Chapter Twenty-One (Julian)

Pain exploded into my skull as Jack slammed me hard into the wall and let me drop. My whole body felt heavy and achy. I was still recovering from my last run in with him, but even that short period of time wasn't enough for me to gain back my strength.

I breathed hard, tasting more blood in my mouth. I parted my lips to let it ooze out before I peered up past my blood stained hair to see Jack dusting his hands off, a sadistic smirk on his face.

"Man, you make blood look good. Must be a Grey thing." He added, then seemed to remember Daimonas, who was standing nearby and still looking nervous and uneasy. I don't think he knew what to do and it was a little surprising to see Daimonas, of all people, so frozen up. It was like he couldn't move. Jack turned on him, but I wasn't about to let him get his hands on Daimonas. Against all the protests my body made against movement, I forced myself up and threw myself on Jack's back, making him snarl. He tried to rip me off, but I sank my fingernails into his body, arms around his throat.

"Go!" I shouted at Daimonas, who blinked and looked at me in confusion before he shook his head vigorously.

"No! Not without you!" He snapped. I gritted my teeth in disbelief. Since when did Daimonas like me so much? Of course, I didn't have time to ponder that as Jack slammed himself backwards into a wall, crushing me. I hissed in pain and sank to the floor, breathing hard. Jack wasn't finished, though, and whipped around, kicking me in the stomach.

All the oxygen left my lungs and I choked, wrapping my arms around myself tightly as I fell onto my left side, breathing hard for air. Jack glared down at me, then turned on Daimonas, who backed up a step.

"Come 'ere, you pathetic little lizard." Jack crooned rudely. Daimonas stiffened at that, and rather than get nervous or scared again, he glared.

"Shut up! I'm a demon, not a lizard!" He snapped back angrily. Jack rolled his eyes, but smirked anyway and went to grab him, but Daimonas moved fast and sank his teeth down into Jack's wrist. Jack howled in pain and drew his arm close to bring Daimonas with him, but the movement only made Daimonas' teeth rip through his flesh, causing chunks of it to fall to the floor. Daimonas tilted his head back, swallowing what chunks he happened to get before he licked his lips, his eyes lighting up.

Jack curled his lip at that, ignoring the missing pieces of his arm, and lunged at Daimonas, who yelped in surprise at the sudden attack. Jack managed to pin him to the floor and slammed his head down hard into the tiles, enough to crack the tiles. Daimonas gasped and appeared to be dazed by the attack. I cursed and forced myself to get up again.

By now, my body was just numb. I couldn't feel the pain throbbing in my fractured ribs or anywhere else, nor did I care. Jack had Daimonas and he was going to take him any second and I couldn't let that happen.

Not again.

I grabbed Jack hard around the throat and reeled him away from Daimonas, who seemed to slowly recover from the attack. Jack twisted out of my grip and grabbed me by the head, slamming his against mine. Pain exploded like fireworks in my skull and I shuddered, collapsing to my knees. Jack spat blood to the floor as he rose to his feet in front of me, glaring down at me.

"It was cute before, how desperate ya were, but now you're just fuckin' pissin' me off. I was gonna let you live, but ain't no use now. Ya'll are in my way." He sneered, then grabbed me by a handful of my hair. I hissed as he dragged me to my feet and slammed me hard into a wall nearby, enough to dent it inwards. I went to push off and get away, but Jack caught me by the front of my jacket and threw me back against the wall. He pinned me there and flashed his fangs that glistened in the lights overhead.

Before I could make another move, Jack buried his mouth against my throat, fangs puncturing my skin. I choked, gasping out in pain as I grabbed at his jacket, trying to pull him off me, but he was like steel. He wouldn't budge an inch.

Pain flooded through my veins as I felt him slowly draining me of every last bit of blood I had. I could feel my body ceasing its natural healing abilities as its power source was sucked away. I panted for breath, squeezing my eyes shut and trying to pull him off me.

And for a second, I knew I was done for.

I could feel my body becoming heavier and heavier, weaker. My vision dimmed for a moment and everything blurred, so I wasn't sure what was happening anymore. All I knew was that one second, Jack was sucking my blood and the next, he was on the floor and Daimonas was standing behind him. He had somehow sent Jack to the floor on his back. Holding his hand out to Jack, Daimonas swung his arm around and sent Jack flying into one of the walls.

I slid to the floor, breathing hard as I watched through a blurry film as Daimonas somehow managed to use his powers to send Jack slamming into walls and floors and ceiling. After about two minutes, Daimonas made a weird sound, like he was in pain. His hand flew to his head and he groaned, sinking to his knees.

"Daimonas?" I managed, wincing at the way my tongue slipped in the space where my fang was missing. The area was still wet and tender, so I fought hard not to stick my tongue anywhere near it.

Daimonas didn't answer me, though. He just curled up on his knees, gripping the sides of his head and whimpering into his lap. I looked over to see if Jack was conscious, but from the looks of it... He might be dead. He didn't move, his chest didn't rise or fall. He just laid there in a pool of his own blood.

I tried to make it to Daimonas, but I was too weak. My body pulled me down onto my stomach and my vision tilted back and forth, making me feel like I was falling. My vision swirled and pulsed, darkness creeping in on the edges. I gritted my teeth, trying to reach my hand out as Daimonas trembled.

"Dai..." I choked, coughing up blood and watching it pool out in front of me. I cursed under my breath and looked up to see Daimonas looking at me. I don't think I'd ever seen someone so scared before. He grimaced against whatever headache he was having, but managed to scramble over to me. He completely ignored my blood that was splattered on the floor in front of me. He reached out, putting his arms under mine and pulling me close, my head against his chest.

"Don't die," Daimonas managed, surprising me with how emotional he sounded, "I don't know what to do. I don't know why it hurtssss ssso much. Julian? Julian, pleasssse talk to me. You're not talking to me anymore and that bothersss me. I don't know why, but it doesss." I blinked a few times, my eyelids feeling heavy as I panted hard for air, tilting my head up to look at Daimonas to see him looking at me nervously. He kept patting at my cheek and pulling on my eyelids to try and keep them open.

It... actually made me sad to see him like this.

He had no idea what emotions were. He didn't know why he was feeling like this. And the fact that he was feeling this distraught over me was surprising.

"Julian? Can you hear me? Are you lissstening to me? Julian, sssay sssomething, pleassse." Daimonas pleaded, pulling on my hair. I managed to laugh quietly, feeling blood run down my chin and Daimonas blinked, looking surprised as he tilted his head like a confused dog.

"Calm... down, Dai... M'okay," I paused to suck in a shuddering breath, grimacing at the way my lungs clenched, "I just... neeh... blood." Daimonas blinked at that, then bit his finger and shoved it in my mouth before I even realized what he was doing. I grimaced, then paused as the taste of his blood washed over my tongue.

His blood tasted... different.

It didn't have a very heavy metallic flavor. It was almost sweet and bitter at the same time. I went to sink my fangs into his finger, then stopped when I felt the gums of them push against Daimonas' finger. I grimaced, then peered up at Daimonas, but he didn't seem the least bit stunned or anything. He still looked sick with worry. He just cut his finger further on one of his teeth and stuck it back in my mouth, letting the blood bath my tongue and go down my throat. I breathed hard, eyes fluttering at the strength of Daimonas' blood. I glanced up at him as the blood from his finger stopped. I waited for him to just bite another finger, but this time, he started to bite into his wrist when a shadow crept up behind him and caught him around the waist.

Daimonas instantly shrieked as he was torn back and I hit the floor, hissing in pain and looking up to see Jack grabbing Daimonas up around the waist and heaving him off his feet.

"Julian!" Daimonas cried. Jack bared his bloodied fangs at Daimonas before glaring down at me as I coughed hard, struggling to get up. He slammed his foot into my face, sending pain exploding through my nose as I felt it break. I sank back to the floor, trying hard to force myself up, but my body wouldn't listen to me. I could only watch as Jack wrestled with Daimonas until he slammed Daimonas' head hard into one of the walls and he instantly went limp following a sickening crack that sent a chill through me.

I tried to call out for someone, anyone, but I only choked on my own blood. I tried to roll over onto my stomach so I could at least crawl, but my body protested and I only managed to get on my side as my vision blacked out for what felt like forever.

When I came to, Daimonas and Jack were gone. My heart clenched so tight that I thought it would burst. I wanted to just lay there and die.

How could I let this happen?

Again?

This was the second time I couldn't help Daimonas. This was the second time Zephyra had ripped him out from under me and I couldn't even lift a finger to protect him. Pain lacerated my heart as I laid there, breathing heavily and watching the blood pool around me.

"Julian?! Julian!" I could hear Adam's voice amidst the haze of pain. I blinked, eyelids feeling heavy as I lifted my head to see Adam rounding a corner at the end of the hallway. As soon as he saw me, he moved faster and climbed over the rubble and busted pieces of tile as he made his way over to me. Peter and Kipp were rushing after him. Adam slid down onto his knees beside me, grabbing me up and holding me against him as he breathed hard.

"Julian?" He managed. The way his voice sounded so... choked. It hurt. I tilted my head back to look up at him as he brushed the bloody hair from my face, eyes frantically scanned all of my wounds. He didn't even hesitate as he bite his wrist open and pressed it hard against my mouth. His familiar hot blood flooded into my mouth and I sucked hard, savoring the taste as I felt its powers working.

"Goddamn," Peter muttered, scanning the hallway up and down in dismay, "It looks like a fucking tornado went through here."

"Where's Daimonas?" Kipp asked with a frown, then looked down at me as I choked on Adam's blood. I met Adam's gaze and he stared back at me before grimacing and cradling me closer, resting his head on top of mine as I drank his blood heavily.

"It's safe to say that whoever attacked them took him," Adam announced after a moment of silence, making both Kipp and Peter flinch, "We can't stay here any longer, though. Walter's out in the parking lot trying to keep Seth safe. We need to leave."

"Not without Hunter." Peter stated, making Adam give him a cold, eerie stare that made me shiver.

"Hunter ditched us first." Adam replied icily. Peter blushed.

"You don't understand. He's... He's used to doing things on his own. It's always been like that. But he still needs our help, even if he doesn't want it... He's my brother." He added. Adam glared at Peter a bit longer and I could tell Adam didn't buy into Peter's words. Adam was never one for sympathy, not really anyway. He helped me stand, which I could barely do on my own, so he eventually just swung me up into his arms.

"Hunter's probably already in the parking lot," Adam said, making Peter frown, "He's smart enough not to stay in the building where both the humans and Zephyra are a threat to us. They're bound to be swarming the place, especially the cops. If Hunter can really handle himself, he'll be fine if we just go and meet him somewhere." Peter looked reluctant, but Adam wasn't going to stick around to listen to him make excuses for Hunter. Adam walked past him, still carrying me, and Kipp right on his heels. Peter finally ran after us as we made our way to the exit.

"What do we do now?" Kipp asked nervously as Adam glanced around cautiously, moving quickly.

"We need to regroup."

"But Dai--"

"We can't go chasing after him the way we are now. If we do, we'll just get ourselves killed, and who'll save Daimonas then? No," Adam muttered, "We need reinforcements."

"Reinforcements," Peter repeated with a scowl, "I dunno about you, but I can't think of anyone stupid enough to help us fight a vampiric terrorist organization. Even Vladimir didn't volunteer to join us."

"I wasn't talking about him," Adam said with enough venom to make me stare at him in surprise, "I can think of a couple people who still owe me something." Peter gave Adam a curious stare, but Adam didn't elaborate. He kept walking, head held high and eyes narrowed. I could feel the heat of his anger radiating off him now.

He was mad that Zephyra got the jump on us, and he was mad that Jack had torn me to pieces, mad that they'd taken Daimonas away. And the more I thought about it, the angrier I got, but I couldn't let it do that. Being angry is what got me into this mess in the first place.

I'd let my anger and hatred get in the way of my goal. I let it control me and that was why I was lying in a bloody heap in Adam's arms, why my fangs were stolen from me, why people were getting hurt and why Daimonas had been taken.

The weight of it all felt like it was crushing my shoulders. I buried my face against Adam's chest, making him tighten his grip on me. I felt safer in Adam's arms as he carried me to the exit. Kipp opened the door first and his eyes widened, the blood draining from his face.

"Oh shit." He managed. Adam frowned and came to stand beside him, then froze to stare out into the parking lot where a large SUV was overturned on its side, smoking coiling out from under the hood. A few of the other cars in the parking lot were destroyed, some smoking and one of them was on fire too.

The thick odor of blood filled the air so strongly that it actually made me want to gag. It stung my nostrils and clung to my throat. In the distance, I could hear sirens screaming and people shouting to each other from another parking lot.

Peter pushed past us and sprinted over to the overturned SUV. Adam and Kipp shared looks before going after him. We followed him around to the other side of the SUV and Adam pulled up short. I sucked in a sharp breath, my chest clenching tight.

On the other side of the SUV, Walter was sprawled out on the pavement. Blood gushed from a gunshot wound in his leg, another in his arm, and it looked like one had nicked his ear too. But the worst wound was the gaping bloody hole in the side of his neck. He was pale and breathing hard, eyes struggling to stay open. Peter was knelt beside him and I was mildly surprised to see him panicking.

"Walter? Walter, can you hear me?" He managed, voice trembling.

"Kind of." Walter wheezed, then paused to cough, blood spitting up past his lips and running down the sides of his face. Peter flinched and looked around frantically before looking up at us.

"You have to get a doctor over here!"

"I'll do it." Kipp said quickly, then whirled around and sprinted off to get medical help. Adam watched him leave, then turned to Peter, who focused all his attention on Walter, who was still struggling to breath correctly. He ripped his jacket off quickly and balled it up, holding it against Walter's throat. He was moving quickly, frantically.

He was scared, and frankly, so was I. I didn't think I'd ever be so afraid to see Walter die before. While he'd joined us this past year for all our weird jobs, it was hard for me to forgive him for years of picking on me and making me feel insignificant.

And yet, there he was. Laying on the pavement, blood gushing into a pool around him as he fought hard to breath correctly. He was pale and sweating, nails digging into the pavement beneath him.

And for all his suicide talk, he still looked nervous and afraid... No, I suppose that made sense. It was rational to be afraid of death, especially for humans. Humans only lived so long compared to my species and while most of them spent it doing things, making a difference, or just living to live, Walter had spent his wishing he was dead.

Even though he wanted to die, he had every right to be afraid.

"Walter, stay with me, okay? Promise? Please?" Peter pleaded, touching Walter's bloodied cheek nervously. Walter sucked in a shuddering breath, then nodded as he returned to breathing heavily. The amount of blood pouring from him stung me and I was caught in a battle between wanting to drink it all or get the hell away from him. Adam tensed his arms around me, staring down at Walter before he looked at the SUV. He paled, then looked back at Walter.

"Walter... Where's Seth?" He demanded. Walter started to speak, but instead, blood bubbled past his lips and fell down the sids of his mouth. I flinched and Adam winced as he looked around frantically before he spotted a familiar Mustang screeching around the corner of the parking lot. Adam set me down against the SUV, but I grabbed his arm.

"Adam, what're you doing?! You can't leave with him without us!" I protested.

"I'm not going to do anything stupid," Adam assured me, cupping my cheek and looking me in the eyes, "I swear. Let me find out where Seth is and I'll come right back here, I promise." I believed him without a second thought, watching him back away from me and run to the Mustang that pulled up. Hunter got out, then pulled up short when he saw Walter and Peter, who shot to his feet and ran to Hunter.

I watched, completely stunned when Peter wrapped his arms around Hunter in a tight hug. He was shaking and I could tell he was upset about Walter. Hunter looked totally caught off guard too, and incredibly awkward, but he reluctantly put his arms around Peter and followed him back to Walter with Adam in tow.

"Pressure," Hunter told Peter the moment he arrived, "Put pressure on his throat. Lots of it. And on the places he was shot until your friend comes back with a doctor. In the mean time, Adam and I are gonna track down Zephyra to find their base. We'll rendevous back here once we're finished. And don't do anything stupid."

"Aren't you guys doing something stupid?" I couldn't resist asking in distress. Hunter shrugged.

"Oh well. I'll keep your boyfriend safe." He said, to which Adam scowled, his arms folded over his chest.

"Don't worry, I'll keep him out of trouble." He said, gesturing to Hunter, who wrinkled his nose at that, but they didn't stick around much longer as they sprinted back to the Mustang and got in. The tires squealed as they took off, my eyes following them as a lump formed in my throat.

Please don't get hurt.

Please.