Blood Debt (Immortals) by Joy Nash

Author:Joy Nash
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Published: 2013-07-25T04:00:00+00:00

Chapter Ten

Leanna’s spell slammed Xaviere right between the shoulder blades.

It was perhaps the most powerful binding charm she’d ever crafted. The result was swift and supremely satisfying. The vampire’s body went rigid. His legs stiffened; his knees locked. His fingers snapped open, and his arms flung wide. He teetered for one long second before toppling, face first, onto the ground.

The bind was a life-magic spell, unable to kill. But with sunlight streaming through the shattered catacomb ceiling and Xaviere unable to move, it would be easy enough to drag him into the light and finish him off. So much for the vows she’d made in Annwyn. All her promises, all her good intentions, had gone up in flames. Three of Legrand’s human stewards already lay dead. Leanna shoved her guilt to the back of her mind. She’d examine her crimes later.

After she finished committing them.

She scrambled down the pile of rocks on the bed, half sliding, half falling, scraping her shin in her haste to reach Jackson’s side. He lay in a puddle of blood, his neck bearing a cruel slash and the deep imprint of Xaviere’s fingers. He wasn’t breathing, and she couldn’t find a pulse. If he were mortal, he’d be dead. But Jackson was vampire. The normal rules didn’t apply.

Dirt trickled onto her head. Startled, she looked up. A clump of grass—and a dead man’s limp arm—hung over the edge of the hole, framed by a patch of blue sky. She held her breath, but there was no shout, no sound other than the distant hum of traffic. But surely there were more of Legrand’s minions about.

If she was going to escape, now was the time.

She rejected the thought even as it formed. Jackson had urged her to run, but she had no intention of leaving him. She eyed Xaviere’s motionless form. First things first.

Grabbing the vampire’s ankles, she tugged his body toward the light. He was heavy; she conjured a spell to assist. Even so, she grunted as she heaved the undead corpse onto the pool of daylight on Jackson’s carpet.

Bright sun bathed Xaviere’s face. In an instant, his skin reddened to lobster hue, then darkened to the color of old blood. Leanna watched in horror as the blistered skin turned black, curled away from the white skull beneath, and crumbled like ash. Muscles and bones deteriorated next, causing shirt and trousers to deflate like a leaking balloon. In the end, all that was left of Xaviere was dust, a puff of smoke, and a sound like a human sigh.

At last, Leanna averted her eyes. She tried to draw air into her lungs; the breath was painful. She didn’t regret what she’d done. It was all too easy to imagine Jackson’s beautiful body meeting the same horrible end. Turning her back on the sight, she made her way to Jackson’s side.

He lay just beyond the farthest reaches of the sun. His normally pale skin was red and blistered. Gods, the sun. The angle of the beam had changed, moving the shaft of light across the floor in Jackson’s direction.

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