Selene
XAVIER STANDS in front of the sarcophagus talking to Lucius like they're at a party. Vampires are nuts.
I snuck through the house. It was easy. I'd lived there almost a month, after all. Xavier's guards were alert and on edge, but they didn't expect me. No one expects a she-wolf hopped up on vampire blood. I left a trail of bodies.
"She's dead," Lucius' voice echoes around me. "I killed her."
"I thought you would. How'd she taste? I've always wondered." My ex-mentor's voice makes my skin crawl. "All those years keeping her untouched, unblooded. Chaste for the auction. How did you find her blood?"
Lucius licks his lips with an obscene flash of fang. "Delicious."
"Did you drain her?"
"Yes, I--" Lucius stops mid sentence as his whole body jerks. He slumps onto the sarcophogus, suddenly gasping for breath. I freeze.
"Ah yes. I was wondering when it would take effect." Xavier steps forward. He's inching towards Lucius.
"Stay back," rasps Lucius. I get to my feet. Something's happening. Should I go to him? I creep further into the room and Lucius puts up a hand. "Stay back," he repeats, even though Xavier hasn't moved. Lucius knows I'm here. The message was for me.
"Aren't you going to ask me what's going on?" Xavier chuckles. "Right now your limbs should be feeling heavy. The poison is delayed, but once it overwhelms your organs there's no going back. No antidote."
"Selene," Lucius whispers. My hairs stand on end. I rise. "No," Lucius orders, his voice sharp as a whip. I stay where I am, standing in plain sight, but Xavier's focused on his enemy.
"It's no use," Xavier says softly. "The poison's in your veins. I knew you wouldn't resist drinking from our Selene. Draining her dry. I had to be careful of the dose--enough to kill you without killing the shifter carrier too quickly. My lab worked for years to make it slow acting."
"When--" Lucius croaks.
My mind is racing ahead, knowing what Xavier will say. He poisoned me. That bastard poisoned me.
"At your club. I walked right in and gave her a drink. That's what one does at clubs, correct? Then you both went home and I just had to wait."
Lucius shudders. "Go on," he makes a chopping motion with his hand. He's ordering me to leave. I can't believe Xavier hasn't realized I'm here, but he's too focused on his enemy. "Make it quick--"
"Oh I don't think so," Xavier whispers. "That's the beauty of it. With you weak, I can take my time." His body tenses and I know he's going to leap over the sarcophagus and take Lucius down.
"No!" With my remaining strength, I blur onto the platform to grab my ex mentor.
"Pet!" Lucius cries. "No!"
I'm faster than Xavier, but only just. I pull him back from attacking Lucius and he whirls, hissing. Too late, I see the stake in his hand.
Lucius
FOR AN AWFUL SECOND, Selene and Xavier grapple, the huge vampire's body covering hers. I seize the stake she left at my feet a lifetime ago and leap over the stone coffin. I rip Xavier off Selene and slam the stake into his chest. He arches, stiffening, and falls. The stake isn't quite in his heart, but it'll hold him for now.
I whirl and crouch beside Selene.
"Hey." Her smile lights her entire face. Her small hand pats my bare chest. "He didn't get you."
"No."
From her shoulders up she's beautiful, her hair falling around her face, silken silver. It spills over her chest and when I brush it away, the locks come away stained with blood. Xavier buried a stake in her gut. I place a hand on her chest but don't dare tug the wood away. If he didn't hit an artery, he came close and removing the stake will speed the blood loss. Her limbs are cold, stiffening.
"What's happening?" Her lips turn blue.
"Pet…" My hands comb over her body, checking for more wounds. The stake shouldn't slow her shifter healing. She's fading too fast.
"The poison," Xavier cackles beside us.
I blur to his side. The stake is half in his heart. I set my foot on it and press. "Where's the antidote?"
His head rolls to the left and right. "There is none."
"Lucius…" Selene rasps.
Xavier grimaces. With his final strength, he lifts his hand and clutches my leg. "She's alive. How--?"
I lean over him, fangs bared. "I didn't kill her. I made her mine." His grip convulses on my leg, but his strength is gone. Another enemy, vanquished. But at what cost?
"I'll see you in hell," I tell him and push the stake in another two inches, until his mouth slackens and his eyes go black.
I blur to Selene's side. "Baby. Sweet Selene. My pet." My hands stroke over her body. I want to carry her out, move her from this place, but she might not survive.
"Just a flesh wound..." she whispers. "Why are you... so sad..."
I shake my head, not wanting to answer. "Doesn't matter. You're here. How did--"
"Nobody expects the Spanish--" Blood leaks from her mouth and I stop her lips with two fingers.
"Shhhh. Don't talk." A tremor goes through her and I answer the question in her eyes. "You're body is shutting down. He poisoned you."
Her mouth works under my fingers. "Tried…"
"Yes, baby. He poisoned you to get to me." She's dying and it's my fault. It always is. My chest constricts, my body tightening with the need to roar.
Footsteps in the hall make me jerk upright. Declan and Parker and their tall, strange friend run up to the dais and take in the scene with horrified faces.
"Is it the blood?" The Irish wolf asks.
"She took the blood?" I snarl. "How much did she have?"
"All of it. She took all of it," Declan says. The tall shifter beside him twitches. "Is that what's wrong with her?"
I jerk my head sharply. "Poison. Meant for vampires." My blood won't save her. Her shifter healing is working but her wounds are too great. Her system is overwhelmed. Nothing can save her now.
Unless...