Vengeance (The Captive #6)(86)
CHAPTER 29
It had been foolish, a mistake to rise to Kane’s baiting, but he’d never been known for his cool and level head. He’d meant to stay calm, to assess the situation and do what he could to get them out of it. Then Kane had said that about Tempest and all he’d seen was red, all he’d wanted was Kane’s blood. No one would ever touch her or harm her in such a way, especially not this piece of shit. It had gone on too long; this man had to die. He deserved to die.
They rolled into the shadows together before crashing against the wall with so much force rocks and debris fell down upon them. Caught up in each other, he found it difficult to get a solid punch in, but he drove his fist into Kane’s gut repeatedly. If Kane had been human, the blows would have forced him to curl in on himself as he gasped for air, but he did neither of those things.
Kane’s hands dug at his stomach; his fingers scrambled and tore at William’s skin as he tried to rip into the scar he’d left on him after their first battle. William flung himself back, rolling away from Kane before he could dig too deeply into his flesh. The vampire was stronger than he was, faster. He had to stay on the move if he had any chance of getting the upper hand. Outside the orphanage, he’d had the element of surprise on his side when he’d attacked, now he had none of that. Tempest’s strengthening blood still ran through his veins, but he didn’t know if it would be enough to take Kane down permanently.
He rose to his feet and charged at Kane with his shoulder down; the vampire dashed to the side as William had anticipated. Before he would have hit him, he’d switched direction. He ran back toward the main cave and the sounds of feet scraping on stone, grunts and cries of pain coming from there. When he’d gone for Kane, he’d made the horrific mistake of leaving Tempest out there with those other vampires.
He didn’t have the time to berate himself for allowing his hot-tempered tendencies to get the best of him. He had to get to her and make sure she survived whatever happened here. Kane wasn’t his main concern.
Racing out of the shadows, he crashed into the back of a white cloaked vampire closing in on Tempest. Lifting the vampire up, he smashed him face first onto the floor with enough force to knock the spear he’d been clutching free. The man’s neck snapped from the impact and twisted at such an unnatural angle that his eyes were now looking up at William. His hands scrabbled against the floor, ripping off his fingernails as he gouged away chunks of rock from the floor. William snatched up the spear and drove it through his heart. He yanked it free and spun to face Kane when he came at him again.
William swung the spear up, catching Kane under his chin and knocking him back enough to buy him some more time. From the corner of his eye, he watched Tempest as she squared off against a man stalking her with lethal intent. Tempest swung at the man, who dodged back to avoid the stake in her hand. The vampire leapt forward, but instead of trying to catch him with her stake again, Tempest leaned against the wall and drove her foot up. She kicked him in the crotch with enough force that William was certain the man could now be classified as a woman.
The vamp howled; his hands clasped at his nuts. His face turned the color of a tomato before his legs buckled and his knees hit the floor. Showing no mercy, Tempest pulled her arm back and drove the stake deep into the man’s heart. The vampire’s eyes rolled back in his head, Tempest yanked the stake back out before the man slumped to the floor.
“Who taught you that move?” he inquired as he arrived at her side.
She grabbed the vampire’s spear off the floor. “You told me to do whatever was necessary to win.”
“I did and I approve.” He turned back as another vampire fell to one of the village vampires, but more bodies of the villagers littered the floor. “Stay close to me,” he commanded gruffly.
“I should be saying that to you,” she retorted. The fire in her eyes and the set of her chin showed her anger with him more than her words ever could. He had the urge to cover his manhood as she continued to glower at him.
He squeezed her hand. “Sorry.” The word sounded strange spilling from his lips; over the years he should have offered many apologies; he’d only ever issued a few. “It won’t happen again.”
His bow and arrows beat against his back, but in such close confines, and with so many vampires shuffling about the cave, he couldn’t take the chance of hitting someone on their side with an arrow. It would also be unlikely he’d be able to get off many shots before he was overtaken. The spear was the better option right now, no matter how badly his fingers itched for his bow.
He charged back into the fight, keeping Tempest beside him as he swung the spear at first one vampire and then another, pushing them back. The children and Pallas had all huddled into the back of the cave, sheltered behind some boulders. The flickering light of the torch danced over the rocks as the clash of spears, and the coppery stench of blood filled the cave. Flecks of blood splashed over his face and soaked into his clothes. He worked to carve away the white clothed figures while trying to make his way back to Kane, who was just as ruthlessly cutting his way through the villagers.
He drove his spear through another vampire, and grabbing the vamp’s discarded spear from the ground, he tossed it to the woman with the strawberry colored hair. By his side, Tempest hit a woman who leapt at her with her spear, knocking the woman back. Before the woman could completely regain her footing, Tempest swung the spear low, sweeping her feet out from under her. Not missing a beat, she leapt forward and drove the spear into the woman’s heart.