All Souls' Night - Renee Rose Page 0,311

I’ll never be able to tell Theo and Alex face-to-face that…I love them. As crazy as that sounds, I do. And I’ll never know what a happily ever after could have meant, because I ran instead of trusting them to protect me like they promised. I didn’t even give them the chance.

Yanking me to my feet, Tony drags me to the edge of the blue tarp spread on the ground. One hand fisted in my hair, he forces me to gaze at his combat knife in the other, silhouetted in the harsh headlights like he’s showing me his favorite toy. He flips it, catches the handle blade down, and plunges it into my gut.

Sweet Jesus, the pain.

I can’t breathe no matter how wide I open my mouth.

He pulls out the knife. My blood drips from and glistens on the steel. He plunges it again.

And again. And again.

The world tilts. The blue tarp collides with my face, and he grabs the back of my sweatpants, pulling them down over my ass. As the headlights fade to black, I hear the ravenous growls of wild animals. Tony screams.

At least I wasn’t raped by Tony, and I’ll be dead before those wild animals can get to me.

Chapter 10

Her sweet blood is my beacon.

Though we had followed Slash’s instructions to where the car was supposed to be, the road was empty. We got out and searched the area.

Karina was nowhere to be found.

The wind was my messenger, carrying that familiar scent of her life’s essence to me. Alex and I blurred in the direction of the breeze. Over a rise, a rental car sat, headlights blazing on and lighting up the big brute standing behind Karina, a bloody knife in his hand. Crimson streams down the front of her and he drops her to the electric-blue tarp on the ground, which is already splattered with her blood. He pulls her pants down, his cock sheathed in a condom, ready to violate her.

I sail toward his body, dragging him into the darkness.

His screams are not loud enough. His fear not palpable enough. He could not suffer enough for what he has done, or what he planned to do. I have dispatched him too quickly. But time is critical, and I cannot waste it on revenge.

Blood drips from Alex’s chin, Karina is in his arms. He has righted her sweatpants. Her sweatshirt is open, and her belly covered in in what I can smell is Alex’s blood mixed with hers. Tears stream down his face. “I was able to heal her wounds, but she’s still dying! She’s lost too much blood.”

I drop to my knees. “Karina?”

Her eyes open a millimeter and the corner of her mouth twitches, as if she’s trying to gift us one last smile. “Th-Theo? Al-Alex. I…love…” She falls limp in his arms, and her last breath rattles from her mouth.

The world implodes. My heart is torn from my chest.

“Turn her!” Alex cries.

I can’t see, my eyes blinded by the rush of tears.

“Theo, turn her now! She’ll be dead anyway!”

My fangs extend and a cry of anguish pours from my lips as I scream toward the heavens. I grab the knife from the tarp and slash my wrist, forcing my blood into her mouth as Alex holds her head back. My blood spills down her throat but overflows, staining her cheeks. Ripping open my shirt, I drag the blade across my chest and hug her to me, holding her mouth to the gaping wound over my heart. Rocking her in my arms. Please!

The pale pallor of death turns her skin gray. But I don’t know if that’s a sign of the transformation, or if she’s slipping deeper into death’s embrace.

I keep pouring my blood into her mouth, cradling her in my arms. The only saving grace giving me a sliver of hope is the blood Alex and I fed to Karina while she was recovering at Toxic—would it be enough to prepare her body for the transformation? Did the virus infect her enough to support the fresh blood I’ve introduced into her system? And after I’ve given her several doses of my blood, Alex stops me. His eyes meet mine. Tears mingle with the blood on his chin.

“Will it work?” I can barely choke out the words.

Alex shakes his head. “I don’t know.”

How long we sit in the desert, holding her body between us as we weep, I cannot say. But eventually, we carry her back to my car. I wrap her in