Page 110 of How to Entice a Fiend

“Please don’t hurt anyone else. Please,” I beg. “Please just take me and go.” But my pleas fall on deaf ears when it’s clear Abel and Ender aren’t going to stop until one of them is dead.

Two vampires move in to help Abel, and while Ender dodges them easily, it leaves him in Abel’s path who tears into his chest. Ender falls back as blood hits the ground, and I realize that there’s no fucking way out of this.

“Does your gun have the special ammunition in it?” I ask Finn.

“Y-Yes. But there’s only one left.”

“Okay,” I say as I pull his gun from him. “Abel, draw back or I will shoot myself. I’ve already proved to you that I will do whatever it takes for this to not get out.” I switch off the safety on the gun.

I’ve gained Abel’s attention, which should have helped Ender, but instead, he looks even more anxious than Abel.

“Leave now,” I say, hoping it comes out more demanding than a plea.

“Mads, run,” Ender begs, but how does he think I’ll manage to run surrounded by Abel’s men?

“You will not shoot yourself,” Abel says, almost like he’s bored of the whole thing as his attention fixates back on Ender.

“I would rather die myself than have everyone I care about die. I’ve lost people I love once; I’m not doing it again,” I retort.

“Mads, put the fucking gun down,” Ender orders, all thoughts of Abel gone.

Because Ender is distracted, Abel throws him hard enough that the wall breaks down when he hits. Then Abel rushes for me, evidently deciding that having me is really what matters more than killing Ender.

I lower the gun to my chest and pull the trigger.

The pain hits me so hard that I immediately lose my grip on the gun.

“Mads, what the fuck,” Finn cries as he tries to catch me before I hit the ground. He only has one arm, though, so he struggles to keep me from hitting and I land on my back as pain blossoms around the bullet. It radiates up and down my body, eating through me as I gasp.

So… this is what it feels like to be shot with this fucking drug.

Definitely not one of my best ideas.

CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

ENDER

The second the gunshot sounds, panic tears through me. I’m aware I have an antidote, but with how young Mads is, it might not even work unless administered immediately. And it’s not going to work at all if Abel won’t let me get close to him. Mads didn’t give Finn one as he’s not a vampire and he only had a limited amount.

“Mads, no!” I shout as I dash toward him, but it’s already done. Nothing can reverse the shot he’s just made.

“What thefuck,” Abel yells as he throws Finn off Mads. I catch Finn before he slams into the ground and rush to Mads, but Abel shoves me back.

“Get the fuck away from him,” I snarl, but he and his men are surrounding Mads.

No, no, no, I need to get close. I need to get to him. I need to help him.

Abel spins and grabs me before slamming me against the wall. “This is your fucking fault. You were created for one purpose. I made you destroy the lives of everyone you lovedto become the best you could be… and you just weren’t good enough.”

I lift a shorter blade he obviously didn’t see I had and draw it across his throat. It wouldn’t be enough to stab him in the heart with it, but I know that slicing his throat could make him weaken enough to pull out of the department. He falls back, but when I rush in, hoping to finish the job, he hears something that makes him decide the risk is too much. And suddenly, they’re all gone. I should chase him. I should try to end it even if I know it’ll likely end in my death.

Pain is radiating through my body, blood running from healing wounds, but right now, all I care about is Mads.

“What the fuck did you do that for?” I ask as I grab the antidote, terrified it’s too late.

“I already gave it to him,” Finn says, stopping me before I can stab the needle into him. “As soon as he warned me he was going to shoot himself, I gave it to him. I still thought it was a horribly risky idea, but it wasn’t like he was going to listen to me if I said so.”

Relief washes through me as I drop to my knees next to Mads while Marcus and the others move forward, having likely been the reason Abel pulled back. They go straight for Finn, but my attention is on Mads who still isn’t conscious yet.

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