Undying Hate | Book Three

Thirty-one | Showdown

It was her turn to smile, though it didn't reach her eyes.

"She's dead."

As she approached the waiting vampires, the sky darkened further, and the screeches of turned rebounded through the square. Hayes clenched his fists and shook his head as if ridding his mind of the fate of Lazuli. Did they have a history? Or was it another trick from Lazuli's demonic powers?

He seemed to regain his composure and looked towards the sounds of the Turned. "We don't have much time before we're overrun." Hayes chuckled darkly and gestured to her. "You've lost. Why don't you lie down and accept your fate?"

The guard's heads twitched and searched towards the sounds of Turned and born vampires screaming as Sylvie clicked her tongue. 

"Fuck you. Let's end this." 

Mila reached for her, but she shrugged her off before running full pelt at Hayes. He had no weapons from what she could see, and she had a fair bit of training up her sleeve since the last time they saw each other. 

She ducked below his quick hands and kicked his inner knee hard. A loud crack and scream brought a grin to her face as guards swarmed them, each knocking heads trying to bite her flesh. 

Shit. She really didn't plan that well. 

Mila tore a guard from her body that just about pierced her skin and broke the neck of another, giving Sylvie a chance to get up and attack again. Hayes had already recovered from his broken leg and stood with a knife clenched tightly in his fist.

She had to finish him, for herself, for Natalie and all the shifters that suffered by his hand. 

Stalking closer, she raised her hands, circling him, searching for an opening. Other vampires had arrived with their belongings, all staring hungrily at the fight, their eyes turning more crazed as if they were Turned. 

They were hungrier than Sylvie thought. 

She might've been moments away from being torn apart by the vampires she was trying to save. 

Fuck it. 

She leapt, wrapping her hand around the blade and throwing her legs across his torso, dragging him down into an arm bar and breaking his arm from the elbow. He released the knife, and she threw it aside, wincing as her palm dripped blood all across the cobblestones and her clothes. 

While the dried blood on her drew the gazes of the vampires, her fresh blood put them into a frenzy. The remaining guards worked on holding the horde back from Hayes as he and Sylvie rolled around the ground, striking and kicking each other, each looking for a weakness. 

Despite Hayes still looking sickly from her bite, his strength was still almost overwhelming. Sylvie eventually had to untangle herself and roll away to stop his hands from getting a good grip on her throat. She might've been supernaturally strong, but she was still no match for strangulation.

"Give up," Hayes roared, laughing darkly as the sky filled with black clouds. The Turned were coming. The earth under her body shuddered from their thundering footsteps.

"Fuck you!" She stood preparing for another round, but she was tired. She didn't think she had much energy left.

He charged this time, aiming straight for her jaw, and she was too slow. She braced for impact, but it never came. When she lifted her gaze, she nearly burst into tears. Elias stood in front of her, his hand clasped tightly around his brother's fist, the force shattering Hayes's knuckles like popping candy.

"Sylvie!" Rowan's voice yelled from her right, and she spun, falling into his embrace as he looked her over, careful not to jostle the new scars from Lazuli's nails. "Fuck. What happened?"