Insane. She was truly insane.
Gasping, Ryker rolled off the broken table and stumbled to his feet. Before he could take a single step, Jelisette threw herself at him. She moved with a speed unlike anything he had ever seen. Even Brynleigh had never moved this fast.
Jelisette was a blur as shadows streamed from her hands like ribbons. She grinned and snapped her teeth at him like a feral animal. She formed a shield of pure night and threw it at him.
The impact slammed him into the wall, and he groaned.
Damn the prohiberis.
Damn the rebels.
Damn it all.
Jelisette was toying with him like a cat playing with a mouse.
He peeled himself away from the wall. Every single movement hurt more than the last. It took a lot to kill a Mature being, but this…
He wouldn’t be able to do this for much longer.
Especially since Jelisette seemed amused more than anything. That was the worst part about this horrid game.
Jelisette threw another wall of shadows at him. He rolled to the left, but she blurred across the room, grabbed his bad wrist, and pulled.
The bone snapped, and Ryker roared as fire ran through him.
He would not welcome death with open arms. He struggled, ignoring the flashing, searing pain as he tried to wrenchhis hand away. He would fight with everything he had until he had nothing left to give.
Jelisette smiled, her hands circling the captain’s neck. Her nails dug into his skin, and she squeezed.
Ryker roared and thrashed against the vampire, clawing at her arms.
His lungs tightened, and black spots filled his vision. He couldn’t breathe.
Death drew nearer.
But then, the strangest thing happened.
The overhead lights flickered.
Somewhere in the distance, a scream rose.
An alarm blared.
For the briefest moment, fear flickered across Jelisette’s face.
It was gone as quickly as it appeared, but Ryker had seen it.
Jelisette pulled her hands off Ryker’s throat and threw him towards the others.
He landed in a heap, his body slamming into the ground. Gasping, he drew in deep gulps of air as fire ran through him.
“Well now, Captain,” Jelisette said. “It seems I may have a better use for you after all.”
Hands seized Ryker and roughly pulled him back. He didn’t spare the rebels a glance, though. Instead, his gaze locked on the ground.
Tendrils of blessed black darkness snaked across the floor. Different from Jelisette’s shadows, these were ones that Ryker recognized.
Hope sparked deep in his soul.