A Vampire's Saving Embrace (23 page)

“My God, Lexie. How could you?” Abby breathed as she watched in disgust as Lexie walked over to the demon and rubbed herself suggestively against him, her hand possessively cupping what Abby believed would be his genitals – but had no desire at all to find out. Everything about this creature repelled her. Although his body was that of a man’s, his skin was grey and scaly – his yellow eyes and pointed teeth terrifying.

“Who do you think brought him back?” She spat at her, her eyes filled with hatred. “This one is all mine,” she said more to Argramon than to Abby. “That bastard vamp of yours took him from me once,” she seethed, “but he won’t take him again – not after he gets some of your precious blood into his veins.” Lexie looked back to the demon, licking her lips. “He hasn’t drunk from her,” she informed him with a wicked smile. “Her blood is pure and shortly you will be indestructible.”

Abby’s mouth dropped open in disbelief. Lexie had lied to both she and Kat for the two plus years that they had known her. How could they have not realized how insane she was? Oh, God Kat! Abby thought miserably, was she in on this too? Hadn’t Lexie said that
they
were witches? But even as the thought entered her mind - she refused to believe that Kat was involved in any Way. She was her best friend – she was like a sister! She could never betray Abby like that!

“Are you ready for the first draw?” She purred, her fingers trailing up his chest and her tongue darting in and out of her mouth in a way that reminded Abby of a cobra ready to strike, and she looked away in disgust.

When he nodded, Lexie walked over to a cabinet and opened one of the doors. She walked toward Abby a few moments later, a needle, tubing and empty blood bags in her hands. “Good thing I went to nursing school,” she giggled with not a hint of true humor in her voice. When she saw Abby’s eyes grow wide in fear, her mouth widened into a frightening smile. “It shouldn’t hurt too, too much,” she cooed, her eyes glowing with malice.

Desmond crept up to the house, hidden within the shadows. He could feel Abby’s fear and his jaw clenched - his rage building. He could also sense Argramon and swore that this time he would send him back to hell permanently – even if he had to go with him

“Don’t even think about it - you lying, psycho bitch!” Abby hissed, trying desperately to calm her pounding heart.

Lexie’s fist connected with her jaw and Abby’s mouth fell open as she literally saw stars. She had never thought that the saying could possibly be true, but sure enough – the explosion of blinding white lights behind her lids painfully proved that it was.

She took a deep breath and opened her eyes, giving the blond a defiant smirk – she would not let either of these creatures smell her fear. “That all you got,” she asked sarcastically, licking the blood from her lip.

Lexie threw the supplies to the ground and lunged at Abby, her nails scratching at her as she screamed in her face. “Call
me
a bitch, will you! I’ll kill you!” She slapped her hard and Abby felt her teeth rattle. “For two fucking years I had to pretend that I gave a shit about you and that pain in the ass Katrina!” She screamed - her eyes blazing. “Then, that damn vamp of yours comes along and screws everything up!”

“You’ve been planning this since we’ve known you?” Abby gasped, her eyes as round as saucers. How could she have not seen it? She realized that she hadn’t ever really spent a whole lot of time with Lexie, but nothing had ever seemed off about her.

“I could smell that fey blood of yours from day one.” She glanced back over her shoulder to the demon- her eyes gleaming. “It took me a hell of a long time to bring my love back – but I knew that once I did, your blood would make him more powerful than ever. So no one will ever be able to take him from me again.”

Suddenly there was a loud boom and the sound of shattering glass coming from above. Argramon pulled Lexie off of Abby - his face set in a terrifying grin - his pointed teeth glistening with saliva. “Enough! You can play with her later,” he bit out. “It seems we have company.”

The front door exploded - shattering the windows and littering the space with debris as Desmond stormed into the house like a man possessed. The few demons that came running were easily disposed of - but suddenly there were more coming from every room in the house. Desmond growled, his fangs extended - his thirst for blood apparent. He was in a blind rage and would allow nothing or no one to stand in the way of getting to Abby. He could feel her pain and it caused a deep burning urge to kill.

“We’ve got your back, brother,” Marcus said as he, Kat and Luke entered. “Go find her!” And Desmond took off, his senses locking on Abby.

When he entered the kitchen, a small blond came running up the basement stairs, her eyes ablaze. She stopped when she saw him, a twisted smile on her lips. “Bastard,” she hissed. “You won’t take him from me again!” She lunged for him, but Desmond was much too fast and much too strong. He grabbed her and effortlessly hurled her against the cabinets. She landed on the tile floor and lay there, groaning. “Where is she?” He bellowed, his silver eyes glowing.

“Screw you,” she bit out defiantly.

Kat came running into the kitchen. “I swore I heard…” she stopped when she saw Lexie lying there, a low moan coming from her. “Son of a bitch.” Kat swore, looking to Desmond. “We thought she was a friend,” she stated, walking over to her and giving her a swift kick. “Go and find Abby,” she prompted, gracing Desmond with a smile. “I’ll be more than happy to finish this one off personally. Witch to witch.”

Desmond nodded briskly and disappeared down the stairs. The basement consisted of several long dark passages with thick wooden doors spread about here and there. He knew that these were cells and silently called to Abby, not wanting to waste a second in having to check each and every door. He picked up her scent and ran forward, throwing open the heavy door on his left.

When he entered the room, a fury like none he had ever felt before surged through him at the sight of her -bruised and bleeding - chained to the wall.

Her green eyes met his and she smiled weakly. “Christ,” he whispered, a moment before he watched them widen in pure terror.

“Desmond!” She screamed - but too late. Argramon stepped from the shadows and shoved the long silver blade of the dagger he held into Desmond’s back before he had a chance to even turn.

Desmond’s eyes locked onto hers a moment before he collapsed onto the dirt floor and lay still.

“Noooo!” Abby screamed in anguish. It was a deep, primal sound from the very depths of her soul as she helplessly watched Desmond fall. “No… no no!” she sobbed.

“No worries my dear,” Argramon cooed, his tongue darting out to lick his lips suggestively. “I have not killed him quite yet.” He kicked Desmond in the ribs and Abby physically winced, as if it had been she, that he had made the contact with.

“See how his blood pours from his body,” he hissed - pointing to the dark pool spreading out around him – and she felt a piece of her die. “You have to know precisely where to place your blade,” he said conversationally. “Not directly in the heart or he would die instantly,” he went on, walking around Desmond’s still form, “but right next to it, and of course the silver does such a wonderful job of incapacitating the prey - but doesn’t kill it immediately. It took me a very long time to figure all of this out – but then again, I have had nothing but time the last century or so.”

He shrugged his shoulders and turned back to her, his eyes glinting. “But I am afraid that he has precious little time left and I do wish for him to live long enough to watch me fuck his precious fey, right before I take your blood and become all powerful.” He grinned, and she heard a faint growl come from Desmond. “I really must thank you for being such a lovely distraction. That was so much easier than I had anticipated. It is truly amazing what you can accomplish when your prey is other-wise pre-occupied –and the sight of his lovely little human chained to the wall, was just too much for him to take - I’m afraid. A pity really, I was hoping for much more of a fight. Your precious vampire here, owes me a debt of sorts from the last time that we had the pleasure of meeting.”

Abby felt the rage building up inside her as she watched the demon approach her – her body beginning to vibrate from the sheer strength of her anger. This creature wanted to take the life of the man she loved, and she swore by everything that she had that she would make him pay!

There was a strange humming in her ears, and she glanced to Desmond’s still form - then back to Argramon confused as to where it was coming from. After only a moment, she was faintly aware that the humming she thought was only in her head, was actually filling the room – reverberating off the walls all around them in a steady thrum.

It grew louder as her anger bubbled and suddenly the shackles confining her wrists snapped open with an audible pop and fell to the floor with a loud, metallic clatter.

She didn’t give herself a moment to think about it - she stood on unsteady legs and glared at him, noticing as she pulled herself up, that the stone in her ring was glowing a deep, vibrant red – pulsating to the perfect beat of her heart, and before she realized what she was doing, she lifted her hand and pointed it at him - her green eyes blazing with fury as her golden hair blew around her by some unseen force.

She could feel an energy rushing through her body, making her feel strong and powerful and she glared at the bastard.

There was a moment of surprise that crossed the monsters face before anger quickly replaced it – but he didn’t have a chance to react. Abby pointed her finger at him and screamed. “Die, you son of a bitch! Go back to hell where you belong!”

The humming grew louder and louder to the point that it felt as if the entire house was vibrating and would come tumbling down around their ears. The air was thick with electricity and a moment later Argramon let out a high-pitched shriek as he burst into flames - falling to a pile of dust at her feet.

The humming abruptly stopped, leaving an eerie silence filling the room as Abby’s knees gave out and she sank to the floor.