Page 26 of Evil Hearts

I can’t think like that. Instinctively, I charge the paladins, my fangs bared.

The paladins are caught unawares, and when I leap onto the back of the one holding the gasoline, he doesn’t have time to react. Fighting isn’t exactly in my skill set, but instinct takes over, and I snap the paladin’s neck before his buddy has a chance to pull out his sword.

That’s the thing about these dorks: they still use physical weapons like clubs, maces, and swords. Some of them use crossbows for vampire hunting, but the one in front of me doesn’t have one. Perfect.

I jump down from the paladin’s back, allowing him to hit the pavement, dead. Then I charge the next paladin. This one is ready for me, though. He parries my assault with his sword just in the nick of time, and I stumble away to the side.

“Enough, vampire. You are unmatched and outnumbered,” the paladin yells in a nauseatingly patronizing voice. I roll my eyes and hold out my claws.

“Where is Juliette?” I demand, and lick the blood from my lips.

I can’t see the paladin’s expression since it’s covered by that stupid helmet, but his hesitation tells me he’s confused. Good. I can use their confusion to my advantage.

“I have no idea who you’re talking about, monster. Another vampire scum, like you?” the paladin says, pointing his sword at me. I’m getting really tired of these dumbasses, so I charge at him, claws extended, aiming for his neck.

Again, he’s ready for me, and lifts his fist to meet my chin. I’m thrown back and land in the smoldering pile of corpses. Dammit, I could peel off my own skin right now, I’m so consumed with rage.

“I’ll kill you, you bastard.” I wipe the blood from my bottom lip before throwing myself up to charge him again.

The paladin lifts his sword, and I’m about to impale myself on it when a voice cuts through the crackling flames.

“Scotty! Stop!”

I slam the brakes, stop mere centimeters from the blade, and look over my shoulder. “Juli?”

Juliette. I knew I heard her voice! I’d recognize it anywhere. My sweetheart who Idefinitelyhaven’t had enough time with, yet.

But the distraction was all the paladin needed, and he sends the steel blade straight into my heart.

The agony is immeasurable as my head spins and the world shifts out of focus. Juliette screams for me again from the rooftop of one of the apartment buildings. It’s consumed by the blaze, too. I swallow thickly, and she poofs into a cloud of steam to rush forward and consume both me and the paladin.I can’t see a damned thing, just like the last time she enveloped me in her smoke.

The paladin lets out a gurgled scream, shrieking expletives and slurs until the telltale sound of bones crunching renders him silent. I sink down to my knees, and I’m about to topple to the ground when a pair of hands grabs my shoulders.

Dark clouds envelop me. For a moment, I’m convinced that this is what truth death looks like. Pitch black nothingness. But then gentle, slender fingers caress my cheeks and lips, and I’m pulled onto someone’s lap.

“Scotty.” Juliette’s voice brings me back to the moment. Not just any lap. Juli’s. When I open my eyes, I find hers looking back at me with such tenderness and concern I swear I feel my heart beating. Dying makes you delusional.

“Hey, love,” I murmur. A hacking cough follows, and blood dribbles from my mouth. “I thought you were dead.”

Juliette strokes my hair and leans down to place a kiss on my forehead. “We’re both dead, you silly andouille.”

“Yeah, but I meant like … dead-dead. Super dead,” I say before coughing up half my lung again. I clap my palms over my chest and let out a wheeze. “Don’t think I’ve got much longer in this world, though. I’m sorry. I said I’d show you the world, but I’m afraid I won’t be able to make good on that promise.”

Juliette’s eyes are wet with tears of blood, and even though I’m the one lying here dying, all I can think about is comforting her and wiping them away.

“Juli, promise me something. Please.”

Her eyes widen as more crimson droplets roll down her cheeks. “Anything,” she whimpers.

My vision grows dimmer. This isn’t what I thought death would feel like. For one thing, I thought I’d explode into ash by now. And two, this feels a lot, lot more peaceful. Like lying in a pillow of snow and drifting off to sleep.

“Promise me you’ll leave the sewers. You need to live above ground, not secluded from the rest of the world,” I rasp, my voice barely a whisper.

Juliette lets out a pained sob as she strokes my hair again, but she nods. “I promise.” Her voice cracks, and several droplets of blood fall onto my face.

“Don’t cry, beauty,” I rasp, and lift my hand to wipe away her tears. “Don’t cry.”

Then everything around me turns dark, and I can no longer hear Juliette’s anguished cries as I slip out of consciousness. Forever.

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