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

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      Nathan strode forward. “Simon Seymour, son of Jacob Seymour, by order of the Voluntary Vampire Extinction Movement, I charge you with the destruction of humans, the creation of new vampires, and the crime of aiding your sire, the Soul Eater, in his own offenses. How do you plead?”

      A cruel smile formed on Cyrus’s lips. “I never plead for anything. Certainly not to a whelp like you.”

      Nathan stood his ground as Cyrus moved closer. He watched Cyrus warily, as though he were a deadly snake about to strike.

      “Dear Nolen. Stupid as ever.”

      Nathan clenched his fists. “How do you plead to the charges, Cyrus?”

      “Does it matter? I’m unarmed, and no match for you, should you choose to strike me down in my weakened and vulnerable state.” After a deliberate pause, he added, “Like you did your wife.”

      Nathan’s body, tensed to the breaking point, snapped into motion. As his hands closed around my sire’s throat, I wanted to kill him. My heart constricted in grief and horror at the thought Nathan might hurt Cyrus.

      “Do you think she’ll survive without me?” Cyrus wheezed. “The tie is too strong between us. But that doesn’t matter, does it? You didn’t even save the pathetic human boy.”

      “Shut up,” Nathan growled, slamming Cyrus into the wall.

      Faintly, through the frantic staccato of my pulse, I heard Cyrus laugh. “You don’t really believe you’ve changed? Just because you’ve killed a few of the bad guys?”

      Nathan crushed Cyrus’s head against the wall, and I slumped to the floor, my chest tightening painfully so that I could only take fast, shallow breaths.

      When Cyrus spoke, his voice was ragged, but the hate there was unmistakable. “Kill me then, Nolen. It will be worth it to see the satisfaction in your eyes. I’ll die knowing you’re worthy of our sire’s blood.”

      Nathan’s hands flexed, squeezing Cyrus’s neck with fury, but Cyrus rallied one last time and shoved Nathan backward, hard. Nathan lost his balance and toppled to the floor. As he pulled himself up, he snarled, “I’m taking her with me.”

      Cyrus stepped aside, rubbing his neck as he leaned against the wall. “Fine. You’re welcome to her.”

      Before Nathan or I could react, Cyrus lunged forward and grabbed me by the wrist, spinning me into his arms like a dance. “How many pieces would you like to carry her out in? Two?”

      He twisted my arm until the long bones of my forearm snapped like dried twigs. I’d never actually broken a bone before. Man, did it hurt.

      Screaming in pain and anger like a wounded animal, I flailed my free hand to break the vial I still clutched in my fist. If I had to, I’d spray us both with it.

      “What’s this?” Cyrus hissed into my ear. “A token of affection from your knight protector?”

      He pried my fingers loose and snatched the bottle. Ferocious fingers seized my chin and squeezed my face roughly, forcing my jaw down.

      “All this time you let me think I’d created the perfect companion, and you were just waiting to sink the stake into my heart.” He popped the lid off the vial and tilted it. A single drop hung on the edge, poised to fall directly into my open mouth. “We’re more alike than I thought.”

      “Don’t do it,” Nathan warned.

      “Why? Because you’ll kill me? You’ve already proved you can’t. You’d enjoy it too much.” Cyrus tipped the vial a little more. The suspended drop trembled and I closed my eyes.

      I wasn’t ready to die. I might not have anything to live for, but an empty life sounded a lot better than an uncertain afterlife.

      “Please,” I whimpered as best I could with limited movement of my jaw.

      “Oh, shut up, Carrie. What a useless specimen you’ve turned out to be. Did you think you could betray me with no consequence?” His fingers gripped my face tighter. “What were you planning to do? Beg for mercy? Tell me you love me?”

      Though it burned my soul to do it, I nodded a little, terrified my movement would bring the liquid onto my flesh. “I do love you.” It wasn’t completely a lie, but he didn’t buy it. I couldn’t exactly blame him.

      “Do you think I’m stupid? Do you think I didn’t sense your betrayal?” He licked my ear. “Every moment I was inside you, I felt your uncertainty. Your fear of me. You never made your choice.”

      Nathan sucked in a sharp breath, and hot shame flooded my face.

      “Oh, does that bother you, Nolen?” Cyrus bit my neck softly. “I bet you thought you were rescuing a pure damsel. Don’t let her fool you. She begged for it. She let me use her like a whore and she drank my blood as payment.”

      “Gentlemen don’t kiss and tell,” Nathan quipped.

      How can he joke at a time like this?

      “I never claimed to be a gentleman. Unlike others in this room, I don’t deny my true nature.”

      Cyrus let the drop of holy water fall. I twisted away and it landed on the bare shoulder of my injured arm. The liquid burrowed through my skin and the flesh underneath like a scorching bullet. I bit my lip to stifle my cries.

      “I do wish you’d scream, Carrie. You have such a beautiful scream.” He sighed and tipped the bottle again. “Ah, well, just one of the things I’ll miss about you.”

      The vial flew from his hand before he could spill the rest on me, and his grip released. I fell to the floor. I couldn’t move my arm, and it felt as if it had been severed from my body while it hung lame at my side.

      Nathan pinned Cyrus to the wall, his face changing as he flashed his fangs. The holy water splashed their legs, and smoke rose from the floor where it burned their feet.

      Cyrus brought his knee up and kicked Nathan away. He hit the floor and rolled out of reach. I saw Cyrus withdraw a stake from his sleeve. I shouldn’t have been surprised that he’d lied about being unarmed.

      I jumped on him, sinking my fingernails into his face. One finger slipped into his empty eye socket, and it was all I could do to keep from yanking my hand away in disgust. He twisted violently, dislodging me, but I landed on my feet. When he stopped to wipe the blood from his eyes I was on him again, locking my legs around his waist and pummeling him from behind. He threw himself backward, crushing me between his body and the wall. The breath rushed from my lungs in a great whoosh and I slid to the floor, clutching my chest. He stood over me, ready to strike.

      Nathan got to his feet and slammed his elbow into the back of Cyrus’s head, bringing him to the ground. Once he was down, Nathan delivered vicious kicks to the back of his head until he stopped struggling.

      “Is he dead?” I gasped, using Nathan’s proffered arm to climb to my feet.

      He didn’t look at me. His gaze was locked on Ziggy’s motionless body. “No. And he won’t be out for long. Let me get Ziggy and we’ll go.”

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