The smell of rotting flesh intensified the closer he got. Bile burned the back of my throat. “Know what?”
“I was the last of the royal bloodline.”
“So?”
“So I was born a vampire. The Order of the Void exterminated my family due to our...particular diet.” He reached out a hand with black claws and let them skim across my neck.
I stumbled backward, skin burning where he’d touched. “What the fuck are you? You’re not just a vampire.”
“You’re smarter than you look.” He shook his head. “I was killed, sent to Hell, but escaped to the living realm. Do you know what that makes me?”
It clicked in my mind. “An...abandoned?”
Fuck.It made sense. He looked dead and had attributes of an abandoned, but how did he still speak and look semi-normal?
He nodded, a growl ripping through his chest as an insanely long, sharp tongue flicked over his lips.
My heart thumped twice, echoing through my skull as he lunged forward.
Aziel pounced, transforming mid-air, and knocked Viktor back a few feet. He whipped back to me, wild eyes boring into mine. “Run, Lilith! Right fucking now! Your vampires are being attacked by another clan.Go.”
Another clan?I smoldered with animosity.Of fucking course. The Brune clan set us up!
The shakiness in my limbs ceased as my muscles tensed. “I’m not leaving you here. Think rationally. Viktor has reinforcements. I wouldn’t be able to run far anyway.”
“Smart girl.” He snapped his teeth. “Move, demon.”
“I’ll rip you apart if you if you lay a fucking claw on her.”
The rust-scent of blood filled my senses, and my fangs descended, gums throbbing. My gaze darted side to side. Four other vampires were closing in with blood dripping down their chins from a fresh kill of someone...human. Disgust curled in my stomach.
Aziel stepped back to where his arm touched the front of me.
We were outnumbered without the guys. I glanced toward the swimming hole, hoping the Order would realize what was going on and swoop in, but somehow, I knew they’d never dirty their hands with situations like this. There wasn’t any chance of escaping either.
We’ll have to fight our way out of this or die trying.
“I’m growing tired of this game.” Viktor shot me a cold stare, devoid of any real emotion, before grabbing Aziel’s shoulder. His claws dug deep into his flesh, and he flung Aziel toward the vampires to our left.
The vampires moved with their enhanced speed, grabbing Aziel, who struggled against them. Demons were just as fast, if not faster, than vampires, but he was overpowered. The vampires forced Aziel to his knees by gripping the back of his neck and arms.
His body sprouted fur, bones popping, deforming his body with sickening cracks, but the transformation only went halfway before he shifted back to his demon form with a hostile growl. The vampires must’ve had a hell of a hold on him for him not to be able to slip out of their grasp.
“Lilith, please, run!”
“I don’t fucking run from anyone.” I stared directly into Viktor’s eyes. “Certainly not from cannibalistic scum like this.”
He closed the distance, both claws gashed into my shoulders, searing my flesh as he pulled my face to his. His wet tongue slithered out and ran up my cheek.
I cringed, forcing vomit down, and moved my arms up to break his hold from my shoulders—but I couldn’t. He was too fucking strong—impossibly strong—none of the guys or Aziel or even the abandoned I’d fought before was this strong.
Meeting his gaze, I calmed my nerves and pushed away the fear gripping me. “Let go of me.”
He grinned, his teeth even sharper up close. “Very convenient power you have, but it won’t work on me.”
“Get the fuck off of her!” Aziel’s breath ragged as he fought against the four vampires, eyes blazing with fury.
Baring my fangs, I pushed anger through me to him, but he just smirked at me.
