To Kill a Vampire - A.K. Koonce Page 0,45

could just see her. With trained focus I stare unblinkingly at Atticus.

My fixated attention studies the thin lines that hold his crumbling features together. The crisp way his translucent skin clings to his sharp skull. The eyes that are so similar to Fallon’s and yet so different. Her eyes burn like fury and fire. While his … only simmer dully. As if they might extinguish at any moment.

He steps up to me, his height almost towering over me, and my chin rises to look him in his eyes. The muscles of my jaw tighten as I try to twist away from what I know will lead to my irrepressible death.

For a few seconds nothing happens, the calm within me begins to pull me under, threatening to take my mind with it. Glaring eyes study me closely, his head turning as if he doesn’t understand what he’s looking at.

“You … shouldn’t exist.”

“I guess we do agree on some things,” President Docile replies in a clipped tone from somewhere in the distance.

Slowly, he looks down at the sword shaking in my hand. All of the strength I possess is focused on how tightly I’m holding the weapon. Sweat streaks down my temple as I will myself to raise the sword and plunge it into his cold heart. End this game once and for all.

Nothing happens.

The calm within me begins to evaporate as I realize what he’s thinking. My heart pounds wildly in my chest as his hand grips mine. My eyes close tightly when he pries my fingers from the hilt.

I should open my eyes and face him when he does it. Stare unyieldingly into his empty eyes when he takes my life. For a moment I let go of the honor, the will to survive slipping right from me.

Then I think of Fallon. The last memory she might have of me is this. A long breath is held in my lungs as I fling my eyes open, my gaze boring into his, rage pouring off of me in waves.

A chuckle hums through his thin chest as he glares at me, a strange mixture of hate and happiness swirling through his features.

With deliberate slowness, he presses the Crimson Sword into my chest. The burn of the immortal weapon chases the calm right from my veins. I flinch, and a seething breath breaks through from my clinched teeth.

Another subtle move and the tip of the sword touches bone. My lungs push ragged breaths from my body, shaking through me as I stare adamantly into his eyes.

All my life I’ve depended on a Crimson Sword; kept it close like a security blanket. I never thought it’d be the sword I died by …

A wafting sound like a flag in the wind fills the silence and, without warning, the Infinity witch drops from above, tackling Atticus to the ground. The clatter of the Crimson Sword against the wet rock accompanies his hissing anger.

The urge to fight returns to me, but my limbs remain in place. Anger courses through me as I stand helplessly, waiting for the vampire’s hold to release my mind.

The image of my brother no longer mars her face. Long, silver hair hangs freely to her waist, the demanding winds whip it around her cool, blue eyes. A long, white gown hugs her, revealing every smooth curve of her body. With both hands, the witch holds a brilliant blue light; raw energy coils in her palms as she stares down on the cowering vampire. He scrambles back from her, and she takes slow steps, following him with intensity burning in her eyes.

“Kenzent, you tried to curse me once,” Atticus says as he clings to his composure. “I told you: you’ll never kill me.”

Her fingers arch, the light becoming brighter with each passing second.

“Kenzent, watch out!” Fallon screams.

The witch doesn’t turn; she’s holds her gaze on the creature at her feet even after Mary sinks the Crimson Sword into her back.

An empty breath leaves her lips as she stares down on the bloody sword piercing her abdomen.

“I won’t kill you,” she whispers, her voice cracking slightly. “Fallon will.”

With a half-smile, the witch turns, releasing the powerful fuming light on President Docile. The vampire’s fragile body flies through the air, shatters the rock as she smashes against the cliff, and falls to the ground.

Kenzent’s tired gaze meets Fallon’s for a single second. A look of peace passes between them before she sinks to her knees, her icy eyes closing for the final time.

Twenty-Two

Calming Waves

Fallon

Too much