Blood Ties Bundle: Blood Ties Book One: The Turning / Blood Ties Book Two: Possession / Blood Ties Book Three: Ashes to Ashes / Blood Ties Book Four: All Souls' Night. Jennifer Armintrout

Чтение книги онлайн.

СКАЧАТЬ Cyrus wiped a rivulet of blood from his chin and raised his arms. His roughened voice and savage vampire face made him seem more evil, if that were possible. “Ladies and gentlemen, enjoy the hunt.”

      Behind us, the doors pushed open and a frantic group of humans flooded the terrace. They ran for their lives and would have trampled Ziggy, had I not knelt over him and shielded his vulnerable body.

      “Ziggy, can you hear me?” I pulled him into my lap and pressed my hand to the oozing wound on his neck. Blood should have been spraying from his gashed throat, if there was enough blood left to spray. He opened his eyes, but they rolled back into his head as his body seized in my arms.

      Most of the pets ran straight for the maze, herded toward it by the pursuing vampires. A few of the humans broke away from the crowd and were caught as they tried to climb the garden walls.

      Cyrus watched for a long moment, something akin to pride on his face. Then he turned to us and raised his wrist. “Shall I turn him, or will you?”

      “No!” I shouted again, trying to cover Ziggy by leaning over him, but my answer was swallowed up by the pandemonium. “I made a mistake. I wanted him to live.”

      “Well, it’s not bloody likely now, is it?” Cyrus asked dispassionately. “Look, we’ll get you another one.”

      Tears rolled down my cheeks, stinging my cold flesh. “This wasn’t how it was supposed to happen.”

      Cyrus frowned. “What are you talking about?”

      He suspected something. Amid the screams and destruction around us, I let my guard down, my guilt and terror flooding the blood tie.

      Over all this, a new sound emerged. The steady thump of rotary blades chopping through the air. I’d often heard the sound at the hospital, when accident victims were brought in by helicopter.

      The medical chopper had nothing on the three sleek, black, military-style copters that dipped below the tree line. I stared up at the sky, transfixed by the whirling blades. My heart swelled with a mixture of dread and hope. The hour of salvation had arrived, too late for Ziggy.

      Or me, for that matter. Without him, my safety wasn’t assured. I wrapped my arms around Ziggy’s chest and stood, half lifting him. He gasped and a cascade of blood poured over my hands. He wasn’t going to last much longer.

      Cyrus shouted frantically to his guards. New screams erupted from the hedge maze, the petrified cries of vampires trapped like foxes in snares, as one by one they realized what was happening. The helicopters’ floodlights snapped on and pure UV rays drenched the lawn in artificial sunlight.

      The heat and glare made my skin sizzle, but there wasn’t enough direct exposure to kill me on the shaded porch where we were. Others weren’t so lucky. The few vampires who made it clear of the maze exploded into flame and burned before they could reach the terrace. Only a handful made it to the house, pushing past us and charging through the glass doors.

      Long ropes fell from both sides of each helicopter and dark figures dropped onto the lawn.

      The assassins had arrived.

      Twenty of them slid to the ground, covered in head-to-toe black gear. On their heads they wore black hoods and dark goggles. Leather gloves and boots protected their hands and feet. Not a centimeter of their skin was exposed.

      They were impressively efficient. The vampires that didn’t burn quickly enough were staked. A few were decapitated with long, studded knives.

      It was gruesome. Headless bodies burst into fire, skin and muscle flaking to embers in the wind generated by the helicopters. For a brief second, all that remained of them was a flash of blue flame where their heart should be, just before their ribs turned to ash and crumbled to the lawn.

      Cyrus fled past me, the right side of his face scorched by the lights. “I’ll deal with you later! Run!”

      But I couldn’t leave Ziggy to die alone. I struggled backward to the door, dragging him with me, as my sire ran to cowardly safety.

      The assassins surged up the lawn in a lethal wave. A thin line of smoke wafted off of the top of the head of one of the assassins. He lifted a walkie-talkie to his face, mumbled into it, and the lights cut off in sync.

      I searched the lawn frantically for any sign of Nathan. How would I find him when they were all dressed the same?

      One of them pointed in my direction as I gained the door.

      “Don’t hurt him!” I screamed, dropping Ziggy to the marble floor of the foyer. I laid across him, wincing at the rattle I heard in his chest. “He’s human! Don’t hurt him!”

      Without a word, the killer reached down and lifted Ziggy’s legs before he barked at the others filing into the house. “I want a sweep of the grounds, and the house upstairs and down. Max, Amy, get the ground lights, and for God’s sake, let’s find the Soul Eater! Carrie, get him by the shoulders!”

      It was Nathan.

      Numb, I grabbed Ziggy under his arms. Seeing the doors were open, I nodded in the direction of the study. It was dark, but my eyes adjusted in time to guide Nathan to the corner farthest from the door. He eased Ziggy to the ground and whipped off his hood to examine the wound.

      “It’s pretty bad,” I said softly. “Even if we got him in an ambulance now—”

      “Shut up!” Nathan shouted, lifting Ziggy in his arms. “He’s gonna be fine. Aren’t you, kid?”

      Ziggy’s head lolled to the side, and he choked on his blood as he struggled to speak. Only two words came out clearly. One was home.

      The other was Dad.

      “Yeah. We’re going home,” Nathan whispered, smoothing Ziggy’s hair back from his forehead. “Daddy’s got you, and we’re going home.”

      I covered my mouth as a sob threatened to tear from my throat. Outside the door, a war waged. No one knew that in this room, a father held his dying son.

      No one except us, and the Soul Eater.

      I’d forgotten his presence, had even run past his coffin as we’d entered the room without a second thought. Now dread overwhelmed me. My gaze fell on the casket. It was empty, the lid torn off the hinges. “Nathan…”

      He would be no help, I realized, as I watched him cradle Ziggy close, half rocking on the hard floor. The sight was too painful. I had to look away.

      The Soul Eater was somewhere in the house. Then I remembered the vial of holy water Nathan had given me. I’d tucked it into my bra as I’d dressed for the party. I’d just fished it out when the doorknob rattled. “Nathan!”

      He was on his feet beside me, his face expressionless. “Ziggy’s dead.”

      “I’m sorry,” I whispered. “Is there anything I can—”

      “There’s really not time for that now.” Nathan stepped in front of me. “Whatever comes through that door, run like hell.”

      “Excuse me?”

      Just then the doors СКАЧАТЬ