“Stay here,” he commanded before flinging his door open and plunging into the night.
Steam poured from the crunched-in hood of the car as he ran toward it. The nose of the car was buried in the bed of the truck, but all the Savages had survived the crash. The driver beat at the steering wheel pinned against his chest as he tried to free himself, but the wheel was lodged in the Savage’s diaphragm, making his chest nearly concave. He wouldn’t get free anytime soon, but another Savage was already climbing out of the back seat.
Seizing the door the Savage had opened, Killean smashed it into the vampire and pinned the creature between the door and the car. The vamp grunted, its hands flailed, and it beat at Killean when he put more of his weight against the door. When the door started cutting into its chest, the Savage changed tactics; instead of beating at Killean, the vampire gripped the edge of the door and attempted to push it away.
Lowering his shoulder, Killean pressed it against the door to keep the Savage trapped while freeing his hand. He delivered a series of three consecutive blows to the Savage’s face. Its nose and cheekbone gave way as the other back door and the passenger side door of the car opened. When two more vamps emerged, Killean realized he didn’t have time to mess around with this Savage anymore.
Jumping back, Killean leapt away from the door and jerked it open. He swung his hand forward as the Savage staggered toward him. The ribs Killean had crunched in the door gave way beneath the force of his fist as he plunged it into the Savage’s chest. The beat of the Savage’s heart tickled his fingertips before Killean clenched the organ in his hand and tore it free.
The vamp staggered forward before collapsing to his knees and falling face-first onto the road. Killean released the heart and looked over the car at the Savages on the other side. Red filled his vision when he saw one of them was Andre, and they were heading for Simone.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Killean racedaround the back of the car towards the bastards. Seizing Andre, Killean lifted him and threw him into the mangled bed of the truck. He didn’t stop to kill Andre as the other Savage neared the passenger side of the truck andSimone. The need to destroy coursed through him until every beat of his heart repeatedly hammered one word—kill.
Before the Savage could grab the door, Simone opened it and shoved it into the creature’s chest. The force of the blow caused the vampire to stumble back a few feet, and Killean dove at him. Wrapping his arms around the Savage’s waist, Killean tackled him.
The creature grunted when they hit the ground and tumbled across the asphalt; in an attempt to dislodge Killean, its hands flailed behind its head. Killean ignored the blows landing against the side of his head and sank his fangs into the Savage’s throat.
The creature howled as its blood burst into Killean’s mouth. Jerking backward, Killean tore the Savage’s throat out and spat away the chunk of flesh before twisting its head to the side. Sinew and bone gave way beneath his hands as Killean tore the head from the Savage’s shoulders.
When something crunched behind him, he gripped the Savage’s hair and turned to find Andre only ten feet away and sprinting toward him. A look of murderous rage blazed from Andre’s eyes, and a Joker-style grin twisted his features as he closed the distance between the two of them.
Killean threw the head at him, and though it caught Andre in the chest, it did nothing to deter the Savage. Before Killean could regain his feet, Andre crashed into him.
Simone gawked as the vampire barreled into Killean, and they both somersaulted into the middle of the road. Panic tore through her when they stopped rolling with the Savage on top of Killean.
No!The scream echoed in her head as the Savage pulled back his arm and battered Killean’s face. The scent of Killean’s blood filled her nostrils, her throat went dry, and helplessness filled her as she watched them fight.
She’d resented the self-defense classes Nathan decided the women in the stronghold should take. Those classes were breaking from their ways, and the first time she’d been reluctant to learn anything she was supposed to. Now, she wished she’d paid more attention as Killean’s fingers dug into the Savage’s throat while the beast continued to pummel him.
She may have no idea what to do, but she couldn’t sit here and watch Killean being beaten. Her legs wobbled when she leapt out of the truck, but she managed to steady them beneath her as the vamp pulled back his arm to punch Killean again. Simone forgot all about her hesitation and terror when she spotted Killean’s blood glistening on the Savage’s knuckles.
She had no idea what she would do as she sprinted across the road toward them, but she had to stop this. There was no time to think as she launched herself onto the Savage’s back, gripped a handful of his hair, and ripped his head back.
She didn’t realize her fangs were extended until she sank them into the Savage’s throat and a wash of hot, rancid blood filled her mouth. Killean may be more Savage than anything else, but his blood didn’t taste rotten as this thing’s did.
She’d prefer to spit his blood out, but she didn’t release her hold on him. The monster reared back and battered the side of her skull with one, beefy hand. Stars burst against the back of Simone’s closed lids as a ringing erupted in her ears. Thick fingers entwined in her hair and though the vampire’s movements were growing sluggish, he yanked so cruelly she was sure he tore a handful of hair from her head.
Wrath unlike any Killean had ever known tore through him when Andre hit Simone. Blood pooled in his right eye from a cut above it as he lifted himself onto his elbows and drove his head forward. Andre howled when Killean bashed his forehead into the Savage’s nose, flattening it beneath the impact.
He wanted to shove the prick off him, but he didn’t dare risk doing so with Simone clinging to his back; Andre would injure her if he fell on her. Seeming to realize the same thing, Andre suddenly lunged backward and flipped himself toward the pavement.
Simone cried out when she realized the vampire’s intent and released him. She tried to leap off his back, but she wasn’t fast enough and found her arm pinned beneath him. She bit her bottom lip to keep from crying out.
Then Killean was rising over them. She’d never seen anything like the wrathful look on Killean’s face as his eyes burned hotter than the fires of Hell and his fangs slicing his bottom lip caused rivulets of blood to slide down his chin.
Shealmostfelt sorry for the creature on top of her.
Grabbing Andre’s throat, Killean plucked him off her and dangled him over the ground with one hand. Andre’s feet kicked in the air as he issued strangled cries of terror. He tore at Killean’s hand when Killean dug his fingers into his throat. Blood poured down the sides of the wounds Killean inflicted on him and splashed onto the ground around his feet.
Through the thick muscle of Andre’s neck, Killean’s fingers touched, and he released an inhuman snarl before he tore Andre’s throat out. Andre’s head lulled back on his spine before Killean gripped the top of his head and pulled it free.
He stared into Andre’s unseeing eyes before he dropped the head and focused on Simone. Killean knelt at her side and started to reach for her, but the blood dripping from his hands stopped him before he could touch her. The sight of that blood brought him back to the motel room as he scrubbed the blood from his blistered hands. However, this time the blood was real, and he felt more in control of himself than he had in that moment.
Killing sates the beast.But then, for him, killing had always kept the demon part of him at bay. Yet, as he gazed at the bodies surrounding them, he felt as if something were missing as the demon part of him hungrily sought out something more than this death.
Then he realized that he wanted to do more than deliver death to his victims. Killing wasn’t enough for him anymore, he also wanted to experience the suffering of those he slaughtered, and he hadn’t done that with these three.
