Page 65 of Twisted By Darkness

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Ayounger vampire would have already gone into a feeding spree with all this blood. Thankfully, I’m old enough the overwhelming scent is not a temptation, and I lock my breathing so it won’t become a distraction. Without my sense of smell or hearing, fighting becomes a strange thing. I stay close to the others to keep them safe, Cassandra always in my periphery.

One after the other, the guards fall. Apollo doesn’t kill, but the ones I meet in battle don’t have the same destiny. I would much rather be certain they won’t pull a gun out and shoot someone they shouldn’t.

The last guard drops, and the people around me shoot their arms up. They smile and laugh, hugging one another. All here were once kidnapped, either to slave away or to be sold. Some the Collector might have kept for his entertainment. They celebrate their freedom, and I whirl around, looking for the chief enemy.

He collapses next to Cassandra’s feet. From the way his eyes go hazy, I know he’s dead. Cassandra used her powers to rise against this man — this angel — who has been hunting her since the beginning. She’s had her vengeance, a vengeance for Tristan, and a vengeance for Ren. His sister sits to a side, cradling a wounded arm, but there’s awe on her face.

I can’t help but smile. My soulbound did this. She set all these people free, she made sure he will never come after her again. The war isn’t over, but she won this battle.

Apollo rushes to her. I half-expect him to pick her up, kiss her, but he doesn’t. He moves her so they look at each other, and his face changes. It falls. Even hearing nothing, my stomach plummets. My instincts cry out, they scream inside me. Apollo looks up, meeting my gaze for a second, and I see utter, pure fear in his eyes.

His mouth moves, but I can’t hear him. Shoving a hand into a pocket, I pick up Giulia’s antidote, — Kayn could show up at any moment now, but something tells me I need to be one-hundred percent inside this moment. I chug it as I stride to Apollo, and my hearing comes back as I take a breath in.

There’s so much blood. It chokes me for a moment, as the sound of cheers and laughter hits me. I reach Apollo and look down at what he’s gaping at.

Cassandra’s hands are no more. In their place, only the stumps of her arms, bleeding profusely on the ground. She falters. Apollo and I reach for her elbows at the same time and help her sit down.

Ren runs to us and drops to his knees on her other side. “What —” His voice fails, breaks. I can’t look at him.

“The bracelets,” I reply to his unvoiced question. “The Collector must have used his last breath to activate them.”

Tristan stomps closer, makes a choked sound, then drops to his knees. “Cass?”

“A first aid kit, Tristan,” I order, my head going foggy. We need to keep it together. We need to. To save her. “Where?”

He opens and closes his mouth, but Tristan goes pale and doesn’t reply. I want to shake him, to slap him, anything to make him react.

“Tristan!” I call out.

“In the kitchen!” someone replies from the back and hasted steps leave the room.

“There’s no time,” Apollo roars, tugging his shirt out. “She’ll bleed out.”

Cassandra says nothing, her face ashen. She curls on herself, bending forward. Eyes wide, her hair slips past her shoulders. I shove them away from her face and cup her cheek.

“It’ll be alright,inamorata,” I whisper against her ear as Apollo rips his shirt in stripes. He grabs some to cover her left stump, finishing them up in tight knots to stop the bleeding. I grab more of the stripes to do the same with the other arm. “You’re alright. We’ll fix it.”

She stares at the blood pooling in her legs, on the rug. The cheers die out. Someone gasps when they see what’s going on. Steps approach. Mei kneels next to Ren.

“Oh, goddess,” she breathes out. “What can I do? What do I do?”

No one replies. No one knows what. Ren tugs his shirt out and rips it into stripes too. Apollo and I do a second and third layer. My heart chugs along in my chest, irregular beats that steal my breath away. I don’t think, I just act, keeping her arms up to slow down the bleeding. The thick liquid covers my fingers, my wrists. My throat closes.

“It’s slowing down,” says Ren. “That’s good, right?”

I exchange a glance with Apollo. Of course it could be good — it could mean we did a good job staunching the flow. But we know better than this. We know it’s because she’s running out of blood.

Cassandra leans against me. I fold an arm around her waist and help her lie down. She gapes back at me, her lips parted, her cheeks white. She shivers, her entire body shaking.

Ren touches her cheek. “She’s so cold. Maybe I should hold her.”

I nod. Ren adjusts her until she’s lying on his arms, pressed to his chest. No matter how hot his body is, she still shivers. The blood still runs. The smell of it makes me gag.

Cassandra says nothing. She only looks at us, holding her arms up, in shock. She closes her eyes and a tear rolls down the side of her face. I can only hear my heart.

Someone grips my arm. I snap my attention to my side, finding Apollo’s tortured gaze. “Change her,” he says.

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