Werewolf and Vampire Mate [Book 1 Complete]

chapter twenty-three.

Nikolai

I can still taste April's divine blood in my mouth when I launch the coffee table at Sebastien, breaking off a single wooden leg as I do. It splinters into the perfect point; a makeshift stake.

The two other vampires—Sebastien's progeny, whom he turned a few centuries ago—rush toward April and all I have time to do is shove her out of the way, sending her flying across the room and into the wall with a hard thud. The vampires crash into me, tackling me to the floor. But they're younger and weaker than I am.

I shove the stake into the woman's chest, but miss her heart. The other gets me into a headlock and I flip him over, yank the stake out of the woman and plunge it straight into his heart. He bursts into flames and disintegrates before I can get the stake out, leaving it all a pile of ash.

I see Sebastien lunge for April and I leap across the room, tackling him to the floor.

"April, run!" I command her and see her struggle to stand. She's injured badly. This is a nightmare.

Sebastien tries to get his hands around my neck. I can't let him; if I do, he'll rip my head clean off.

A glinting, bloodied piece of glass from the coffee table sticks out of his side and I shove the heel of my hand against it, pushing it further into him. He groans, his grip loosening long enough for me to throw him away, sending him crashing into the television.

The woman leaps onto me and I fist a hand into her hair. She struggles and struggles, but she isn't strong enough to fight me by herself.

I tear her head off and her body flames.

Sebastien stands at the same time I do.

"You would go against your own kind to defend the werewolves?" he snarls, furious over the loss of his progeny.

"I couldn't care less about the werewolves," I spit back. "But I have waited centuries to gift you your death."

I launch myself at him and we barrel straight out the windows, plummeting to the road below. We land with a hard crash, leaving the asphalt cracked and broken.

He wrenches my arm to the side, breaking the bones and attempting to yank it from my body, but I plunge my free hand into his chest and try to reach for his heart. He abandons his attempts to dismember me and pushes himself away before I can rip out his heart.

We are both panting heavily, our respective injuries working to heal.

A small tree grows on the side of the road in a low-fenced dirt area. I speed over to it, break off a branch and attack Sebastien.

He turns the branch in my hands, his superior strength clear, and it pierces the skin above my heart.

If Sebastien lives, his next move will be going back up to finish off April. I can't let that happen.

I push my chest forward, the branch sinking deeper into my flesh, but it also serves to push the branch against Sebastien's chest. If I am going to die, I will at least take him with me.

I shove myself further onto the branch and it sinks into Sebastien at the same time. His eyes go wide as he realizes what I'm doing. There is a single second where he is knocked off guard and I capitalize on it, wrapping a hand around the stripped branch and shoving it forward with all my might, all of my weight.

It punctures his heart and scrapes against my own. I manage to use the last of my dwindling strength to yank myself back, off the branch, just as Sebastien sizzles and then bursts alight with fire.