Chapter Twenty-Four
Viktor watched as the true nature of his nemesis was revealed in his fury. The madness in Conrad’s eyes as he attacked the young enforcer brought back memories from before his turning of what Melisandre’s coven was capable of, memories that Viktor had hoped to forget forever.
Part of him wanted to flee with Halle, to take her somewhere safe away from his enemies, but the other part knew that meant leaving Burton, his enforcers, and Goddess knew how many other innocent lives to Conrad’s madness—and he couldn’t do it. He was shocked to realize that his relentless pursuit of vengeance against Conrad that had been plaguing him for his entire undead lifetime wasn’t even a consideration in his decision-making. He did come to the conclusion, however, that the only way he could guarantee Halle’s safety from Conrad once and for all would be to ensure that he was nothing more than ashes in the wind.
Viktor watched as Burton got back up and charged towards the vampire, only to be sent flying through the air and into the wall next to them. Viktor pushed Halle back to where the large man was now crumpled on the floor and he turned to Conrad, baring his fangs.
There was nothing pretty or clean about vampires fighting in hand-to-hand combat. Claws and teeth were sharp and swift, and when he collided with his enemy they were both moving at top speed, slashing at everything they could reach. Conrad was at least a century older than Viktor, and that meant he was faster and supernaturally stronger than Viktor, but he wasn’t a soldier. He wasn’t battle trained and warrior-bred—not like Viktor was.
Viktor much preferred to fight with his blades, but he was taking his time, methodically attacking Conrad’s weakest points, enjoying each hiss of pain the other man relinquished while trying to ignore the sting of his own wounds.
He grunted as his opponent got in a lucky strike and Viktor felt the deep furrows from Conrad’s claws open across his chest and dropped to one knee. Conrad must have been at the end of his energy because he tried to take advantage of Viktor’s distraction by turning back to lunge in Halle’s direction. He was no doubt hoping to use her as leverage to get out of this situation with his life, even if his role as Coven Master would be over.
Viktor saw Burton yell and toss a blade towards him. Viktor didn’t even think, in a burst of adrenaline he leaped into the air, grabbing the knife before landing in front of his mate and slashing the metal with all his vampire strength at his target.
****
Halle gasped when she saw her mate fall to one knee, bright red marks seeping through his shirt, across his chest.
“Viktor!” she screamed as fear tightened her throat, and then suddenly the blur that was Conrad stopped and turned, stalking straight for her.
She heard Burton yell out beside her to Viktor. Halle saw him throw something in the air as her mate leaped in their direction, and then suddenly she couldn’t see anything at all, except a wide back because she found herself shoved between Viktor and the elevator door.
She did, however, hear the grossest sound of thick blood spatter hitting the walls around her, and, for a second, she was frozen in fear that the blood belonged to the man she loved. Panic gripped her, and she struggled to keep control of her body as her leopard fought to take over and protect them both.
Then, as suddenly as the violence had erupted, it was over, and the lobby was as quiet as a tomb in the aftermath.
“Holy hell, Krescech.” Burton whistled as he slowly got to his feet and walked over to where Viktor and Halle were now standing in front of Conrad’s headless body. “You had me worried there for a little bit. I wasn’t sure we were going to be able to pull this off. But once you had that blade you just lopped off his head like he was standing still.”
“Yes, well, Conrad may have been older than me, but he was never much of a fighter,” Viktor answered, as he checked Halle over to see if she was all right. “He had always been too arrogant to train and work for anything. His specialty was always running away and hiding behind others.”
Suddenly, the entire lobby swarmed with enforcers.
“Where the hell have you been, Garreth?” Burton snarled at the large wolf shifter as they knelt down to their fallen men. “Get a healer here now. Kent’s still alive.”
“Yes, sir. Belinda’s right behind me. We were delayed by Conrad’s men. They set up a distraction at the East entrance to the building,” the other man said, as a small female pushed him out of the way and began to heal the man on the ground.
“Take care of this mess. I’ll get them upstairs,” was all Burton said before he looked back at them.
“That’s just creepy as hell,” Burton muttered, bringing Viktor’s attention back to the body at their feet that was just slowly beginning to turn to ash starting from the edges of the wounds inwards. “Why is it going so slowly compared to the other two?”
“Vampires that are as old as Conrad are full of power and magic, and as the Goddess takes back what was given after death, the aging process catches up with the cells. The older the vampire, the more magic must be reabsorbed, so the longer it takes the body to break down.”
“I’ve never seen that before.” The other man seemed transfixed as he watched Conrad’s body turn to ash, layer by layer.
“Most of the ancients know better than to get themselves killed in front of a crowd,” Viktor sighed. “The others will not be impressed that I did this here with so many witnesses.”
“Better him than us, my friend.” Burton finally seemed to be able to take his eyes away from Conrad’s fading body.