distracted me and I caught a knee to the ribs that broke several of them.

Eric didn't finish the kill despite the edict. He turned and tried to fly to intervene on Nim dismantling Ocella. Halfway to the scene of what was to be Ocella's Final Death, it all became so frighteningly clear.

"Neiman! Stop!" I called. "Don't!"

It was too late. My brother was in the middle of a kill. Nothing could stop him, not even me. It was like a prolonged sickening moment in Hell. I saw Ocella's head begin to detach, and then I saw Eric stop midflight and he faced me… He retrieved a stake seemingly from nowhere. I saw the why but it was too late to save My Eric… He faced me… And he smiled. He was wearing my smile… Then he plunged the stake into his heart as Nim ripped Ocella's head free of his body.

I watched My Love, My Husband, My Everything disintegrate to nothing but a puddle of blood and ash. My body, my-ever treacherous body screamed, and once I started, I didn't stop. I was a princess, I was on both my knees in the dirt, crying and screaming with fists full of my hair. I'd never doubted that I would get him back, not for a second. My ego and my arrogance made this so much worse. He was now and forever beyond my reach… All I could do was scream his name over and over… It still didn't bring him back to me.

Sai was crushing me to him, as trying to suffocated my pain. He was trying to do what he did best. He was trying to keep things together, or, in this instance to keep me together, but there was nothing left. There was no Cluviel Dor. There was no chance of a turning. Eric was forever gone.