Page 128 of The Vampire's Seduction

Then, just as she thought her chest might burst into flames, Drakos’ malignant tendrils stabbed the witches. The witches’ chanting voices crescendoed, but they were no match for Drakos. His shadows engulfed each one until they were no more. The magic circle disappeared, along with the invisible flames trapping Olivia, and she sucked in painful gasps of air.

The spell.Drakos’ darkness settled over her.

Olivia didn’t wish to think that Drakos had saved her. The moment the ghost witches’ hold on her vanished, magic returned to her tenfold.

She continued chanting, the spell coming to her easily. The crystal glowed, bright green lights piercing the darkness and surrounding her. She held her injured palm to the book and smeared her blood over the pages.

Magic drenched her like a tsunami, setting her very cells on fire. Olivia didn’t stop. She clung to the mating bond like a sailor to a mast amidst a raging storm as the magic tore into her.

In the distance, she heard Drakos’ laugh.Forgive me. She didn’t know who she was asking forgiveness from. Her ancestors? The world? Humanity? Because Drakos would bring untold destruction once freed, and she was bringing him one step closer to freedom.

Her glowing magic interspersed with the darkness until a hurricane raged, with her being the eye of the storm. Currents of magic in different shades of green swarmed out of her and into the crystal. Her body rose until she floated inches above the ground.

So much power. Someone gave off a crazed laugh. Someone? Was it her? She wasn’t sure.

Olivia.Marek’s voice was faint amidst the tempest.

He was close. The tornado of green and black pierced the shadows shrouding her, revealing the outside world. She turned away from the pedestal to the wall, where he remained pinned. When their eyes met, relief flooded his handsome features and down their mating bond.

Drunk on power, Olivia floated over to Marek. Her movement didn’t stop the magic pouring out of her into the crystal. To her right, she detected movement. The Chinese vampire. With a flick of a finger, she punched him with a ball of magic. He flew back and crashed into the wall. His skull cracked hard against the concrete before he slid to the ground, unconscious but not dead.

When Olivia reached Marek, she waved her hand, and the vines holding him disintegrated. Her magic wrapped around him while his arms locked around her in a furious hug. Their lips crushed together in a hungry, desperate kiss. He was safe. It was as though he had breathed new life into her magic-controlled limbs.

“We need to get out of here,” he said.

“I can’t. I must finish the spell.”

No sooner had she said the words, the currents linking her and the crystal widened. Olivia jerked as agony twisted through her, as the crystal sucked away at her magic like a never-ending vacuum. Even if she wished, she could no longer stop the spell. Cold. She was suddenly so cold. Pointed and edged claws dug at her insides, excavating everything she had to give. Gasping, Olivia doubled over from the pain.

Magic came from her life force, and now it was leaving her like water draining down the tub.

Stop it. Olivia, you must stop,Marek said.

I can’t.She screamed at the agony, and she knew she was dying.

To break the seal, the spell would take her life.

Surprisingly, she wasn’t scared. She always expected she would be. She’d spent her life fighting against disease, against death, poured her heart and soul into extending people’s lives.

Now, only peace and regret settled over her. Regret she wouldn’t spend more time with Marek. As she used the last bit of her strength to lower them to the ground, she drank in Marek’s features. Her vision blurred, and she became so weak the pain even disappeared.

“I’m sorry,” she whispered.

Red ringed his irises. Terror and love and fury streaked down the mating bond. “Don’t you dare do this to me, Olivia.”

“Promise me you’ll live,” she said, surprised at how difficult it was to find her voice.

“No.” His hand wrapped around her nape. He kissed her again, sending a frisson of heat through her before magic sucked it away. “I told you. I will follow you wherever you go.”

You can’t follow me to death.Fog clouded her vision, and she already missed him. Her lips no longer followed her command, so she sent the thought along their mating bond.

Even the mating bond wavered and flared in alarm, as if doing its best to hold on. When his despair and helplessness crashed into her, she regretted binding them. Regretted causing him this pain. She’d had such hope, hope for a future filled with love and laughter.

How wrong she’d been.

Don’t you dare regret us.

His voice was far away. Almost nonexistent. She only had a thin trickle of magic left. Just a sliver of her consciousness clinging to the mating bond.