I repeatedly stroked my belly, calming my nerves as best I could. “What if we can’t find a midwife?”
“Remember what I said? Don’t worry about a thing.”
But I did worry.
I worried for my baby, for the unknown, for my future, and I also worried for the fate of my one true love.
Chapter 30
Septimus one-handedly leaped over the railing and landed on his feet. In the cloak of darkness, he shoved Krys like an afterthought as he stalked toward Atticus.
Krys flashed his middle finger before blindly rushing to the back of the building.
Septimus stood a few feet away, taunting Atticus with a smile. “Come hither, blondie. It’s been ages since I tasted your blood. Has it seasoned with time? Let me finish my leftovers.”
The lights suddenly switched on.
When Septimus squinted from the blinding shock, Atticus exploded into action. He torpedoed forward and struck his enemy with moves he’d learned from the greatest martial artists. He relentlessly attacked, keeping Septimus on the defense.
Septimus blocked some of the strikes, but his reflexes weren’t as quick. His punches, however, were precise and excruciating. Atticus roared in pain from a blow to the eye that shattered his eye socket and blinded him instantly. A kick to the abdomen left him reeling in pain.
“I’m stronger!” Septimus beat him again and again.
Atticus circled his nemesis, stalling in hopes of his injuries healing. He spat blood on the floor. “You may be stronger, but you’re slow.”
Krys jogged into view but kept his distance. He dragged the impaled Vampire far away, making sure that Septimus couldn’t remove the stake and have the two of them gang up on Atticus.
“You’ve squandered your existence.” Atticus gripped his adversary’s wrist and flipped himself until his legs locked around the Vampire’s neck.
The momentum brought Septimus down fast and hard. Atticus felt his fangs punch out as he spun around and reeled back his arm to strike. He had waited for this moment—for the day he could avenge Matilda’s death.
Septimus crossed his arms in front of his face to block the attack.
Atticus seized his wrists and squeezed them so hard that the bones crunched. Then he pinned his arms to the floor. “You’re a blight,” he growled.
“See me as you wish, but I have outlived you all.”
“Not for long.” Atticus savagely bit into his neck and ripped out a huge chunk of flesh.
The moment ancient blood touched his tongue, his injuries healed and vision returned to his eye. When he saw the blood pouring onto the white floor, he raised his head and roared.
He had never felt more Vampire than in this moment.
Atticus sucked the blood out before the wound could heal while Septimus struggled beneath him. His wrists were still broken, and that made Atticus squeeze them tighter.
Instead of swallowing the blood, Atticus spat it out onto the floor. He could taste Septimus’s long life, his arrogance, and an undercurrent of fear.
Atticus smiled, blood dripping from his mouth. “Your worthless life is slipping away. Are you afraid?” He leaned intight, fury burning in his eyes. “I can hear your heart slowing down. Can you feel it? That’s time slipping through your fingers. That’s your future going black. Is that what your victims felt the moment they knew they were going to die? I’m going to burn you to ashes. No one will weep for you, Septimus. No one will mourn you. No one will even remember you—including me.” Atticus leaned back. “I’ve already forgotten you.”
Septimus knocked Atticus from behind with his knees. Not enough to throw him off, but Atticus let go of a wrist to catch his fall.
The air whooshed out of his lungs when Septimus punched him in the chest, fracturing ribs. The pain was blinding, and he struggled to breathe.
A part of himwantedto draw this out. The pain made it real, and he wanted to make this moment last forever.
Septimus rolled over and pushed himself up, blood gushing from the open wound. He had lost so much that his neck wouldn’t heal, not without time or the aid of another Vampire’s blood.
He stood over Atticus and delivered a punishing kick to the stomach. “Worthless,” he growled. Then another pulverizing kick.“Pathetic.”
