Blind Love( Completed, Kings Series, Book 4)

Circles

(Samuel's POV)

Emotional pain obliterated my vision. I was looking at my best friend, the one I called brother. The one I'd willingly die for. Alessandro had a shadow inside him. I could no longer deny it. This was not him. I had no idea what that meant. How did this happen? I was angry, disappointed with myself. The woman had put me into a baby sleep in the middle of a fucking war! I'd seen balls of violet everywhere thrown in the air, threading to one another in nice clear stitches until my whole world had become one. The peace. The silence. I'd loved it. What a piece of shit! I'd also sensed her. She was fused to my every stitch, every yarn, every ball. And, stupid me, I'd erred. I'd stayed. I should have pushed it all away. I should have known no good would have come from such peace, happiness. It was all false. A utopia built upon dreams. And, now I had a mess in my hands.

Ettore, the ten-year-old vampire doting on Alessandro, following him everywhere like a lost kitten after his father had died... Now his eyes held no innocence, his body language was devoid of emotions. He smile was cold, icy, mad. He had grown up within seconds, whatever was inside him had taken over. He held his ground with a suggestion of his own, "I last fought them in front of his room. They couldn't have gone far." Lucine, Thana, and all the other kids held similar expressions. Their motions were smooth, but sharp as if they were a robot with newly oiled joints. Restless. Evil. Possessed. They were all gone. Just like that. Because I'd fallen asleep.

What were those shadows? I had enough of their bites to know they loved blood as much as vampires did. Their bites were small but delivered in several successions, and within minutes they'd turned me into a bloody mess. I had not been winning that battle but what irked me was: how did a half-blind woman see them?

What was done was done. I needed a way out of here. I needed to think. Find a way to save my people.

I held Diana's hand. We ran the hallway and turned the corner. I brought us to an immediate halt. There were more vampires there. Cian was in the center, hissing. Before I could understand what was going on, they all assaulted him and took a bite from him. That was the moment I realized Cian had not yet turned. I would save him. Diana was trembling beside me. "It's too late," she said, trying to stop me.

It was not too late. Never too late. I entered their vision. Attempting to take their attention away from Cian. There were three of them. I knew them. They were friends, loyal soldiers. I would have to kill them to save Cian. The decision didn't sit well with me. Perhaps, I could immobilize them. Cian was shivering on the ground, fighting his own demons as the dark shadows in their new shiny bodies stood up to meet my challenge. The smile on their faces was calculated.

"We need him alive," Kali said.

"Kali, stand down!" I ordered using the voice of mesmerization. The voice passed from one King to another. My father had given it to me. It was a way to control all the vampires. I abhorred using my powers this way, stripping vampires of their will. It wasn't an easy choice. This was the first time, I was doing it. The power tingled in my throat, I felt it spread in the air, catching everyone and anyone in its vicinity.

They had left me with no choice.

Kali smirked. I didn't like that. He was not acting as if he was under the influence of the voice. In fact, when threw himself at me, I knew for sure he wasn't. He was no longer a vampire. There was nothing left in him. He was something else.

I had nothing with me, only the choice of raw power. But, I didn't need any weapons to stop him, or the others. I knew I would be fighting with three of them at the same time.

I threw him across the brick wall, the brick and mortar came crumbling down. The body slumped with the force of the throw. He was done for. But, within seconds, he rose to his feet again. How was that possible? He should have stayed down. Damn it. His body looked like it was torn just like the wall he'd hit. The same irritating smile was plastered on his face. Within seconds, I was ramming him into the wall once, twice, three times, then I loosened my grip, let his limp body fall. I didn't want to kill him.

The others had come to his help. I punched Zillah, mated to Vega. How happy they'd been when they discovered the bond. I remembered the thrill on his face every time his eyes spotted her. The joy, the pride, the lust. And, now he'd been reduced to this. She would be punching me if she was herself and she knew what I was doing to the love of her life. Zillah threw himself at me and we plowed into the wall behind us. I rolled him over in the last second making sure he took the brunt of the fall. He was breathless, lying like that. I punched him one last time, to make sure he'd not get up. It was then that Maura bit me, tackling me from behind. What the hell?

"Stay down," I used the voice again, wondering whether from this close up, she'd listen. Nope. She opened her lips again, her fangs like seashells glistening with the colors of the ocean, just inches from my neck. I slapped her, just with enough force to throw her off her target.

And, when I was about to get to Cian, I saw the real nightmare. Kali standing up. Zillah waking up. And Maura on her feet again. Her fangs shining and attuned to my throat. They shouldn't have been, not with their battered and bruised bodies. It seemed the shadows didn't care whether the machines they'd possessed were working or not, they were in charge until the bodies held their last breath. From the corner of my eye, I saw Cian on his knees. He was awake. The odds were now three against two. I liked those odds even if I was clueless about how to incapacitate the shadows.

"Cian, here!" I shouted.

Then I saw the smirk on his face. Malicious. Cold. I'd been too late!

Defeat sat heavy on my shoulders. There was one thing left to do. Run.

But before I could grab Diana and do that, they had circled me. Seeing my vampires, my men, my soldiers, my friends like that, stripped of their souls...Rage hit me. Desperation, guilt followed. How had I allowed this?

I saw their fangs, I knew the biting would follow. By the time I could give us some breathing space to run away, the others would catch up with us. Alessandro would come. His army of shadows would come. We'd be trapped for good.

Before I could do anything, I saw Diana running towards me. She entered the circle, my heart thudded wildly, she was going to get herself bitten, possessed. Terror held me close. I lost all my breath. "Are you crazy?" I said, but words fell short of my dread. How was I going to save her? I tried to push her behind me but I knew Cian had already positioned himself at my back, standing there like an impenetrable wall. He'd dig his fangs into her. Damn it! I couldn't bear the thought.

She didn't respond to me. She was not even hearing me. With her hands, she started drawing circles in the air like a lunatic woman. The high level of concentration on her face tautened her features. Her eyes were as still as a billboard poster. But, what was more shocking was how the shadows responded to her weird hand motions. The circles she drew larger and larger in the air seemed to disperse them. They had a confused look on their faces as if they'd just woken up. They retreated one step. Two steps. Three steps. Four steps. She grabbed my hand and pushed us through the circle widening like waves. I couldn't believe what was happening here. I held my hand in the air, over her head, ready to counterattack a move against her. It didn't come.

"C'mon let's get out of here," she said. "I can't hold this much longer."

Hold this? What was she even doing?

I didn't second her, I threw her over my shoulder and took the stairs to the roof as I heard the sounds of footsteps. The others were coming.

"Why are we going up?" she asked breathlessly, but she didn't complain.

It wouldn't be fun. It would bring bad memories. But, that was the only way out.

On the roof, I put her down.

"Samuel?" she asked with fear.

"Hold tight," I warned her. That was her only warning as I lifted her in my arms and jumped.

The only thing I heard was her scream.

Did you like that? As always, thanks for reading

Alena

P.S. By the way, I wanted to share this with all the Kings series lovers. Warlock's Nemesis won the Wattpad fictional awards in paranormal genre.