Templar Vampires - Midnight Sun Part 26

Time came to a cras.h.i.+ng halt when Sebastian charged the door, splintering it off the frame.

Frozen, Sebastian saw Allie being held roughly against the chest of a renegade. Sebastian knew the b.a.s.t.a.r.d. His name was Daniel Parsons. A particularly brutal vampire, he cut a b.l.o.o.d.y path through Europe, beginning shortly after he was turned sometime around the time of Queen Victoria.

Daniel held a knife to Allie's throat as tears slipped down her face. Each one of those tears cut though Sebastian like a knife. He heard the thundering of her heart, the roar of her blood pus.h.i.+ng through her veins, felt her fear like a punch to his gut.

Sebastian let his gaze travel over her and take in her pale color, her dry and cracked lips, the two bruises on her face the size of men's fists, and the blood on her neck. Rage, hot and swift, shot through him when he noticed the puncture wounds left behind by a vampire's bite.

Snarling, Sebastian moved forward. Only when Daniel pressed the blade harder against her neck did he realize he'd advanced on them. He came to a dead halt, though Daniel kept the knife pressed hard on her. A thin line of blood formed under the blade. Sebastian's nostrils flared at the scent of her blood. Allie's gaze, wide with terror, locked on him as she bit back a whimper.

"Take one more step and I'll slit her throat."

Allie went to say something but the renegade gave her a hard squeeze. The movement caused the blade to cut deeper into her flesh. A thin line of blood appeared on her throat. Any words she might have uttered stilled on her tongue.

"This fight has nothing to do with her." Sebastian struggled to remain as calm as possible despite the fact that he wanted to hack him to pieces and leave Daniel for the sun. "Let her go."

Daniel's lips curled in a lazy smile. "That's where you're wrong, Templar. This has everything to do with her." He jerked Allie. This time she cried out as the blade sc.r.a.ped her neck. Blood trickled from the shallow slice. "Stay back, Dragon, or I'll bleed the b.i.t.c.h."

Sebastian motioned to Constantine to cease his slow advance. Constantine froze, though Sebastian could hear his furious thoughts in his head.

"We're not moving. We're staying right where we are. Right, C?" Sebastian asked calmly. Constantine nodded and grunted an affirmation. There wasn't any doubt if given the chance, Constantine would have torn the vampire to pieces.

Daniel smirked and pulled Allie even closer. She looked like nothing more than a rag doll in the b.a.s.t.a.r.d's arms. "You truly have no idea what she is, do you?"

"No, so why don't you tell me?" Sebastian figured as long as the situation remained calm, and he kept the b.a.s.t.a.r.d talking, that knife wouldn't cut any deeper into Allie's throat.

If he lost her...

He couldn't allow himself to dwell on that thought. If he did, he'd snap and do something stupid, something that couldn't be undone.

He eyed the scabbard at the vampire's hip. He knew if he lost focus, things could turn ugly fast. Which was why he was trying to keep the situation as calm as possible, even as everything feral in him wanted to tear out the renegade's spinal cord.

When Daniel rubbed his cheek over her hair, Sebastian saw Allie squeeze her eyes shut and bite down on her bottom lip to keep from crying out. Her bravery astounded him, even as he saw her body convulse with revulsion.

Helpless to move without putting Allie in further jeopardy, all Sebastian could do was let out an ominous growl as he watched the vampire's hand play over the flesh of her stomach.

Behind him he heard a sound ripped right out of h.e.l.l come from deep within Constantine.

Sebastian wanted to strike. Now. Take out the b.a.s.t.a.r.d and send him to the devil. Reason held him back. As long as the blade bit into Allie's throat, neither Templar dared to make a move.

They'd never get to him in time to prevent him from slitting her throat. Daniel's eyes narrowed on him. An almost maniacal light gleamed in the depths of them, making it all too clear he was half crazed. A slow, sinister grin pulled at his lips. His words, when he spoke them, blew colder than the bitter breath of Death.

"She's the Daystar."

Sebastian's gut twisted sickly when Daniel dropped that announcement. He saw Allie's eyes fly open and lock on him. The desperation he saw reflected in them caused a physical pain in his chest.

If this maniac believed that, it was safe to a.s.sume he'd do anything to take the power he believed she possessed. One wrong move on his part, and Allie was going to die.

Behind him, he felt the tension in Constantine, as the Dragon strained to hold himself back."Go easy, C.".

"I can feel her in me. She's screaming in my f.u.c.king head."

The tortured way Constantine said that was a kick to his heart."Tell her it's going to be alright. Tell her I love her."

Constantine let out a grunt and took a step back."She can't hear me."

What Constantine didn't say, but what Sebastian knew, was that Allie couldn't hear him past her own screams.

Sebastian's hand tightened around the hilt of his sword and his entire being hurt to take this vampire's blood. Still, he remained outwardly calm as a war of emotion raged within in.

"Whoever told you she's the Daystar was wrong."

Daniel s.h.i.+fted his hold on Allie. Sebastian stood still, afraid to move as the renegade took hold of Allie's chin. She choked on a sob when he lifted her head. The knife was still at her throat, slowly cutting into her. The vampire brought his mouth down to the side of her neck. His fangs hovered over her furiously throbbing vein.

"Care to put that to the test, Templar?"

This time it was Constantine who had to control Sebastian.

Sebastian needed to be physically restrained by Constantine to keep him from lunging toward Daniel.

The vampire laughed, his fangs nipping at Allie's neck. Her terrified whimper cut right through his brain, robbing him of reason. Like a man possessed, he tried to fight off Constantine's hold, going so far as to try to cut at Dragon's arms with his sword.

"No, Sage," Constantine hissed in his ear. "That's what he wants."

He knew Constantine was right, but G.o.d help him all he wanted to do was tear the b.a.s.t.a.r.d away from Allie and send him to Lucifer where he belonged.

"Get the f.u.c.k off of me,"Sebastian demanded."The p.r.i.c.k is bluffing. He won't kill her as long as hethinks she's the Daystar."

"And if he's not bluffing?"Constantine growled back. "You want to take that chance, Sage? You want to risk him killing her?"

Sebastian knew Constantine was right. He needed to get control over himself and not have his emotions rule his mind. If he allowed that to happen he'd get sloppy and sloppy would get Allie killed.

Calling on all the lessons he'd learned over the centuries, he wasn't going to let Daniel to goad him any more than the renegade already had.

Narrowing his eyes on Daniel, in his stare was the promise of h.e.l.l, which the renegade was smart enough to shrink from. Stepping back, he dragged Allie with him. From the smug expression on his face, Sebastian knew.

Heknew he had them, that they were his f.u.c.king puppets in this twisted game.

Feeling Daniel's hold on her ease a bit, Allie took advantage of her captor's distraction to make a move to try to free herself from his deadly hold. Twisting in his arms, she brought her knee up hard, catching him directly between the legs. Though dead, he could still feel pain and he howled and doubled over. The sword fell to the floor. She lunged for it, grabbing it before Daniel could. She tried to get away from him, but Daniel's arm came down on hers.

With a roar that shook the very foundation of the house, Sebastian charged. He grabbed Daniel by the throat and slammed him against the wall. Unfortunately, Daniel's hold on Allie brought her back with him.

She hit the wall with a grunt. Dazed, she slid to the floor, the weapon falling from her hand. It skidded to a halt near her feet. She kicked it away, preventing Daniel from grabbing it and using it against Sebastian.

Yanking her arm away from Daniel, she tried for the knife again, but the fight going on above her forced her to crawl away before she was caught in the middle of it.

Constantine rushed toward her. For a second she thought he was going to join the fray and help Sebastian end Daniel. Instead, he came for her.

One second she was trying to crawl away from the fight and the next she was scooped up in Constantine's arms and carried across the room. When they got to the doorway renegades blocked their exit.

"f.u.c.k all," Constantine swore, and unceremoniously dropped her.

Allie went to the floor with a thud and rolled out of the way. Constantine fought off the attack as she scurried over to the far corner of the room and crouched down low. Her energy spent, she was so weak she couldn't see straight. Sebastian and Daniel looked like a blur, locked in battle. Giving Daniel a good punch that sent him flying, Sebastian turned to her and warned her to stay where she was. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Daniel grab at the dropped sword and screamed out a warning. A few years ago she would have thought a gun was mightier than a sword. She'd since learned that wasn't the case since a bullet didn't do s.h.i.+t to a vampire.

Especially if the sword happened to be in the hands of a Templar.

Constantine palmed the sword that hung at his hip. He swung the thing with an expertise that rivaled Sebastian's. The sound was deafening as blades crossed and clashed. Allie put her hands over her ears and kept her focus on Sebastian as he battled Daniel. After what the renegade did to her, she didn't want to miss her Sebastian ending the b.a.s.t.a.r.d who had every intention of killing her.

The sudden explosion of dust pulled her attention away from Sebastian's fight, however. Constantine took out one of the vampires. The other was proving harder to finish off. The b.a.s.t.a.r.d was a d.a.m.n good opponent. He also fought with that same hacking, brutal style as the Templars.

Turning her attention back to Sebastian, her head spun from the fog of weakness. Still, she saw Daniel keeping pace with him. For every hammering blow of Sebastian's sword, Daniel managed to dance out of the way. He swiped at Sebastian, who easily knocked the blade away, countering with blow of his own.

At the second explosion of ash, Allie didn't need to look to know Constantine ended the second vampire.

Dragon came at her, was reaching for her, when Sebastian's foot hit the corner of the mattress. He stumbled and that was all the advantage Daniel needed.

Or so Allie thought.

In her unfocused and confused state, all she could think was that Daniel was going to kill Sebastian.

When Constantine's arms came at her, she found the strength to throw herself in front of Sebastian.

Coming between him and Daniel's sword, she saw Constantine dive for her, heard Sebastian's grunt when she hit into him. Spinning around, she saw Daniel's smirking face as his blade came down.

She heard Sebastian roar only a heartbeat before she felt something cold pa.s.s across her neck.

Cold as ice.

Chapter Twenty-Six.

As if in slow motion, Allie watched Daniel jump back. She saw blood on the blade of his sword.

She turned back to Sebastian, an odd sensation of biting cold across her neck. He wore a look of stark horror. Her hands went to her throat. She felt no pain, only an odd sensation she couldn't readily identify.

When she took her hands away they were covered with blood.

Swaying, Allie almost fell over. Sebastian made a move to get to her but Daniel's sword stopped him, slicing across his chest, keeping them separated as Sebastian was forced to continue the battle.

Her arms outstretched, all Allie wanted to do was go to Sebastian, but someone came from behind her and wrapped their arms around her. She was s.n.a.t.c.hed away from Sebastian and out of the room. Constantine was hauling a.s.s down the stairs when the pain came.

The agony was intense, bringing with it the realization of what happened. When she threw herself in front of Sebastian, Daniel's blade caught her instead of him. Her throat had been slit and that was why Sebastian let out that G.o.d-awful battle cry.

Thank G.o.d.

If one of them had to die she was glad it was going to be her. At least she was going to Heaven. If it had been Sebastian... Allie couldn't even bear the thought of where he'd be if Daniel ended him instead if her.

This was as it should be. This was right. Her life to save his soul was a sacrifice that had been worth making.

As Constantine sprinted down the steps, all Allie could think was that when she died, she'd get to see the angels. True, she wouldn't see Sebastian again, but she was okay with that as long as knew she died saving him from h.e.l.l. That knowledge alone would sustain her as her life bled out and she was delivered to wherever it was she was headed once it was done and she was gone.

"Don't you leave us, Allie."

Constantine put that in her mind as her body went numb. She liked numb. Numb meant no more pain.

She didn't even feel Constantine holding her anymore, like she was no longer part of anything happening around her.

Wanting to answer him but unable to, Allie gave up and relaxed in Constantine's arms as he carried her out of the house. She didn't want to leave Sebastian, but she knew there was nothing more she could do for him. She'd already done all she could.

She gave her life for him.

She wanted Sebastian with her in these last moments. She wanted to take the sight of him with her when she looked last at life. But that wasn't going to happen. Not with Constantine rus.h.i.+ng her out of the house, pus.h.i.+ng past Raphael, who stood sentinel in the doorway.

Allie saw Rogue's eyes go wide with horror. "Oh my G.o.d..."

He sheathed his sword and ran after them, asking after Sebastian. Constantine came to stop in the middle of the front yard and answered that Sebastian was still upstairs fighting Daniel Parsons. Allie thought she heard Raphael mutter out a curse, but she couldn't be sure. Her vision was dimming and her body getting so cold she felt as if her hands and feet were nothing more than blocks of ice.

And the wetness-it was everywhere, sticky and warm. She knew it was her blood.

Constantine crouched down and carefully laid her on the gra.s.s. It afforded Allie the chance to see his face and it broke her heart. This was the first time she ever saw him show real emotion.

G.o.d, he looked so sad. She brought her hand to his cheek, wis.h.i.+ng she could take the grief from him. He curled his hand around hers, giving it a hard squeeze. He looked away, that mysterious silver gaze lighting on Raphael. They were talking to each other through telepathy. If she could have, she would have demanded they stop and say whatever it was aloud. After all, whatever was being said between them, she had every right to hear.

And then Constantine and Raphael simply went away. They were there one second, talking amongst themselves, and then they were simply gone.

She turned her head to where Raphael should have been but all she saw was dark. Everywhere, surrounding her, overtaking the vast mountain range, the dark blocked out everything, including the clear night sky.

Yet the dark didn't conceal everything.

In it came her brother.

At first Christian was out of focus. Gradually however, the image of him sharpened, until she saw him standing beside her, as real as he'd been in life.

"Christian-my G.o.d..."

The broken whimper was torn, not from her throat, but from her heart, still aching with grief.

Her gaze greedily devoured every nuance of him, from the top of his dark brown hair right down to the faded blue denim of his jeans. He looked exactly as he did the night he died.