Chapter 178
“No!” Brandon shouted. I couldn’t help but let the whimpers I’d been holding back escape my throat. Zabrina had a glimmer in her eye, like she couldn’t wait to get me home to play. “Take me instead!” Brandon begged. I shifted my eyes to look at him, wishing I could speak to try to tell him not to say such things.
It didn’t matter. “You?” Giovani laughed. “I don’t want you. I can’t do anything with you. You’re already—invincible.” The Vampire had a point. Zabrina had two of them, and they were very shiny.
“But I’m not.”
Never in my life have I been so happy to hear my sister’s voice. I couldn’t see her, but I thought she was behind Eliza. The entire congregation became quiet as my sister and Aaron approached. Finally, I could see her, and while I was doing my best to stay calm, I realized I was sobbing. I had created this mess. Now, my sister was going to put herself in danger if I didn’t find a way to tell her it was too late. As much as I didn’t want Zabrina to sink her teeth into me, they could destroy Cadence.
“Let her go.” Cadence’s voice was calm and demanding. “It’s not her you want. It’s me.”
“Are you willing to take her place?” Giovani asked, taking a step forward. I could see him now, and I wished I could do something to him, kick him, punch him, anything, but I couldn’t move.
My sister turned and looked over her shoulder, making eye contact with Aaron. I knew they were discussing something, though I had no way of knowing what it might be. Slowly she turned back to Giovani and said, “Yes. Let her go, and I’ll come with you.”
Zabrina released her grip on my just enough so that I could find my voice. “No!” I pleaded with my sister. She looked me in the eyes, and I pulled away from Zabrina enough to get my warning out. “Cadence—it’s too late! She already scratched me!”
“Shut up!” Zabrina spat. She yanked on my hair again, pulling me closer and twisting me around so that my face was pressed against her shoulder. If I had been the one with fangs, I would’ve torn into her flesh. I tried not to imagine what it would be like when I actually had them.
No longer able to see any of them, I had to rely on my hearing. The tremble in my sister’s voice was unmistakable “Is that true?” she asked.
“Does it matter?” Giovani asked. “If I keep her, I will destroy her, no matter what she is.” His words cut straight through me. I had been afraid of living as a Vampire, but Giovani had no intention of even letting me do that. He would take me, and he would kill me. Either that, or he would take my sister and kill her. Once again, I struggled to get away from Zabrina. If I could move out of the way, they would have a clear shot at the Vampires. But she was unbelievably strong. I could hardly move at all.
“Now, come along. You first, and then I let her go,” Giovani said.
I knew my sister wasn’t about to fall for that. He’d keep us both. But I had to get away so that he didn’t take Cadence. If he hurt her, I’d never forgive myself. I’d be better off dead. I attempted to raise my knee, trying to connect with Zabrina’s thigh. She stomped on my other foot, smashing my toes. I screamed but all that came out was a muffled cry since my face was pressed against her shoulder. I gasped for air, wishing I could just wake up from this horrible nightmare.
Giovani had ordered Cadence to toss down her weapons, and I heard her unstrapping them. This was real. She was trading herself for me. I shoved my head hard into Zabrina’s neck and reared up enough to say, “Cadence, please! Don’t do it!” The monster slammed my face down into her shoulder, catching me right between the eyes. I saw stars and thought maybe the bridge of my nose was broken as a sharp pain filled the area around my eyes. Dazed, I fought to stay focused on what was going on around me.
“Everyone else, drop your weapons. Now.” Giovani demanded.
There was another collective inhale and a holding of breaths before Aaron quietly said, “Drop them.” I had no idea how numerous the forces around me were until I heard the sound of what seemed to be dozens of weapons hit the ground. The noise came from both in front and behind me. For a moment, I felt slightly safer. How could Giovani possibly get either one of us past all of these Guardians and Hunters?
“Now kick them this way,” Giovani barked. One again, I heard a small army of weapons making contact with the floor as they slid toward me. If only I could free myself for a second to get ahold of one of them….
It was silent for a moment, and I had no idea what was happening. I heard footsteps and then, the next thing I knew, I was flying through the air. For a second, I thought she’d thrown me off of the bridge, and I was okay with that. The thought of slamming through the glass and landing on the road below would’ve been much better than dying at Giovani’s hand or even watching him destroy my sister.
I heard Brandon screaming my name and realized I was getting closer to him. A second later, I felt his arms around me. The relief of being rescued, the sensation of freedom was short-lived as I saw what was happening in front of me.
Cadence had her hands bound together by some sort of wire. It wasn’t just Giovani and Zabrina who had her either. There were several other large Vampires behind them, all armed to the teeth. All of the Guardians’ and Hunters’ weapons lay in front of Giovani and Zabrina on the ground. My sister caught my eyes for just a moment, and she looked relieved, which I thought was unbelievable considering where she was going. Giovani pulled a black cloth bag out of the pocket of his long black duster and slipped it over my sister’s head. “Cadence!” I screamed, and Brandon wrapped his arms around me tighter.
I struggled. I couldn’t let this happen, but he was much stronger than me. Aaron was standing right next to us, and he took a step backward, resting his hand on my arm, and while I suddenly felt calmer, the overwhelming despair that they were taking my sister because of me, hit me right in the gut. I couldn’t handle it anymore. I began to sob, still muttering my sister’s name. Brandon slowly lowered me to the ground, keeping his arms around me the whole time. I realized he was whispering, “It’s okay. She’ll be okay. Aaron won’t let them hurt her. Your sister is strong. She’ll be all right.” While all of those sentiments were pleasant, I had done this. I had cost my sister her freedom, possibly everything. I could no longer watch what was happening and turned my head, burying my face in Brandon’s neck.
