To Kill a Vampire - A.K. Koonce Page 0,46
has happened. My emotions are becoming too thin and too reckless. I want to sit and cry and … sleep. I just want to sleep this all away.
And I will. As soon as he’s dead.
My body moves faster than my mind can process; my lungs burn but I refuse to wait. I refuse to let their deaths fall away without meaning.
Deliberate and flawless energy rages through me. My fingers are curling around the Crimson Sword before Kenzent even hits the ground, and I flinch slightly as I rip it from her body. The peaceful look on her beautiful face will stay with me for the rest of my life.
For a flickering second Atticus’ attention finds me among the blurred movements that have become my apparent rage.
My eyes flash with preemptive victory as I thrash the sword through the air, my aim perfectly poised. Fear shadows his paper thin features, the first real emotion I’ve ever seen the vampire possess. Swiftly, the blade runs through his chest. Triumph spirals through me, my breaths becoming ragged as a weight lifts from me.
And then there’s pain.
I feel it. The moment my heart starts up and the curse slips away from my mortal body. Magic tenses the air. A vibrating thump within my chest is so strong my legs give out, crippling me to the scraping rocks that cut into my bare knees. The Crimson Sword slips from my hand, clattering against the wet stone. The steady power that circulated in my veins for the past several weeks pulls from me all at once. It leaves me gasping for air and more tired than I’ve ever been.
Tightly, my fingers grip the material of my shirt right over my heart, trying to find some solace among the instant agony.
Asher comes to my side, his fingers hesitantly brushing my bare arm as I lie in the cold waves. The ocean seems to be growing around me, its waves lapping up the rocky shore and touching my shoulders, bringing me some comfort as the pain starts to subside.
“It’s going to be okay, baby,” he whispers in a shaking breath.
He has no idea if it’s going to be okay. I can see it in his beautiful, fearful eyes, but he reassures me anyway.
My pounding heart warms just from his nearness, and tears begin to stream down my face as my emotions come tumbling through me all at once. They attack my weakened state. Kenzent’s body is just a few feet from me. She died for me. Just like my mother.
I gasp through the wet tears, my chest shaking.
She once told me she was done waiting for anyone other than death. She wanted to be free. Now she is.
“You stupid, stupid girl.”
President Docile’s willowy figure stands above me, a smile smearing her dirty face. Her once regal gown is stained with blood and frayed along the hem, but she still clings to her poised posture. “Atticus was perhaps the only thing protecting you in this world. And you killed him.” She shakes her head at me, her red eyes focused intently on my crumpled body as she holds the Crimson Sword firmly in her slender hands.
Weakness lies heavily in my limbs, but with all my strength I push away from her, further into the Emerald Ocean. The cool and calm waves slip over my shoulders, enveloping me into the water. Asher stands, his spine straightening, as he leaps toward the monster before us.
“Stop.” With a wave of her hand and a flash of her glowing eyes, she commands the hybrid. His body shakes but he does as he’s told, his hands held in midair, almost touching her long, blonde hair but not quite. A twisting smile pulls at her red lips as she captivates Asher with a single word.
My heart thrashes in my chest as my fingers slip against the sandy ocean floor, pushing myself ever so subtly farther away. The taste of salt clings to my lips as the waves grow higher around me.
The dark hem of her beautiful dress becomes soaked as she takes slow and deliberate steps toward me. The water dampens the material all the way to her knees. She stands over me, the clear waves reflecting the moonlight into her youthful face. She’s just a little older than me with a mind that’s seen the world fall apart off and on for centuries.
She kneels at my side, the sword held just above the water, just above my exhausted body.
“I always wanted a daughter,” she