Chapter 0279
The sickening crunch of breaking ribs echoes through the air. Dorian's agonized howl pierces the chaos. Valeria whips around, her golden eyes locking onto our dire situation.
She tears through the vampire ranks with lethal precision. Just as she's about to reach me, Damien intercepts. His arms lock around her - one crushing her ribs, the other choking her throat.
That bastard smirks at me before sinking his fangs into Valeria's neck.
A feral snarl rips from her throat as her body begins shifting. I don't question it - if she's transforming, so am I. The shift back is excruciating with broken ribs, but I understand Valeria's strategy immediately. Human form gives us better mobility against these creatures.
I twist violently in the vampire's grasp. My claws slash across his face and throat. Not a killing blow, but enough to break free.
Damien's no longer feeding. Blood stains Valeria's chest, but the bite marks have already healed. The vampire prince's nose sits at an unnatural angle - clearly Valeria retaliated.
"Duck!" I mind-link the warning milliseconds before my arm swings.
Valeria drops beneath my strike. She lunges for the wounded vampire while I focus on Damien. His head snaps back from my blow. I seize the advantage, locking my hand around his throat.
"Valeria is mine," I snarl, our faces inches apart. "You'll never touch her again."
"We'll see, mongrel." He attempts a wild punch.
Fool doesn't realize mating with a Guardian gives me preternatural reflexes. I intercept his arm, wrench it behind his back, and twist us into a lethal position.
"Valeria!"
She needs this kill more than I do.
Our eyes meet. She sees Damien exposed, vulnerable. "Heart!" I command.
Just like when Malachi attacked us in my office. History repeats as I hold the monster steady for execution.
But this time, Valeria doesn't hesitate. Her fist plunges beneath Damien's ribcage with surgical precision. I feel his body convulse as her fingers close around the cold, dead muscle.
She leans in, her breath hot against his ear. "No more victims, you vile parasite."
With one brutal motion, she rips his heart free.
I let the corpse drop. Valeria crushes the organ in her fist, her expression savage. Bloodied and naked, I pull her against me. The monster who tormented her for seven years is finally dead.
The battlefield shifts instantly. Dozens of vampires collapse simultaneously - proof of the sire bond's power. Without their creator, his progeny perish. Victory surges within our grasp.
Then Valeria stiffens in my arms.
A split-second warning.
"SEBASTIAN!"
She throws herself against me, arms outstretched. Her Guardian aura erupts in a protective dome around us and our allies.
The explosion hits with concussive force.
Everything goes white.
Bodies fly through the air like ragdolls.
Damien is dead. But what unleashed this devastating blast?