Page 89 of All Your Deadly Truths (The Filthy Duet #2)
Kairhyse
I run and grab hold of Tali’s neck, just as once more, Xera attempts to thrust the dagger right for her heart. I’d question if she even had one for the callousness of her actions.
Just before the blade breaches her skin, she pulls back and kicks Xera, then pulls me behind her into the crowd of people.
I attempt to get up, but I’m just pushed and shoved. When I hear Xera grunt, even over the masses, I fall into the shadows the bodies have created below them.
Traversing through the shadows has always come easily to me. This ability was always meant for me to control, and as I shift between the confines of this world, I see everyone around me as mere black silhouettes—featureless, shrouded in a white aura.
I can’t step into the light. In this brightly lit space, I’m forced to move along the walls, confined to the darkness.
I spot Xeraphine—Tali has her by the hair, dragging her through the throngs of people toward the stairs. She fights, but not as much as I know she can. As much as my girl doesn’t care about the lives around her, she’s giving them an out by letting herself be pulled away from the chaos.
I stick close, but don’t intervene.
“Such a fucking brat.” Voices are distorted in this realm, where it sounds more like someone is speaking through a phone held under water.
“Fuck you,” Xera spits back at her mother, pulling at her hair and stumbling up the steps as she tries to walk properly.
“Just a few thousand years, what is that to an eternal being?” I hate that she speaks of time as if it means nothing. Every second matters, even to an immortal .
“A year or all of them, I’ll never give you a single one.”
Tali then thrusts Xera forward and as my girl stumbles and falls against the stairs, her mother kicks her. “This is an endless fight. Even if you severe my head I will grow it back in seconds . My body will still function, and that little dagger of yours won’t feel the pumping organ in my chest.”
My heart thrusts forward as she reaches for Xera’s head. The crimson sky is spilling through the stairway, and so I reach through the shadows and grab hold of Tali.
“There you are,” she purrs, and just as her hand is about to grab hold of my arm, I tear my fingers straight through her throat.
Xera plants her foot into Tali’s stomach, pushing herself to full height before driving the blade downward.
Tali catches her wrist, stopping the strike. I yank her back, curving her body so my little demon can attempt to push and drive the blade into her chest.
“I love the resilience, but this is tiresome!”
When Xeraphine lifts her gaze, she says, “Bite her.”
I understand almost instantly and I think that Tali does too, because I’m moving my lips toward her neck when her wings splay outward.
Her shriek of rage is piercing, and I tumble backward down the stairway.
I recover fast—back on my feet and sprinting up the steps just as Xera charges after Tali.
The exit narrows, and as I barrel through it, my girl stands a dozen or so feet from her mother.
“Get my blood in her system,” she instructs as I come to stand beside her. We emerge near a park, and I can’t help but smirk—this is the same place where I used to stalk Xeraphine in those first few weeks after meeting her.
She shifts her gaze over her shoulder, and I catch the worry creeping into her eyes.
I can hear her heart pounding because she knows—this is the second part of the plan if we failed to take Tali down physically.
She was right. If it came to a battle of endurance, they’d dance this fight for years, and the only one who’d wear down would be my girl.
She then turns back to Tali, letting her arms fall loosely at her sides.
“Come get my head.” When the words slip from Xera’s mouth, I shake.
I knew this was coming, but seeing her stand there, waiting for the attack, still freaks me the fuck out.
Tali doesn’t waver—she closes the distance in seconds. Before she can land a blow on my girl, I step between them. The attack slows, but not enough. Her strike connects with my arm, the bone shattering instantly, and I use every ounce of my strength to stay standing.
For a moment, everything pauses. Time itself seems to hesitate. I see it then—the way Xeraphine learned to analyze battle mid-fight. And while I fucking hate that realization, I’m glad I won’t have to spell it out for Tali. She knows exactly what’s happening.
She lifts her gaze, and I can feel Xeraphine pressing her forehead against the center of my back.
“I won’t be careless with your head, Vampire.” Her eyes pierce into slits as she takes a step back. “Doesn’t mean I won’t hurt you.”
The bones in my arm heal, and I shake it out.
“Physical pain is bearable. You taking her is unfathomable. You won’t, but be careful, I have good eyes and can bend quite well.
” I lean forward, right where she would have sliced through Xera’s neck.
“I’ve bent a lot for my little demon’s cunt; I’ve had great practice. ”
Xera smacks my back.
Sue me, I’m a bit nervous and the best way for me to deal with it, is humor.
No one laughs, but it was funny to me.
“Then suffer.”
She comes in for another attack, and as if she thinks I’m the one going to stand here like a punching bag, she’s quite mistaken. Grabbing her wrist, I spin her to the side and kick in her knee. She grunts just as I slam my forehead into her face.
“I’ve never liked hitting women,” I sneer, pulling on her arm. “But for you, I’ll continue to make an exception.”
I raise my hand above my head, and in my grip a weapon forms. Grabbing the solid object, which feels like the texture of a crystal, I go straight for her neck.
I’m sick of this bitch, I swear to the Gods.
As if inconsequence, she completely tears away from my grip, ripping her arm completely off and rolling backward. She shakes out her shoulder as a new limb forms.
Then, she’s gone.
I step back, circle Xera who hasn’t moved from behind me and catch Tali’s elbow as she is attempting to land a blow on my little demon.
“Fucking infuriating! ” she hisses.
Our battle will go on for centuries… A never ending back and forth.
While those weren’t the exact words I once said to Xeraphine, they’re close enough. Who would have thought that the battle I was referring to would end up being with her mother ?
I’ve already won the fight with my little demon, because I’ve claimed her heart. It’s mine to love and protect. I can’t afford to be useless to her—not now, not when she needs me the most.
A grin spreads across my face, but just as it does, Tali kicks me in the stomach. My back slams into Xera’s, but she keeps me on my feet.
“Will you make me pancakes soon?” she whispers so softly, I wonder if her mom can hear it.
I chuckle and square my shoulders, launching myself at Tali.
We exchange blow after blow, and because she knows I’ll not protect my head, she has pulled back her attacks enough that I can recover in no time.
It doesn’t allow her the ability to get back to Xeraphine, and even when she does, I’m blocking them with ease.
Frustration laces her scream as she stomps her foot like a fucking child.
I’m not even out of breath, but I can see that out of pure rage, Tali is wearing. It isn’t exhaustion per se, but it’s her patience. When you lose that, you become irrational, which is exactly where I need her to be.
Xeraphine hasn’t moved, and I can tell by the frantic beating of her heart that it isn’t easy for her.
But this is it, this is what we have to do.
She has to allow for me to be what she needs, and for once in her existence, give in to the reality that she can need help.
That it doesn’t make her weak, but instead, stronger.
Tali attempts another go at my girl, and when I kick her so hard that her ribs shatter, she goes crashing into a tree.
“Fucking FIGHT ME!” she screams as she comes to a stand. “You worthless slut, just FIGHT ME!”
My nose twitches.
“I’d like to try chocolate ones,” she whispers again. “Change it up a bit.”
“With syrup?”
A soft chuckle rolls from her throat. “Sure…”
Tali then stomps her way toward us. “I swear to fuck you guys aren’t talking about?—”
The pop of my shadows fangs echo so loudly, that I swear the entire world goes quiet.
It’s only broken by a heavy, drawn out sigh from Xeraphine.
My shadows arm wraps around Tali’s collar as it pushes its fangs further into her neck.
Seeing the shock cross her face has heat building across my chest. My heart nearly comes to a stop, and I want to celebrate, but I know I can’t do it prematurely.
My girl steps around me, walking toward Tali.
“Kneel,” Xeraphine commands, and I hold the breath I don’t need.