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This was it, this was my cue I needed to incinerate every vampire in this whole room… so then why couldn’t I? I blinked and my eyes were on Hunter I couldn’t kill hiot to me

"I -- I can’t"

"What?" Hunter spat "If you don’t do it, I’ll zip downstairs and kill your precious angel"

I shook my head I knew Hunter was no rown guardian angel I’d witnessed Eli take on old vampires and win I just needed Hunter out of the room so I could kill them all and then I’d help Eli As I expected, Hunter sht air blew in There were no sounds from outside I had no idea if Aleksandrov had arrived or not

I let an to warm It felt so nice, so euphoric I felt powerful and happy The valow

"What are you doing?" Lucian screaan to keel over in pain and their skin burned as if they’d stepped out into the sun

One by one I shot huge bea the I was only left with four valoanted to stake Lucian with ot closer to him He eak, I didn’t need my sun power to kill him I pulled a stake from my waist band and stepped closer to him Lucian leapt from his feet and slammed me into the hard wall My vision blurred for less than a second, but I soon recovered

"You sneaky bitch," Lucian growled, li quicker than I expected, Mithras’s bloodup speed and by the end of it, he was running full bore atto slip fromy arms I tried to push him off, but he didn’t move I watched as the last bit of burnt flesh on his forehead healed itself Venos as he leaned his face doardmore of a nuisance than you’re worth!" he spat

He leaned closer and I felt his fangs graze my neck The stake was still firet his heart, but I pressed it deep into his storoaned and gasped as he pulled at it I leapt tothe other stake from my waistband I ran at Lucian, my stake prepped and ready I dove at him in line perfectly with his heart Just before I reached hie instead Lucian fell to the ground, irasped at the stake, trying toto decide which stake to pull out and stab him with

"Ruby?"

I turned abruptly

"Eli? You’re okay, thank god"

"We need to g --"

Suddenly, he dropped to his knees Another screaan to leak onto his white shirt He lay down, his eyes fixated onwent completely silent All ly slow pace I could feel h , I killed Liam with my sun power Within seconds he was a pile of dust

I kneeled next to Eli, caressing his forehead withto be okay," I cried

"You s-should go"

I rested my head on his and stroked his hair "Shhh, rest, please"

Hunter entered the room and sahat had happened to Eli Without so et roaned Hunter smashed thethat led to the back of the warehouse by the forest

I didn’t care if they got away I just needed to be with Eli, I needed to keep him alive Hunter leapt with Lucian fro becalanced at the blood I could see the panic on his face despite how hard he tried to hide it

A shadow loo the person backwards It wasn’t until I blinked the tears away from my eyes that I realized it was Hunter My hands lit up as I prepared to kill hi to kill me"

"You see the rooret it," I growled through clenched teeth

"Let me help hih I no longer have a soul, it still kills me to see you cry"

I let Hunter pass me and he knelt beside Eli He bit into his own flesh and atte blood into Eli’s mouth Eli pursed his lips, determined not to let a drop into his ested, vampire blood can heal Eli knew that but his pride wouldn’t let him take it

I think he sa desperate I was because he slowly parted his lips, taking Hunter’s blood After ts his eyes closed

"What’s wrong?"

"Relax, he’ll be fine" Hunter walked over to thehe’d taken Lucian through

"When he finds another Heelian and gets strong, he’s going to co to help him, not because I want to, but because I have to … He is my creator"

"Tell Lucian we’ll be ready for him"

"When the time comes, there won’t be a ‘we’ He’ll kill everyone you’ve ever loved He’ll kill everyone protecting you, starting with Eli This has nothing to do with them, this is about you If you want to protect the ones you love, then you need to face this on your own"

I turned away from Hunter and returned to Eli He slept peacefully, like he had on our drive to Mount Kuuce Perhaps I’d ood decision when I decided not to kill Hunter, Eli would be dead if I had Would this situation be placinghands? Can I help them both? I know Hunter’s humanity is still there I’d seen it

Eli’s eyes fluttered open and I wrapped ed me back I helped him to his feet

"Are you okay?" I asked

"Yes Are you?"

"Yes"

"We need to help the others" Eli grabbed his stake off the floor and we ran down the stairs of the fire exit It was a lot safer than the elevator A few guardian bodies were strewn over the first floor of the warehouse as well as piles of dust I forced myself not to look at them I needed to help the others

Eli tore from the warehouse and I followed closely behind The cool air was gone My eyes searched the surroundings as guardian angels took on vampires It was like the tiht up in rabbed at me She was really pissed off There was no doubt she held me responsible for all this low let alone warhtly However, all wasn’t lost There were fires all around me, and it wasn’t until I saw a few of my teachers like Mr Farley and Lillian that I knew they were for the gods and goddesses As the fe her oeight against her Soround She bounced back, finding her ground quickly I raised e chunk of it flew over to me I positioned the flames between us as we circled each other