Sickly, Sweet - Book One

Ch. 43 - Dare

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"The wind whispers tales of unseen tragedies. The clouds cry with sorrow as they watch us shatter."

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His breath is close to my neck, almost as if he is breathing me in. The vibrations in his deep voice travel down my spine-chilling every bone in my body. It's not the kind that I feel from Valentine but one I recognize from being around death. Of course, I would be the first person he would go for. Valentine is too busy killing off Datura's minions to go after him right now.

Lucius' fingers are only inches away from my neck before I twist my entire body to evade his touch. His eyes have turned black, making the hollows of his eyes look more sunken than usual. His evil soul can be identified through the flares in his eyes – a sad, broken and tar-filled nothingness is all I can see.

"Are you ready to die, Saphira?"

He attempts to swipe at me and claw at my neck but I quickly dodge him and kick him in the chest with enough force to send him flying a few feet back. I smile inwardly as I hear a satisfying crack in his chest. I groan in frustration as he swiftly recovers and rises back to his feet. You cannot kill a darkling, they say. Then what happens if I chop his head off?

Lucius lunges at me and a gargled scream tears out of my throat as he managed to break my jaw, almost ripping it off of my head. I bite back a moan from escaping my lips as an intense pain travels through my head and neck. I glare at him before popping my jaw back into place and prepare to attack once again.

"Go to hell," I curse. Somewhere in the distance, I hear the indefinable scoff of the Demon King. I roll my eyes at his lack of maturity and bring my focus back to my current opponent.

The former Vampire King chuckles as he circles me. "You know, I never liked you," he spits. "I don't know what Valentine saw in you."

I grind my teeth and narrow my eyes at him as a warning that I will soon engage in combat. 

"Our parents never did approve of any women we brought home but at one point he almost persuaded father. But my parents were heartless creatures with no sense of love or consideration so they cast them out and forced them to find refuge with Augustine. Then, well, I guess you know exactly what happened then, right?"

"I know the damn story, bloodsucker," I reply in vain, still not able to forget the demeaning word I've used countless of times to define their biology. "I'm not sure that you know mine. I was created to kill your kind and tonight, I'll be the first to kill a fucking darkling."

With the last word, I launch myself forward with sword in hand aiming straight for his neck. It was a close call but he quickly moved his feet to evade my attack. I accompany my swings with grunts, bringing a lot of attention to us. I ignore the raging battle around us and make it my solid goal to kill Lucius, even if it takes all night because, without him, Datura is nothing.

I pull back with force and point the tip to his blade right in the hollow of his neck. He gulps deeply as the sharp blade scratches the base of his throat.

"I hope you burn wherever you're going," I snarl.

He frowns at me then starts to click his tongue in a way that makes me want to cut that off too. I don't know what Datura found so appealing about Lucius. Yes, he is just as handsome as his brothers and just as dominating, but there is a trait he possesses that makes you think twice. I push the blade further into his throat and he coughs as his bones dig into his throat, restricting his breathing.