Vengeance (The Captive #6)(23)
Adjusting his hold on his stakes, he cautiously approached the vampires, not at all fooled into believing they weren’t aware of his presence, or their opportunity at a chance to escape. He didn’t know what had happened in this town, but he couldn’t take the chance of these things spilling into the nearby towns, if those towns still existed.
He was almost to the closest one when it released a hiss and launched at him. William spun out of the way, grabbed hold of the neck of its shirt and yanked it back. The clothing ripped in his grasp, but he drove the stake into its heart. The creature squealed and stumbled toward the back wall. William spun and threw the next stake underhand, behind him at the next creature rushing him. The stake flew through the air and embedded itself in the creature’s heart.
It howled as it fell over, kicking and flailing violently upon the ground. William’s fangs extended, excitement pulsed through him as the thrill of the kill slid over his body. The man inside him was repulsed; the vampire craved more. This whole situation was hideous, but he couldn’t control the baser, more volatile urges shaking him. His skin tingled, his body felt electrified. For a second it almost felt as if his heart raced in his chest again. Bending down, he jerked the stake from his first victim and spun to take on the third.
This one, apparently content with having feasted on the blood of the dead, scurried toward the open door instead of coming at him. William leapt at it, bringing it down beneath the weight of his body. He drove a fist into the creature’s kidneys, causing a cry to escape from it and its feet to kick forcefully against the dirt floor. Fighting against the explosive urges coursing through him; he forced himself to stop pummeling on the creature and put it out of its misery. He drove the stake deep into its chest and twisted it.
Shoulders heaving, warm blood dripping from his hands, he lifted his head to stare at the four vampires in the other cell. He shuddered at the overwhelming scent of blood filling his nostrils as he fought to keep himself restrained. He’d planned to retrieve his arrows from the dead in order to dispatch the remaining creatures, but his body sought a bigger release.
There was a fine line between being a vampire and a monster; he teetered on that line right now. The fangs hanging over his bottom lip sliced his flesh, causing blood to trickle down his chin. These creatures weren’t his enemies; they were victims of whatever had happened in this town. He realized he was inhaling air he no longer required as he labored to calm the beast within him.
The veins and muscles in his forearms bulged when his hands curled around the stakes in his grasp. It would be so easy to walk into the cell and take out his ire and thirst on those innocent creatures, but that would make him no better than Caleb and Atticus had been. It would make him no better than Kane.
His head bent as useless breath continued to lurch in and out of him. What was he becoming? When this was over would he have to be destroyed himself? Would he become the thing he’d always hated most?
At one time, he would have thought absolutely not. There was no way such a thing could happen to him, but he realized now it could. It would be so unbelievably easy for it to happen, and it may be a possibility before this was all over. He had to get himself together, but first, he had to take care of the remaining vampires in this building.
Lifting his head, he met the ruby colored eyes of the remaining creatures as they ravenously watched him from the other cell. These vampires weren’t feasting; they were prepared for him and had a calculating gleam in their eyes.
If he walked into that cell it would be a bloodbath, and it would mean no turning back for him. He would be one-step closer to becoming a monster. He didn’t think he would lose in a fight, yet it was a possibility, but with the way he felt right now he could take on a dozen vampires. He was walking a line, but he wasn’t ready to fall over it, not yet.
Rising to his feet, he pulled the arrows and bolts from the bodies surrounding him and placed them methodically back in his quiver or returned them to his side. He didn’t realize blood dripped from his hair and beard until he stepped from the cell and a drop of it landed upon the floor at his feet. He stared at the pooling blood before lifting his hand to wipe it away from his face.
He didn’t know what he would become by the time this was all over with Kane, but as of now, he was not a monster. He wouldn’t take his bloodlust out on these pitiful creatures. Lifting his bow, he quickly dispatched the last four vampires before opening the cell door and stepping inside to retrieve his arrows.
He didn’t look at their faces as he pulled the weapons from their bodies but stared at the back wall. It was streaked with blood; chunks had been torn into the rocks lining the wall. It would have taken a while, but eventually these things would have gotten free. They’d shredded their fingers to the bone trying to escape, and in the end they’d been left with nothing but walls.
Walls, he thought with disgust.
Walking from the cell, he hurried up the stairs and outside again. All he wanted to do was get out of this town, but he couldn’t continue his hunt looking the way he did. He returned to Achilles, gathered some supplies from the saddlebag on his back and returned to the first home he’d searched.
The heat of the shower felt amazing against his cramped and aching muscles. He watched the blood running from his auburn hair in pink rivulets swirl down the drain. He lingered beneath the beat of the spray far longer than he should have, but he couldn’t force himself out until the water turned cold.