As if he knew what Serena had on her mind, Andrew thrashed in her arms, fighting to get away. He flailed an arm, hitting her square on the nose with her tiny fist. Good boy!
“Hold still, you little shit!”
“Grab him! Somebody, grab him!” I screamed.
“Stop, Serena!” Joseph commanded.
At the same time, Liz growled, “I’ll kill you, bitch!”
Serena hurled my baby into the crib as Joseph launched an attack. Andrew’s body slammed against the thick wood slats with a sickening thud. Frozen in terror, I was too afraid to look at his damage. He fell silent.
Liz attacked next. At the blink of an eye, the three vampires were tumbling around the room, knocking pieces of stone loose as they smashed into the castle’s walls. I ducked when they neared me, but one of their appendages whacked against my leg. It was like being hit with a baseball bat.
“Watch out for Andrew!” I cried. Nobody seemed to have heard me.
Serena was relentless. Joseph may have been older and stronger than the crazy vamp, but she was fast. She kept breaking through Joseph and Liz’s arms, tenacious as hell. She was trying to come after me. I had bigger concerns, like getting Andrew out of the crib before one of the vamps landed on top of him and crushed his tiny body.
Finally, I got an opening. Quickly, I moved to Andrew, but a cold hand curled around my ankle and yanked as I bent down into the crib. It was Serena. I kicked out at her with everything I had, nearly losing my footing. She let go when Liz straddled herand punched her throat. For good measure, she grabbed a fistful of her hair and slammed Serena’s skull against the floor. Bet that hurt.
I wrapped my arms around my son and began lifting him, but I fell forward when I was thumped on the back of my head. I blinked away stars. Jolted, Andrew let out a yelp, which filled me with such relief that I started sobbing. Thank goodness. He was breathing.
Dizzy, I stumbled forward and dropped Andrew back into the crib. I gripped the crib’s frame and held on for dear life, desperate to remain conscious as the room started to go black. Joggling my head, I looked toward the doors as other vampires rushed into the room to see what all the commotion was about.
One of them was Robert. “I can’t get to you, Olivia! Get Andrew!”
I tried to shout back—I’m trying—but I couldn’t make my mouth move. A thundercloud settled over my brain, muddling my thoughts. Heat pulsated from the spot I’d been hit. I suspected I might be bleeding. A lot.
I used every ounce of energy I had left to bend down into the crib. My fingertips grazed Andrew, but I couldn’t make my hands close around his body. He kept slipping through my fingers. It was like one of those nightmares where you’re trying to move fast but everything happens in slow motion, like moving through invisible cement . . . And,oh man,did my skull throb!
Suddenly, there was a cracking sound at my side. Wood splintering. It sounded as if every vampire in the room screamed in horror.
“No-no-no-no!”
I tried to join in as blood splashed across Andrew’s face, but my scream fell dead in my lungs. My breath hissed out through my lips like a teakettle. Air whooshed from my chest. Dazed, myeyes fell on the corner of the crib, where one of the posts was missing.
No, not missing, I thought crazily as I looked down. I knew exactly where it was. My hands fluttered to the hunk of wood protruding from between my breasts, a brown toothy mouth grinning up at me. A carved raccoon.
37
Ididn’t feel pain until I turned to face the vampires, jostling the post. Then, all I knew was sheer agony.
Liz and Joseph held Serena’s arms out at her sides, forcing her to her knees. Robert’s eyes met mine, then dropped to the post protruding from my chest. His face twisted as he charged forward and ripped Serena’s head from her body. Just like that.
She was screaming even after she’d been decapitated. It would take a better woman than I to feel pity. I’d wanted to kill Serena myself, but I figured my husband was a close enough substitute, given how she’d treated our family. Fuck around and find out, Serena. The rest of the vampires wasted no time ripping Serena limb from limb until she was a pool of red gooey nothingness spreading across the area rug.
Robert ran to my side just as my knees gave out. I collapsed into his arms, squeezing my eyes shut as I jostled the post.
He smoothed a hand over my hair, chanting, “No, no, no.” When he took his hand away, it was covered in blood.
Through the mayhem happening around us, I could hear Liz wailing. “No! Please, no! Olivia!”
From the crib, Andrew began calling for his mamma. Andrew had just said his first word. I couldn’t bear knowing that I wouldn’t be around for his second. Breathless sobs racked every inch of my body. Amazing how life could go from perfect to devastating at the blink of an eye.
“Hold on, Olivia. Don’t you leave me!” Robert commanded. To Liz, he said, “We’re going to have to change her over now!”
I reached up and touched Robert’s wet cheek. “I’m so sorry,” I tried to say, but my collapsed lungs wouldn’t allow it. Tears trickled from his eyes and hit my face, tickling my skin.
“Don’t you give up on me! Fight, honey!”
