Redemption (Page 70)
Calvin’s fingers rubbed against the underneath of her chin as he tilted her head further up. "Not if you want her to stay alive. You don’t wish to catch a corpse, do you?"
The smirk that curved Calvin’s lips caused Jack’s hands to fist as he tried to calculate some way to get a hold of Calvin before he could drive that stake through her heart and effectively end both of their lives. He’d vowed he was never going to let anything bad happen to her and though he’d been too late to keep her completely protected, he was going to make sure she walked away from this if it was the last thing he did.
Calvin dragged her with him as he retreated a few more steps. Panic drove Jack forward another step, but when Calvin pressed the stake more firmly against her, he froze again. "I’d stay back lover boy, if you intend for her to live anyway," Calvin said with a cruel sneer.
Jack’s eyes raced over the town surrounding them, but though smoke still filtered through the air it wasn’t thick enough this far away from the tavern to cover any of his movements. Exasperation filled him as Calvin pulled her even further away. Jack spotted Daniel and Braith on the right side of Calvin seconds before Daniel fired an arrow. Jack lunged forward as Calvin turned toward the whistling arrow; it pierced through his shoulder and knocked his hand back from Hannah. The stake clattered to the ground as it fell from his limp hand.
Hannah spun and drove her fist into his face. Blood spattered from Calvin’s battered nose, he staggered back a step but quickly recovered. He was already grabbing for her arms as she stumbled to the side in an attempt to avoid his frantic grasping. Calvin’s left hand had caught in the sleeve of her dress when Braith grasped hold of her and ripped her away. A triumphant cry escaped Jack as he leapt over his brother and grabbed Calvin by the throat.
Dust kicked up around them as they tumbled onto the ground together. Something volatile and ferocious tore from him, something he’d never even known could reside inside of himself, but he knew that the driving urge to see this man dead was intricately interwoven with Hannah’s safety. That if she was ever threatened this thing inside of him would destroy anyone that ever dared to touch her. Calvin tried to deflect Jack’s hand as he repeatedly drove his fist into Calvin’s face, but he couldn’t hold him back.
A bone broke beneath Jack’s hand, Calvin’s right cheek caved in as his lower jaw cracked. Red continued to fill Jack’s vision but he wasn’t sure if it was because of his frenzy or from the blood that was spraying off of Calvin’s face. Calvin managed to get his hands up, Jack felt his fingers digging into his face, tearing back the skin from his cheekbone, but he didn’t stop pummeling the man.
A blow to the side of his head almost knocked him completely off of the man. Calvin managed to get his legs in between them and lever Jack the rest of the way off. "Jack!" Hannah screamed. Jack spotted her as he fell back to the ground. She strained to get free of Braith’s hold but his brother kept her pressed against his chest as he moved her rapidly out of the way.
Blood trickled from Jack’s temple and into his left eye as he rolled to the side. Calvin was still clenching the board he’d used to hit him with as he scrambled back and rose to his feet. Jack wiped the blood out of his eye to focus on the man across from him again. The right side of Calvin’s face looked more like mush than anything truly resembling a vampire. His nose had been flattened, both cheekbones were broken, and his bloody and broken lips pulled back to reveal his lethal fangs.
Pushing himself up, Jack remained half bent over as he lunged forward. Calvin danced to the side but Jack still managed to snake his hand into the collar of his shirt. Calvin turned and swung the board up again but Jack grabbed hold of it before Calvin could hit him with it. Wrenching the board from Calvin’s hands, he spun the burnt piece around in his hand and drove it forcefully upward.
It caught Calvin under the chin, lifted him up, and flung him ten feet back in the air. Jack twisted the board in his hands as he stalked toward Calvin. The larger vampire was attempting to get back to his feet when Jack placed his booted foot against Calvin’s chest and shoved him back to the ground.
A twisted smile curved his lips as he leaned closer to him. "I told you not to touch her again."
Jack lifted the board over his head and drove downward with the full force of his weight. A low howl escaped Calvin, his hands curled around the board as it pierced through his chest. Jack turned the board in his hand, twisting it until it burst out of Calvin’s back.
Though he doubted it was possible Calvin could return like his father had, he still held his hand out to Daniel as he approached. "Knife." Daniel didn’t question the action, he simply tugged the foot long knife free from the holder on his side and tossed it to him. "Don’t let her see this," he said to Braith.
"Stop!" Hannah cried. Jack forced down his unreasonable anger at his brother’s hold on Hannah as Braith turned her away from what he was about to do.
The dying vampire watched him from terrified eyes as he squirmed to get away. Jack placed his hand against Calvin’s forehead and pulled his head back. Calvin made a sick gurgling sound, even though he knew he was dying, he still tried to squirm away as Jack placed the blade against his throat and drove it deep. He hated Calvin, he’d kill him a thousand times over if he could, but he took no pleasure in severing his head from his body.
He dropped the knife at his side as it cut through the last of the sinew keeping it connected to Calvin’s neck. He rose slowly, wary and beaten, and worried about what Hannah would think of what he’d done. Bracing himself, he turned to search the crowd for her. Braith still had a hold of her but he released her as Jack took a step toward them. He expected to see revulsion and condemnation in her eyes when she turned toward him, instead she let out a relieved cry as she raced across the ground and flung herself into his arms.