Wicked Surrender (16 page)

“I already tried to open the door and it won’t open. So I’m going to go out the window, and you’re going to follow me on my side, okay? I don’t want to take any chances of you slipping over there and the car moving on top of you.” He gave her a quick kiss then started to roll down the windows.

Vera said a silent thank you that the windows were manual. He turned back to her looking every bit in charge. Vera trusted him completely. He would get her out of here and everything would be okay. He rolled down the window, then anchored his hands on the edge.

Two hands latched on to Jacks’ shoulders and pulled him from the car like a sack of potatoes. Vera cried out and reached for him when
suddenly
her door was torn off the edges with a nasty metallic sound. She had only a moment to see the Ariss when she was grabbed and ripped out from the car.

Vera was flying through the air,
and then
landed hard on her stomach in the middle of the street. The front of her dress
was
soaked with dirty water and her knees and hands skidded hard on the black road.

Her beast rose to the surface and broke free. She hopped to her feet and scanned the area. Jacks was fighting
Ariss’ guardian
only twenty feet aw
ay. She started to run to him; h
e
could never defeat a vampire, b
ut Ariss appeared in front her. Ariss spun and landed a hard kick to Vera’s stomach, knocking the air out of her and sending her flying far down the street.

Vera landed and was already standing back on her feet when Ariss came flying at her again. Vera was quicker this time, her lykaen strength guiding her. She grabbed Ariss’ flying leg by the ankle, turned, and threw her down to the ground.
Her face hit the ground with a hard crack, but just as quickly she was back on her feet.
The side of her face wet and blooded.

Vera
growled
a feral deadly warning from a predator. Ariss hissed and moved in with a flurry of punches and elbows. Vera dodged and blocked them. She didn’t have anywhere near the speed that Ariss had but she did have strength and she used that to her advantage. She swiped Ariss’ fist away then slammed her own into Ariss’ face. She heard the crack of bones and felt a thrill rush through her.

She heard the grunts and pained sounds coming from Jacks and Ariss’ guardian but couldn’t afford to take her eyes off the Ariss.

“Why are you doing this?”

“Consider this a declaration of war from my Master. He’s going to get your land one way or
an
other.”

Vera
slammed into Ariss and took her hard to the ground, anything to keep her from using her speed. Her wet hair plastered to her cheeks and her bangs dipped low over her eyes blocking her vision. She was never going to wear bangs again, she vowed.

The power struggle shifted until they were both struggling to choke each other out. Vera gasped as her air was pinched from her throat by a hard, tight grip. Her vision was
blacking
out and she tightened her neck muscles and sucked in air through her nose. Ariss struggled beneath her, her eyes bulging, legs kicking as she kept her pinned to the wet ground.

She was stronger though and squeezed her hands tighter around Ariss’ throat. It wouldn’t kill her, but it would knock her out. Her arms shook, the muscles burned from her wrists to her biceps with the effort. Blood pooled in her hands making them feel like they were
on fire
.

Then finally
Ariss’ legs stopped kicking. One by
one,
her hands dropped from her throat and slid
boneless
to the ground.

Vera stood and wobbled away from her, sucking in huge gasps of air. A bright light flooded the street and Vera turned towards it, palpable relief overwhelming her as a car came towards them, slowing down steadily.

Jacks
.

Vera turned and all the blood left her face. Jacks was on the ground, and the guardian was drinking greedily from his neck. Vera launched herself at him, but he sped away too quickly for her to
see
. Vera cried out and knelt by Jacks, his eyes were closed, his face pale.
She looked down the road and
watched
the
Ariss' guardian pick her up and sprint into the woods.

She faintly heard the car pool up and someone rushed at her asking questions. She couldn’t make out what the man said though. She put her fingers against Jacks’ throat but her fingers kept slipping against his skin
because of the rain
and something red and thick
.
             
The side of his throat was bloody and raw with pieces of skin torn up and chewed on. Vera swallowed back the bile that rose
in
her throat and put her head to his chest.
Tears slid down her face alongside the rain
. S
he choked back a sob when she heard the
boom boom
of his heart.
Her hands curled into his shirt. His heart sounded so faint. Not like before. He was dying.
             

The thought sent her into a mode she’d never felt before. The human next to her was busy talking excitedly into his
cell phone
, waving his arm at
their car in the ditch and Jacks
.

Vera curled her arms under Jackson’s back and waist. A terrifying growl left her throat, and then she was lifting with all her strength
as
she stood.
             

She walked to the man’s car carrying her
lumara
in her arms. She didn’t feel his weight at all. Felt only
a
slight
pressure
in her arms. The
wide-eyed
human came and opened the back door and then she gently placed him inside.

She still couldn’t hear the words he was saying into the phone. She turned towards him and murmured a thank you, and then she got into the driver’s seat and gunned the engine.

The car whipped around in a tight U-turn, and then she was driving fast.

# # #

The drive back to the mansion took half as long to get there than it should have. Ver
a had no idea how fast she went
and didn’t give a shit.

She slammed on the breaks as she pulled up to the mansion
. She
ran out of the car screaming at the top of her lungs.

“Dmetri! Dmetri, please!”

Her hands shook so bad it
took
her four tries to open the back door. She
laid
her hand over Jack
s
’
heart and felt the dull thud
against her palm
. It was so faint. Fainter than before. She didn’t have much time.

“Dmetri!” she screamed at the top of her lungs. The rain was pouring hard, drowning out the sound and she wanted to drop to her knees and cry. But something stopped her from doing so, recognized that every second was precious.

A whoosh of movement alerted her. She spun around expecting to find Ariss or her guardian, but it was Dmetri. He was wearing only a silk pair of pants and his hair was a mess like he’d been sleeping. Tears started again down her face and she started blubbering to him.

“He’s hurt. Help him please. Ariss attacked us and her g
-guardian bit him. Help me.”

Dmetri’s eyes went
alert. He reached
into the car and pulled Jacks
onto the ground. He inspected the wound
at his neck
and
laid
a hand over his heart. When he looked back up at her, his expression said so much more than words. Vera’s knees shook until she dropped down hard to the ground. She was rocking and shaking and couldn’t sto
p her hands from roaming
everywhere.

“He’s dying, Vera. His heart is going to stop any moment now. Why did you bring him here?”

“T-to help him. He’s my mate. I don’t want him to die.”

“Vera, do you want me to turn him?” She nodded quickly, her wet hair slapping against her cheeks.

“What will you do when he wakes up and is angry about this? What if this isn’t something he wants?”

Vera blinked, wide eyed. “Then I’ll kill him myself. Do it, Dmetri.”

Dmetri cursed so loudly, that Vera knew Jacks’ heart had stopped.

Vera watched what happened next as if from outside her own body. She flinched as Dmetri tore his teeth into his wrist. He wasn’t gentle about it, but
moved in jerky
movements. He held Jacks’ mouth opened with his thumb and let his blood flow heavily down his throat.

“Vera
,
look at me.”
She heard the words vaguely. He said it again before she looked at him. He kept moving side to side, but she knew that was just her own shaking body doing that. “Are you listening to me, Vera?” She nodded jerkily.

“He might not make it, Ve
ra. His heart has already stopped
,
this might not work. I need you to prepare yourself for that, okay?” Vera sobbed and choked as her heart protested the idea. Jacks
’
hand
was
limp in hers and she wildly wondered how the hell one prepared themselves to lose a loved one? It was impossible
.
T
here was no way.

Dmetri pulled his wrist away after several minutes and
laid
his hand back over Jacks’ heart. Vera watched
and waited for a miracle.

Only minutes passed but it felt like hours.
Bum.
Vera sucked in a breath and squeezed her eyes shut, not sure if what she heard was thunder or...

Bum. Bum. Bum.

Gasping, her eyes shot open to search Jacks’ face. Dmetri looked at her and gave a short nod and suddenly she had the urge to cry all over again. Jacks
’
lips twitched, his eyes fluttered beneath his closed lids, then his entire body was shaking in a
seizure
.

“This is normal, Vera. Don’t panic. He’s going to be okay. Well okay as a man can be when he wakes up to find out what happened.”

Vera helped Dmetri hold him down. The
seizure
didn’t last long. When it
stopped,
his entire body went so still she looked to Dmetri in question. He gave her a reassuring
smile that
bordered on a
grimace
and nodded towards Jacks’ neck.

Vera’s eyes widened as she watched the torn skin heal and repair
itself
.
She’d known vampires could heal rapidly but she’d never actually seen it.
The skin wove itself back together like little stitches and when it was done, his skin was
only
covered in blood that the rain washed off.
Underneath the blood his skin was pink and new. It looked thinner than normal skin.

Jacks’ eyes fluttered then shot open wide and panicked. His eyes found hers and then he was sitting up and taking her hard into his arms. Nothing had ever felt so good in her life.

Vera cried out in relief and held him as if she’d let go he’d fade away and never come back. His hands passed over her hair, her back,
and her
arms.

He pulled back and looked around as if assessing for threats. He spotted Dmetri and Vera watched as confusion settled in.

“What happened?” His voice was gruff and sounded in desperate need of water.

Vera opened her mouth to tell him, then closed it.
How did she
tell
him that he died and was turned into a vampire by her former lover?

She started to open her mouth but Dmetri saved her. “You were attacked by Ariss and her guardian. Vera brought you here.” Dmetri looked at her pointedly and she took a deep breath of courage.

“I stole some man’s car and drove you here, and then your heart stopped. So, um, so I had Dmetri turn you into a vampire.” She said the last on a squeak. She’d never had to deliver news like this.

Jacks threw back his head and laughed. Well that wasn’t
quite
the response she was expecting.

“Yeah right,” he said, then he pulled her close and kissed her.
Feeling his mouth alive against hers
made her wild. She
kissed him harder like she was trying to get into his mouth. When he pulled
back,
he looked at her curiously. Then he slid a look to Dmetri and touched a finger to his neck.

“I remember the accident, then fighting with that strong son of a bitch. I’ve never seen anyone move that fast. Not even Rome. I felt so useless and angry...I couldn’t protect you and I wanted to scream.” He looked into her eyes and kissed her again. Vera kissed him back with every ounce of love in her body.