Page 19 of Finn (Vampire Vows #1)

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

GAbrIEL

The motel room was silent except for the low hum of the heater struggling to fend off the night’s chill.

Finn lay beside me, his breathing soft but uneven, as if even in sleep, his body refused to fully relax.

I reached out, brushing my fingers through his hair in slow, deliberate strokes, hoping to offer him some comfort.

I wasn’t far from sleep myself, the weight of exhaustion pulling me under. But just as my eyes closed, I heard it.

A faint sound, barely more than a whisper, outside the door.

My senses snapped to attention, adrenaline flushing away the drowsiness in an instant.

My eyes shot to the door, now just a dark outline in the dim room.

For a second, I told myself it was nothing. A creak of old floorboards. The wind pressing against the thin motel walls.

But then I heard it again.

Footsteps.

Slow. Deliberate.

My stomach twisted into a knot as my pulse quickened.

I turned my head toward the window, catching the faintest movement. A shadow slipping past the weak glow of the streetlamp outside.

“Finn,” I whispered, my voice barely audible.

My hand tightened on his shoulder, shaking him gently but urgently.

He stirred, blinking groggily at first. But the moment he registered the look on my face, his expression sharpened.

“What is it?” Finn asked.

I tilted my head toward the door. “Someone’s out there.”

Finn froze, his body going rigid. I could see his mind racing, the same questions swirling through both of our heads.

Was it Gael? Asher?

Finn sat up slowly, his movements deliberate and quiet.

He reached for the knife he kept under his pillow, the blade catching the faint light as he gripped it tightly.

I rose beside him, my senses straining to catch any hint of movement or sound. The footsteps stopped.

We exchanged a tense glance, neither of us daring to speak.

Then came the knock.

Three sharp raps against the door, each one reverberating through the stillness like a gunshot.

My heart thundered in my chest as I stepped forward instinctively, shielding Finn with my body.

Whoever was on the other side, they’d have to go through me first.

“Gabriel…” Finn’s voice was low, laced with both fear and resolve.

He shifted closer to me, his knife ready.

I held up a hand, signaling for him to stay back.

My throat felt tight, my body caught between the urge to fight and the need to protect him.

Another shadow passed by the window, pausing briefly before disappearing from sight again.

Whoever was out there wasn’t alone.

The realization hit me like a blow, my mind spinning with possibilities.

Were we surrounded? Trapped? Or was this some kind of twisted game to rattle us before they struck?

My fists clenched at my sides, every instinct screaming to act, to do something, but recklessness could get us killed.

The knock came again, slower this time, more deliberate.

“Gabriel,” Finn said again, his voice steadier now. “If this is it…”

I turned to him, cutting him off with a sharp look.

“It’s not.” My voice was firm, more confident than I felt. “We’re getting out of this. Together.”

Another pause. The tension in the room was suffocating, each second stretching into an eternity.

The door handle turned with an eerie slowness, and my entire body tensed.

Every instinct told me to move, to act, but I stayed rooted to the spot, waiting for the exact moment to strike.

The door creaked open, revealing Gael standing in the doorway. In his hand, the unmistakable gleam of a knife caught my eye.

He stepped inside with measured confidence, his lips curling into a smirk that chilled me to the bone.

"Gael," I said, keeping my voice steady, my hands flexing at my sides. “Can’t say I’m pleased to see you again. ”

He tilted his head, his smirk widening into a cruel grin.

“I am. I can’t wait to present your corpse to Beric. Did you really think you could hide forever?" Gael asked.

Finn stood behind me, his knife clenched in his fist, his breathing shallow but controlled.

I could feel the tension radiating off him, but I needed to keep him calm.

Gael took another step forward, twirling the knife lazily in his hand.

"And you," he said, his gaze flicking to Finn. "You’ve caused quite the stir, little hunter. Beric wants you dead as well.”

"Touch him," I said, my voice low and dangerous, "and you won’t leave this room alive."

Gael’s laugh was sharp and mocking. "Bold words for someone who’s outnumbered,” he said.

Before I could process his meaning, the window behind us shattered.

Glass exploded inward, showering the room in jagged shards.

I spun around just in time to see another vampire vaulting through the opening, his eyes locked on Finn.

“Finn, move!” I shouted, but the vampire was fast.

Finn ducked and rolled to the side as the vampire lunged, his knife swiping through the air where Finn had been a moment before.

I launched myself at the attacker, slamming him into the wall.

The impact cracked the plaster, but the vampire only snarled and shoved me back with unnatural strength.

Gael took the opportunity to rush Finn, his knife slashing in a deadly arc.

Finn parried with his own blade, the clash of metal ringing out as they grappled.

“Finn!” I called, but I couldn’t get to him.

The second vampire was on me again, his knife aiming for my throat.

The room was chaos. A cacophony of snarls, metal, and shattering furniture.

Finn and Gael circled each other, their blades dancing dangerously close.

Gael’s smirk hadn’t faltered; he was toying with Finn, testing him, waiting for a mistake.

I didn’t have time to watch them. My opponent lunged at me again, his speed blurring as he closed the distance.

I dodged to the side, grabbed a broken chair leg, and drove it toward his chest.

He twisted at the last second, and the makeshift stake glanced off his ribs.

The vampire snarled, baring fangs, and swung at me with his knife.

I ducked, grabbing his arm and using his momentum to throw him across the room.

He crashed into the dresser, splintering it into pieces, but he was on his feet in seconds, his eyes blazing with fury.

In my peripheral vision, I saw Finn trip over the edge of the bed.

Gael pounced, his knife flashing, but Finn managed to roll away just in time.

“Finn, get out of here!” I yelled.

“No!” he shouted back, his voice defiant. “I’m not leaving you!”

The vampire I was fighting rushed me again, forcing me to focus.

He came at me with everything he had—knife, fangs, brute strength.

But I’d been doing this for too long, and he was predictable.

When he lunged for my throat, I sidestepped and grabbed the back of his neck, driving him face-first into the ground.

Before he could recover, I grabbed the broken chair leg again and rammed it through his chest.

He let out a strangled cry, his body convulsing as the wood pierced his heart. Then he went still, his body sliding to the floor.

I turned just in time to see Finn block another of Gael’s strikes, his knife skidding across the blade.

Gael was relentless, pressing Finn backward until his back hit the wall.

“Enough!” I roared, charging at Gael.

He spun at the last second, catching my arm with his knife. Pain flared, hot and sharp, but I ignored it.

I grabbed his wrist, forcing the knife away from Finn, and slammed my forehead into his face.

He staggered back, blood streaming from his nose, but his grin remained intact.

“You’re wasting your time, Gabriel,” he hissed, his voice dripping with malice. “You can’t protect him forever.”

“Watch me,” I growled, stepping between him and Finn.

Gael wiped the blood from his nose, his eyes gleaming with a dangerous light.

“Let’s see how long you can keep up that act,” Gael said.

Before I could react, Finn threw something small and metallic onto the floor. A smoke bomb.

Thick, acrid smoke filled the room, blinding and choking us.

“Gabriel, let’s go!” Finn shouted, grabbing my arm and dragging me toward the door.

We stumbled into the hallway, coughing and blinking through the haze.

The smoke bomb had bought us time, but I knew Gael wouldn’t let us go that easily.

“Run!” I urged Finn, and we bolted for the motel’s back exit.

The night air hit us like a slap, cold and biting against our skin. We didn’t stop, sprinting toward the tree line beyond the parking lot.

The woods were dark, the towering trees casting long shadows that seemed to swallow us whole.

I could hear Finn’s ragged breathing beside me, and behind us, the unmistakable sound of pursuit.

I could hear a second set of footsteps and silently cursed. Gael had another vampire with him.

“They’re coming!” Finn gasped.

“I know,” I said, my voice tight. “Keep moving!”

We wove through the trees, dodging branches and leaping over roots.

Gael and his ally were faster, but we had the advantage of knowing how to fight smart.

“This way!” I said, pulling Finn toward a denser part of the forest.

The vampire behind us let out a furious snarl, and I could hear his footsteps closing in.

I turned sharply, grabbing a fallen branch and swinging it with all my strength.

It caught him across the chest, knocking him off balance.

“Go, Finn!” I shouted, but he hesitated.

“I’m not leaving you!” he snapped.

“Finn, now!” We didn’t know how many vampires Gael brought with him. I didn’t like our odds.

He finally obeyed, running deeper into the woods. I turned back to the vampire, who was already recovering.

This one I knew. Jasper wasn’t like the vampire I killed earlier. He was bigger, stronger, older.

I waited for him to lunge, then sidestepped and drove my elbow into his spine.

He howled in pain but twisted, grabbing me by the throat and slamming me into a tree.

Stars exploded in my vision, but I clawed at his arm, driving my knee into his stomach.

Jasper stumbled back and reached for a knife in his belt.

I didn’t waste a second. I grabbed a rock from the ground and smashed it into his head.

He went down hard, and I didn’t give him the chance to get back up.

I grabbed his knife and drove it through his heart. Jasper didn’t get up again. I turned, my chest heaving, and sprinted after Finn.

But when I reached the clearing, my blood ran cold. Gael stood there, his knife pressed to Finn’s throat.

“Take another step,” he said, his voice calm and deadly, “and I’ll paint the ground with his blood.”

I stilled. Gael laughed, then his eyes locked onto the mark on Finn’s neck.

“You fool,” he sneered, his voice dripping with triumph. “You actually did it. You gave your little hunter your mark. You made this far too easy, Gabriel. Once I end him, that mark will do the rest. You’ll die right alongside him.”

I gritted my teeth, the weight of my mistake crashing down on me. No, marking Finn as mine wasn’t a mistake.

I tightened my grip on the stolen knife, the hilt digging into my palm.

Finn’s gaze flicked to mine, wide with fear but fierce with defiance. His silent plea screamed at me: Don’t do anything reckless.

Gael saw the tension in my stance and smirked.

“Oh, come on now. Put that down before you hurt yourself,” he said, his tone mocking.

The knife in his hand pressed a fraction deeper against Finn’s throat, just enough to draw a thin line of crimson.

“Stop!” I snarled, my voice raw with desperation.

My vision tunneled, focused entirely on Finn. I couldn’t lose him. Not like this, not to Gael.

Finn shook his head minutely, his lips forming the faintest whisper. “Don’t.”

But what choice did I have? Gael had all the power, and he knew it.

I ground my teeth, my fingers aching with how tightly I gripped the knife.

Slowly, painfully, I lowered my hand and set the blade on the ground.

“There’s a good boy,” Gael taunted, his grin widening as he relaxed his stance slightly, though the knife remained at Finn’s throat. “See? That wasn’t so hard.”

My mind raced, every instinct screaming for a way out, a weakness in his hold, a distraction. Anything.

Finn’s eyes met mine again, and in them, I saw not fear for himself, but for me. That look broke something inside me.

Gael turned his attention back to Finn. “You know, I expected more fight out of you, little hunter. But maybe that’s what happens when you let a vampire claim you—you get soft.”

Finn’s jaw tightened, his anger simmering beneath the surface.

“You talk too much,” Finn bit out, defiance burning in his tone despite the blade against his skin.

Gael’s smirk faltered for a split second, and I heard a whistle from behind me. Another’s hunter warning.

I forced myself to speak, keeping my voice steady and calm, despite the rage boiling inside me.

“Gael,” I said, taking a cautious step forward.

His eyes snapped to me, and the knife pressed harder against Finn’s throat. I froze, holding up my hands.

“Let him go, and we’ll settle this. Just you and me,” I told him. Finn shot me a questioning look.

Gael scoffed, shaking his head. “And deprive myself of the satisfaction of watching you crumble? I don’t think so, Gabriel. No, I think I’ll finish him first, and then?—”