“No, he's dressed as Aro from theTwilightmovies,” Gillian whispered and tried to kick Lucas in the shin. He muttered a curse and wrapped her in a chokehold.
Rage boiled up inside Garrett. He had to force himself to stay rooted to the spot and not lunge for Lucas’s throat. He needed to stall. “Twilight?” he repeated, not sure who or what she was referring to.
“You should try to familiarize yourself with pop culture, Garrett, so you don’t sound like such a dinosaur. I bet you could learn a thing or two from this beautiful young lady.” The Ancient turned his full attention on Gillian and stalked closer to her. He sniffed the air. “Who might you be?”
“Stay the fuck away from her,” Garrett shouted, not able to hold back.
“Touchy aren’t we? Is she your girl?” Malcom taunted, skimming a finger down Gillian’s arm. She tried to turn away, but Lucas held her still. His sire’s eyes focused on the pulse point at her throat. “I can see why. She’s quite fetching.”
“She’s got to be silenced, and so does her boyfriend.” Lucas broke in and glanced over at Garrett. “They know what’s going on. I, um, made another mistake. But I promise it won’t happen again.”
Malcom glanced at the body of the girl on the ground. His lip curled into a sneer. “You’re right, it won’t. It was you who exposed this operation to the police by killing those two women and not disposing of their bodies properly. You’ll pay for being so careless.” His trained gaze zeroed in on Lucas. He smiled and whispered, “Pins.”
Lucas let go of Gillian and fell to his knees, writhing on the ground in pain.
“Garrett.” Gillian ran to him, and he wrapped her in his arms.
“I promise I’m getting us out of here.” Garrett tried to think of an escape plan. If he moved too quickly, Malcom could be on Gillian in a heartbeat.
“Now then, I hope you’ve learned your lesson.” Malcom raised his hand and Lucas rose to his feet like an invisible string controlled his body. “I’m afraid your services with the Brotherhood have been terminated.” His sire pulled a silver stake from his hip and stabbed Lucas square in the chest. Blood spurted from his mouth. When he sank to the ground, a gurgling sound erupted from his lips.
Malcom turned his attention on them and sneered. “A man in love loses his edge. Wouldn’t you agree, Garrett? I don’t think your Gillian will want to watch as I stake you and all the blood drains from your body. I promise it will be quick, but I’ll drink her slowly, savor her like a fine cabernet.”
With a roar, Garrett let go of Gillian and charged Malcom, shoving him to the ground. He caught the Ancient by surprise, knocking the stake from his hand. He punched and kicked him over and over again, bloodying his face and nose. Malcom reared up and headbutted him, knocking him back. The Ancient dove on top of him and twisted his hands around his throat. Garrett gasped and drew his weapon from his shoulder holster. He smashed the butt of the pistol into the back of his sire’s head. Malcom groaned and rolled away, gasping in pain.
Garrett pressed the barrel to Malcom’s head. “Turn around, Gillian. I don’t want you to see this. I should’ve done this a long time ago. This is for Sadie.”
“Ah Sadie, I’ll never forget the taste of your dear, departed sister…so sweet,” Malcom taunted and spit blood onto the ground.
“I can’t tell you how good it’s going to feel when I blow your brains out all over this garden. It’ll take the groundskeepers a week to clean up the mess.” Garrett pulled back the trigger to cock the hammer.
“Garrett, no!” Gillian’s voice made his hands still. “Not like this. You can’t kill him execution-style no matter what he did. You’ll be kicked off the force. Don’t sink to his level. You’re a great cop and a great man. Don’t let him take what you’ve worked your whole life for.”
Malcom’s sinister laugh rang through the trees. “How touching. I think I’d rather be dead than listen to this dribble. I beg of you, do it already, and put me out of my misery.”
“Shut up,” Garrett muttered, his finger pulsed on the trigger. “I lost my humanity a long time ago, the moment you sank your fangs into me.”
“It’s not true,” she said, her voice thick with tears. “I know the honorable man that you are, the kind, caring friend and neighbor. If you do this, you’ll never forgive yourself. You’ll live with it every day for the rest of our lives. Be the man you were meant to be, Garrett, the man I fell in love with.”
She loves me? Gillian loves me?She believed in him, no matter how much he tried to push her away. His chest swelled with an emotion he couldn’t identify. She was right. He couldn’t do this.
His hand wavered, and Malcom used it to his advantage. Malcom’s gaze locked on his and he couldn’t seem to look away. “Needles.”
Garrett dropped the gun, his whole body contorting in pain. The sensation of needles digging into his skin burned like a thousand bolts of electricity.
“Stop it! You sick, bastard,” Gillian screamed. The next moment Garrett’s gun rose in the air and smashed Malcom in the back of the head, knocking him to the ground. The sensation of pain fell away.
“Garrett got to his feet, dragging Malcom with him. He caught movement in the bushes and tightened his hold on Malcom. “You can thank her for sparing your miserable life. Perhaps, you’d be better off rotting in Hellios. I can assure you, they don’t serve cabernet.”
Smith ran over to them pointing a high-powered laser gun. “Hands up, Malcom Von Scrivner. You’re under arrest for crimes against mages and humanity.” Garrett let go of Malcom and took a step back while Smith placed his sire in cuffs.
“Took you long enough,” Garrett muttered. He ran over to Gillian and pulled her into his arms. He wanted to breathe her in and never let her go.
“What did I miss?” Denopoulos ran over, sporting a giant red mark across the right side of his face, and an even larger laser gun. “You wouldn’t believe me if I told you.” He helped Smith get Malcom out of the clearing.
Garrett turned to Gillian and tilted her chin up. He eyed her body, checking for injuries. “Did he hurt you? Are you okay?”
“I’m fine, just a few bumps and bruises.”
