Warrior (Relentless #4)(235)

I thought about Sara and knew Elena was right. No matter what happened to me, I’d always love Sara. My Mori could die, and I could be trapped in a vampire’s body, but my heart and my soul would always belong to her.

“Before we can bond and begin our life together, you have to be reborn as my mate.” Elena rose up over me, straddling my hips. “I’ve dreamed of this moment for so long. It’s hard to believe we are really here.”

She rubbed her hands against my chest. “You look so calm, so brave. Such a warrior. I’ve made hundreds of vampires, and they all begged for their pathetic human lives before the change. You won’t beg, will you?”

I met her stare. “No.”

“Good. Let’s begin then, shall we?”

I closed my eyes and thought of Sara. I love you.

“No. Look at me,” Elena ordered. “I won’t have you thinking about that half-breed when I make you. I’m the one you will see.”

I opened my eyes and stared defiantly at her. She had me at her mercy, but she would not break me. She might be the face in front of my eyes, but it was Sara who filled my heart and Sara’s touch I felt on my skin.

She leaned down and turned my head to one side. I braced myself.

“I wish I could tell you this won’t hurt.” She licked the bite mark she’d made earlier. “But you haven’t felt pain until you’ve felt your Mori die. All I can promise is that it will be quick. Most vampires take days to change, unless they are made by a Master. Our blood is much stronger, and it will make your vamhir grow quickly. Tonight you will be reborn.”

I knew it was coming, but I still wasn’t prepared for her strike and the awful pulling sensation of her drinking my blood. She lay on top of me, writhing with pleasure as she drank until I was sure she had lost control and was going to drain me dry.

When my heart slowed and my vision darkened, she lifted her head and smiled. “Perfect. Now you’re ready.”

She bit her wrist and held it over my mouth. I pressed my lips together in a last attempt to fight her, but she pinched the sides of my jaw with her other hand and forced my mouth open.

I gagged when the warm blood hit the back of my tongue and ran down my throat. I tried to cough it up, but there was too much, and I couldn’t move my head to spit it out. Despair rose up in me, for Sara, who would be alone in this hellish place and who would be forced to see me become the thing she despised the most.

“There.” Elena removed her wrist and wiped away the blood that had run down my chin. Her eyes glowed with excitement when she smiled at me. “Soon, it will begin. But don’t worry, my love. I’ll be with you through it all.”

She curled up against my side with her head on my shoulder. Her hand stroked my chest as she told me what our new life would be like.

“You will be insatiable at first, but I will provide you with all the warm bodies you can drink. I want my mate to be strong and happy. Then you will lead the army we’ll build against the Mohiri. You know all their locations, their defenses, and how they think. And you are a magnificent fighter.”

“No,” I slurred.

“Shhh. You will feel different about it soon.” She kissed my chest. “If you’d like, we can change some of your friends. Maybe even Tristan. Would that please you? Actually, I like that idea very much. I’d love to be reunited with my dear brother. And the three of us will hunt down Madeline and make her pay for the trouble she’s caused me.”

She sighed happily. “It will be the perfect life. And we’ll celebrate every victory with our sweet little Sara. I plan to keep her around for many, many years.”

No, my mind screamed because my voice no longer worked. Sara? Sara? You have to run. You have to get out of here.

There was no answer.

Then the pain hit.

My Mori screamed as blinding, white-hot pain unlike anything I’d felt before shot through my head. I couldn’t breathe, my throat and chest felt as if they were on fire, and I was sure my eyes were going to burn in their sockets. My body arched off the bed, but there was no escaping the agony consuming me.

Something moved beneath my ribs, and cold tentacles reached for my heart. I fought my bonds, but my body was too weak.

The pain subsided, and I dropped back to the bed. Sweat coated my face, and my eyes hurt so much I couldn’t open them.

“I’m here,” Elena crooned, touching my face. “I know it hurts, my love, but it will pass.”

The vamhir demon moved in my chest again, and my whole being recoiled at the thought of having that thing inside me and of what I would become.

Fight, I ordered my Mori. Don’t let it take us.

Elena and her Mori were young when she was changed. My Mori was old and very strong. It would fight the younger demon and win. Elena would realize she couldn’t make me into a vampire.

Too soon, the next wave of pain crashed over me, and I lost all thought. My Mori’s screams echoed in my head as it fought the other demon invading our body. My body convulsed, and I thought the pain would never end.

A hand brushed damp hair out of my face. “Don’t fight it, my warrior. You will only prolong the pain.”

I shook my head weakly at her words. Not your warrior. I belong to Sara.

This time when the pain came, I screamed Sara’s name.

And then, blessed darkness came for me.