I assure you. My blood and the blood of my father and his father before him run through her veins,” Archer spoke carefully, though confidently. “But she has just awoken. Please give her time to adjust to her new form. Surely you must remember how overwhelming it was when you first awoke. Show her God’s love and patience by allowing me to present her to you upstairs in a few moments.”
“Nay, dheartháir,” Ruarc shook his head as he took a step forward, fierce determination in his eyes. “Step away and let her come forth.”
I felt the muscles in Archer’s body instantly harden. A few anxious moments passed before I felt them relax again as he came to a decision and stepped a foot to his right, unshielding me.
I fearfully met Ruarc’s eyes and in an instant, the atmosphere changed.
“Her eyes are black as midnight,” Ruarc whispered, anger lacing his words. His furious eyes then slid from my face to Archer’s. “You dare to lie to me and the sworn Army of An Dilis? She IS an abomination! Her eyes declare that she is neither Day nor Dark, Fearchar. She is not of God…she is of HIM!” As he spoke, Ruarc and his soldiers shifted as they took in my new form and my black eyes; I knew from my my training with Hagan that they were readying themselves for a fight.
“Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live,” Ruarc quoted in disgust as he drew his dagger from its place upon his hip.
The next events happened so fast, I barely had time to process them. Archer stepped forward, grabbed me and threw my body behind his as Ruarc and his men advanced on us.
“Do not do this, dheartháir. I beg you,” Archer growled as he crouched his body in front of mine, protecting me. “Do not force my hand against you.”
Ruarc was silent as he flashed the ten feet to us and engaged Archer. I had never seen a vampire move as fast as he and even my new eyes understood how formidable he was. Ruarc and Archer came together in a crash of bodies as the other members of The Faithful closed in on me.
Indecision wracked my psyche. Do I attack them or do nothing and die like I had originally wanted? This was my chance to be free from my unexpected vampirism if I chose. Could I let them do it? I wonder if they will kill me quickly. My answer was chosen for me the second I heard Archer cry out in pain. My fangs descended with a familiar pinch as a furious growl tore itself from my chest. I barely had time to recognize that the sound came from me as I instantly took down my first attacker with a hard palm to the throat, crushing his windpipe with my newfound strength. I grabbed his sword with my free hand as I threw him away from me and met the next challenge with a roundhouse kick to the face. Everything seemed to move in slow motion as I furiously fought my way to Archer.
Their punches landed upon my body as blades of silver slashed at and stung my skin. The smell of my blood permeated the air, sending me into a wild state of anger and vengeance.
I was in the process of bringing my sword around to decapitate the one who had stabbed me in the stomach, when a scream drew my attention, giving my target just enough time to dodge the killing blow.
“STOOOOOP!!!” someone bellowed thunderously as a rush of bodies flashed down the stairs. I watched as Aoife, Trey, Lochlan, Quinn, Hunter and Seamus ran to Archer, swords and daggers in hand to form a protective wall around him, ready to fight to the death.
One of the members of The Faithful took my distraction as an invitation to kill and sliced my throat open with one daggered hand as he stabbed me in the chest with the other.
In an instant, I saw Hagan flash over to the man and break his neck with a quick twist from behind, causing his body to drop lifelessly to the floor.
Panic stricken, I gulped helplessly for breath; the terrible gurgling sound scaring me even more as my world started to tilt to the left. My hands flew to my face and I realized my head had nearly been decapitated as I clutched it tightly, righting it. I began to notice an itching sensation replacing the burning sting caused