Page 69 of The Vampire Debt

It’s the moment the first tear slides down her pale cheek that I know my time is up.

“Why won’t you die already?” she practically screams the words at me.

I take a deep breath and prepare myself.

Her face adopts a wholly blank expression, and then she lunges for me.

Chapter Thirty

Clara

Elise lunges for me,the dagger pointed out and away as her free hand aims for my neck. She would prefer to strangle me until my life leaves my body than deliver a quick death.

I throw myself to the side, falling to the floor and rolling away. When I come to a stop, Elise’s face turns a bitter shade of red.

This time when she throws her body at me, the dagger is pointed at my chest. I kick out, my foot striking her in the stomach. She lets out a groan and stumbles sideways.

I scramble to my feet, my legs shaking. I have but a second to prepare myself for the next attack when she comes again. This time, I grab her wrists and pull them out to the side.

The sharp edge of the blade drags against my forearm as she screams her frustration. Blood, hot and sticky, runs down my arm. I let out a hiss of pain. Elise flicks her wrist, again and again, slicing at my arm at the odd angle.

More and more blood runs down my arm, and I feel the effect of further injury. I push her as hard as I can, stumbling back several steps to gain distance.

I don’t get far before she is coming at me again, the dagger slicing the air. I retreat, holding my arms in front of me and blocking her from striking me in the face or chest. But with each swing of the weapon, a new slice forms across my skin. Again and again and again and again.

Blood soaks my arms and sleeves, and each cut solicits another cry of pain from my lips. I can’t take much more.

Desperate for a reprieve, I drop to a crouch and kick out my leg, swinging it toward hers, catching her ankle and knocking her to the floor.

The dagger clatters on the hardwood floor, red staining the blade. I make to grab it, but she recovers too quickly and the drink she gave me still lingers in my system, slowing my body but not my mind. With no hope of reaching it before her, I reach out and grab hold of her as her arms are outstretched.

I pull myself over her and press my weight down. Elise manages to roll to her back, dagger in hand before I can get her arms pinned. For several, long seconds, neither of us move.

Then her eyes are wild and unseeing. She is once more fighting against me, screaming. “I love him, and you could not care less for him! You tried to hurt him… and still he choseyou!” She spits and it hits the side of my face. “You deserve to die!” Her voice cracks, her pain a nearly palpable thing.

Then she begins to weep. I don’t ease off, though she squirms and tries to get out from under my hold.

We struggle for several more moments until she realizes she is unable to stab me. Elise drops the dagger and jerks on her wrists, made slick by my blood.

She grabs hold of me now and digs her fingers into the wounds she has inflicted. My breath is sucked from my lungs and I can’t move as the world spins. She takes advantage and throws me to the side.

I heave, my stomach churning from the pain.

Elise recovers the dagger and straddles me as I lay on my back. The drug in my system will be my undoing.

Wrapping both hands over the hilt, she holds the dagger high in the air and thrusts downward. I reach up and wrap my hands around her wrists. The end of the blade hovers a few inches above my chest. She presses down harder, leaning her weight into it.

My arms shake with the effort.

I am losing.

The drugs, combined with the blood loss, have weakened me. Spots gradually form before my eyes and I know the end is coming. If I stopped fighting right now, that dagger would plunge into my chest and it would be over.

She is screaming, but the words have lost all meaning and have become guttural streaks of pure rage.

My grip on her arms is slipping, the dagger is inching closer and closer until the point presses down on my chest. I grit my teeth as it begins to pierce my skin. Little by little, it digs further in, crimson forming around the tip.

A light brush of air swirls around the room then her weight on top of me is gone. The dagger is gone. My cry dies on my lips and my arms fall limply to the floor. I suck in deep breaths.