Dark Lies: Chapter 44

Jaxson

Before I could move a muscle, Alejandro was at Savannah’s neck. “You don’t want me to make a mistake, do you, Jaxson?”

I froze. The bastard was far faster than I’d imagined.

Savannah’s teeth were clenched and eyes wide. The vampire’s fangs were at her pulsing jugular. I could feel her heartbeat and taste her fear.

“Let her go, or I’ll ram my claws into your heart.”

Savannah shifted in Alejandro’s grasp. “Both of you, back off. I’ve made my decision. Alejandro gets a drink, we get the bones, and we get the fuck out of here to stop Dragan from bringing Armageddon down on Magic Side. Simple deal.”

The horror of the situation twisted my mind. She was mine, and yet, she was going to willingly let this fucker violate her in front of me. Rage filled my thoughts until I could barely see. “You are my mate. Don’t do this. It means more than you think.”

“Since I came to Magic Side, people have been hunting me for my blood. This is a chance to do something useful with it. I’m doing this for the pack.”

“Don’t worry, Jaxson, I promise to be gentle,” the vampire purred as he moved her hair aside, exposing the pale flesh of her neck and causing her to flinch.

Fuck the bullets.

I lunged forward, but my roar was cut short as Alejandro became a blur, and something wrapped around my neck. My body whipped backward and slammed into the wall as silver chains wrapped around me, searing my skin.

Alejandro was at my side in an instant. “Meet my favorite restraints. The more you struggle, the tighter they’ll become.”

“What are you doing?” Savannah screamed at him.

“Putting your dog on a leash!” the vampire snarled, fangs out.

In an instant, Savannah had her Soul Knife out. “Let him go!”

The guards swung their weapons at her, and fear seized me. I pulled against the chains, but they only tightened, forcing my wrists and head back against the wall. I could feel my power draining rapidly into them, sapping my strength.

Alejandro raised his hand. “Nobody shoot. We’re almost all civilized here.”

“This wasn’t the deal,” Savannah snapped, keeping the blade between her and the vampire.

He was behind her in a blur of movement. Before she could react, he shoved her against the wall and pinned her knife hand back. “Then tell me, Savannah, what was our deal?”

Her heartbeat pounded through every inch of my body, and the taste of her terror seared my throat. I tried to shout, but it only came out as a strangled growl as the chains around my neck tightened sharply.

Eyes burning with rage, she hissed, “The deal was that you get a two-second drink, we get the bones, and then we get out of here. There was nothing about fucking silver chains or men with guns.”

“Or daggers,” he whispered against her neck. “Tell you what, I’ll get rid of mine if you get rid of yours.”

He ordered his guards out, and she reluctantly dismissed her knife.

She bared her teeth in defiance. “Now let Jaxson go.”

“One drink, and you both walk away with what you came for. I promise. On my oath.”

For a second, she met my eyes, then turned her head, exposing the pale skin of her neck. “Do it.”

My wolf tore at my heart, demanding to be released. But it would fare no better against the silver chains than I had.

Alejandro brushed the hair from her neck. “Try to relax, Savannah, this shouldn’t be painful. Honestly, most people absolutely love it. That’s why it’s all the rage.”

“Just get it over with.” She raised her chin confidently, but she refused to meet my eyes.

She gasped as Alejandro sank his fangs into her neck. Fury rolled through me, and my restraints clanged as I pulled against them—but the harder I fought, the stronger my bonds became until I was practically immobile.

She moaned, her eyes dilating with fear while she pressed her back against the wall. Alejandro groaned, his heady desire filling the room while he gently lapped at the blood spilling from her neck.

A guttural roar squeezed from my tightly bound throat as the scene before me burned into my mind.

Savannah’s lids grew heavy, and she sighed, her body relaxing as she leaned back, giving herself over to the magic that coursed between them.

The sweet scent of her unavoidable desire mixing with his shattered my mind. My heart collapsed inward as despair crushed me tighter than any chain ever could.

Fight for our mate, my wolf snarled. Kill. Take what is ours.

“Savannah—” I choked out.

For a second, her eyes fluttered, and she tried to push Alejandro away, but he pinned her hands back, his eyes a deep and unnatural red.

Blood madness. Something only new vampires were said to get.

Alejandro sunk his fangs back into the side of her neck and began to drink viciously. The heat of her desire turned to pain and terror, and her eyes opened wide.

My claws extended, and fur erupted from my arms as my wolf surged inside me.

Our mate is in danger.

Blood rushed in my ears as something inside me snapped. A primal howl of rage released in my soul as new strength coursed through my veins—strength that I’d never had before. I surged against the chains, my fury dulling the pain digging into my wrists and neck. The silver devoured my strength as it poured forth, but my rage was unending and couldn’t be contained.

A metallic crack sounded as a chain link snapped, and suddenly, I was free.

Alejandro was on me in a second, a red-eyed monster tearing into me with his fangs and claws.

I rammed him into the wall with a crack. He gasped and struggled free, but before he could escape, I gripped one of the loose chains, tore it from the wall, and wrapped it around his neck.

Alejandro hissed in fury with Savannah’s blood still dripping from one corner of his mouth and staining his teeth. He surged to his feet and hurled his body into mine, sending us careening through the air.

My back crashed into the wall with a crunch, but I wrapped another length of the chain around the fucker’s neck and pulled, the tension straining my muscles. His trachea was crushed, and though it wouldn’t kill him, it would hurt like hell.

This was just the beginning of what I was going to do.

He struggled to dig his fingers under the chain, his face contorted in pain and fury. In a flash, he arched his back and flung himself forward to drag me down.

We flew into his desk, sending it to splinters. I was on my feet in seconds, driving my fist into his jaw with a crack. I slashed his chest with my claws, feeling the tug of his flesh as I shredded his suit.

Savannah hurled herself into him, ramming him into the wall. “Chain the bastard up!”

But he was too fast. In seconds, he stood across from Savannah with a demented grin spread across his face as he looked at her. “I will drink you dry.”

She held out her blade. “Try it, and I’ll cut out your soul.”

Fuck.

Alejandro whipped around her, but I lunged left and clotheslined him with my arm, my elbow cracking from the force of the impact. He groaned and dropped to his back like a brick, and then I was on him, pinning him with one arm. With my other hand, I reached for the shattered remains of a vintage chair and snapped one of its legs off.

Alejandro grabbed my throat, and I raised the makeshift stake above his heart—

“Stop!” Savannah’s voice boomed through the space, and she seized my arm.

I could hear her fear and distress, but it didn’t matter. I could stop, but I knew from the madness in his eyes that Alejandro never would.

I had to protect my mate.

I tore my hand free of her grip and rammed the stake down.