Page 29 of Sonata
They all moved like a wave surrounding me from all sides. Josephine stood in the center of the circle with me, already poised to attack. With a shriek, she pounced, fangs bared and sharp claws aiming for my face. I swatted her like the pest she was, her body crashing into those closest to us. They gave me no time as daggers glinted, coming at me from everywhere. Each twist and turn of my body sent sharp pain traveling un my limbs, but the fact my mate was too near for my sanity kept me going.
Étienne’s power prickled my skin along all the cuts made by weapons I wasn’t fast enough to block. With a roar, I ripped through them like a ferocious beast, biting and tearing flesh like it was made out of paper. My brother helped as much as he could yet still stayed back from the gust of it in case our mates needed protecting. Blood tainted with magic filled my mouth, and I choked on it, spitting as much as I could before it slid down my throat. Finally, after what felt like an eternity of bashing skulls and ripping hearts along with heads from necks, bodies piled up around me. From the white noise thundering in my ears, I didn’t hear Étienne until too late.
“Faites attention à vous!” my brother shouted for me to watch my back.
My knees buckled when a blade slid between my ribs like a knife through butter from behind, and someone grabbed a handful of my hair, jerking my head back. My vision wavered before it cleared and locked on Josephine’s face twisted in rage, her crazed eyes staring down at me. She pulled the dagger out with a snarl before slamming it too close for comfort to my vertebrae, the sharp metal scraping over bone. I wanted to reach back and throw her over my head, but my arms hung limply at my sides while warm blood gushed down my back, soaking my shirt and pants. Étienne roared and grunted in his attempts to get to me from somewhere in the distance.
“I will cut your head off unless you give an oath that you will come back to Paris with me.” yanking the dagger out, she licked my blood off it. Disgust churned in my gut. “Say it, Lucien.”
“C’est bientôt dit.” Another grunt ripped from my chest when she pressed the dagger under my chin. I told the truth. It was easier said than done. Too bad she didn’t want to hear it.
“ça sent le sapin.” Josephine sneered, and I had to admit she was right. What I said did come from someone at death’s door. I was losing blood too fast. “Say it, Lucien. I will kill you.”
My only regret would be that I never tasted my mate the way I should. My stubborn head made me fight the mate bond from the moment I saw Viola, and instead of meeting my maker with her soul warming mine in the afterworld, I would go cold and alone.
As I always suspected I would.
“Everything I am, Josephine, belongs to my mate. I have nothing that belongs to me alone to offer for an oath. Not even the blood you’d be gorging on like the dog that you are.” Thick coppery liquid bubbled on my lips when I laughed at her twisted face.
“Espèce de vermines.” She spat, cocking her weapon back while calling me a scum.
I laughed harder.
“I don’t think so, bitch.” My mate’s sweet voice filled my ears as dark spots danced in front of my eyes.
A violin sailed through the air like a baseball bat, and it plonked Josephine on the side of her head. Her skull caved from the impact as she dropped like a rock, the hold she had on my hair dragging me down with her.
“Grab her, Melody,” Viola shouted, and I blinked lazily, too weak to hold my eyes open for long.
Both females jumped on Josephine, my mate ripping strips from her dress and handing them to Melody so my brother’s mate can tie her up. If I had any strength left, I would’ve kissed the shit out of Viola at that moment for how fierce she was while protecting me.
“We got her, Lucian. You can get up now.” With one last tug on the bindings they created, she crawled next to me on her hands and knees. “Did you hear me, Mr. Sunshine? No time for moon bathing. Get up.”
I smiled, or I tried to.
“Melody, why isn’t he standing up?” her voice raised the tone from teasing to panicked. “He is not getting up, Melody! Make him get up.” She screamed. “Don’t you dare close your eyes on me, you ass.”
Harsh slaps stung the skin on my face. The pain was disappearing, being replaced by a cool sensation that spread from my toes up. It crept up my legs, taking all feeling from my extremities with it. All I could do was cling to my mate’s angelic face at the forefront of my mind. I didn’t want to leave her. Hell, I never wanted to be an inch away from her, but I had no choice. The darkness was yanking on my soul, ready to drawn me along with it.
“Lucian, if you don’t open your eyes and stand up right now, I’ll learn how to bring you back from the dead just so I can kill you myself. Do you hear me?” Viola was hitting with all her strength, the slapping echoing in my ears. “You don’t get to make me care overnight and decide to quit. Understand? Fight damn you!”
“Vi,” Melody called out tentatively, but my mate shrieked like a banshee jolting me out of the darkness. Something was tugging at my chest as if trying to rip my chest cavity out of my skin.
“Do something, don’t just stand there, asshole!” Viola was frantic, screaming from the top of her lungs, her voice drumming inside me. “He is your brother, for fuck sake. Do something. Anything!”
“Move.” My brother’s tone was a harsh rasp. “Give me space, female.”
“Don’t yell at her.” Melody snapped, but I felt my mate moving away.
I wanted to open my eyes so I could see her.
I wanted to reach out to feel her under my fingers.
My mouth was forced open, and a bitter taste filled it up. I choked, and my throat closed, tightening as if someone was strangling me. The little air I could feel was cut off with it, and my lungs protested.
“He is not taking my blood.” Étienne croaked. “Why is he not taking my blood?”
“Get out of my way.”
“Vi, what are you doing?” Melody gasped, and my mate hissed.
“Saving his stubborn ass, that’s what. I’ll kill him personally later.”
The sweetest blood trickled down my throat, and darkness pulled me under.
My mate’s name was on my lips.
