“Did he teach you how to bore your opponents to sleep? Because I think I missed that lesson.”
Jackal roared with laughter. “Oh, I like her,” he mused, shaking his head. “It’s going to be such a shame to kill you. Are you certain you won’t reconsider? These humans can get so dull sometimes.”
“No.” I glared at him, shaking my head. “I won’t let you hurt anyone else.”
“Very well.” The vampire king shrugged, flipping the stake in his hand. “I gave you the chance. Are you ready, then, sister? Here I come!”
He lunged forward, covering the room in a blink, moving faster than I could see. I slashed at him wildly, but Jackal ducked and stepped into my guard. His hand shot out, grabbing my throat, lifting me off my feet. Before I could react, he slammed me hard onto the counter. Glass flew everywhere again, like a crystal blizzard, and the back of my skull struck the marble edge. Stunned, I lay there for a half second, before Jackal raised his fist and slammed the wooden stake through my stomach.
I arched up, screaming. My sword fell from my hand, clattering to the floor. The pain was unlike anything I had felt before; waves of fire shooting through my body, centered on that point where the wood entered my flesh. I could feel the stake inside me, like a fist clenching my intestines, twisting and squeezing. I went to yank it out, but Jackal grabbed my wrist, slamming it back onto the counter, pinning me down.
“Hurts, doesn’t it?” he whispered, bending over me, yellow eyes gleaming. “Incredible that a piece of wood shoved through your gut could hurt so bad. I’d rather have a hot poker jammed through my eye into my brain.” My body convulsed, and I clenched my jaw to keep back another scream. Jackal continued to hold me down, smiling. “Oh, and if you’re wondering why it’s getting hard to move, let me enlighten you. Your body is going into shock—it’s shutting down, trying to repair itself. A few minutes of this, and you’ll be begging me to cut off your head and end it.”
I struggled, but my limbs felt sluggish. Jackal had one arm pinned, and though the other was free, the blinding agony in my middle made it impossible to shove him off. I was literally staked to the counter, speared like an animal. Jackal grinned down at me and sadistically twisted the wooden spike in deeper, and this time I couldn’t hold back a shriek.
“Bet you wish you’d taken my offer now, huh, sister?” I could barely focus on what he was saying. “Such a pity. I was imagining all the things we could’ve done, together. But you had to side with the bloodbags, didn’t you? Just like Kanin. And now look where he is—captured and tortured by that psychotic freak, Sarren. You must be so proud to have followed the same road as our sire.”
I reached back with my free hand, desperately searching for something, anything, to free myself. I forced myself to talk, to keep him distracted. “H-how…did you…”
“Know about Kanin?” Jackal twisted the stake again, and I arched in helpless agony. “You’ve been having the same dreams, right? Intense emotion can sometimes be carried to those who share our blood. So Kanin might even be experiencing your pain right now. Isn’t that an interesting thought?” He leaned in, smiling. “Hey, Kanin, can you hear me? Do you see what I’m doing to your newest little spawn? What’s that?” He tilted his head to one side. “Give her another chance, you say? Don’t kill her, like you did your brothers? What an interesting thought. Do you think if I offered again, she would agree?”
My groping fingers found the edge of a beaker, miraculously unbroken, and curled around the neck. With Jackal still leaning in, I brought it forward with all my strength, smashing it against the side of his face. The glass shattered, knocking his head to the side, and Jackal roared.
Spinning back, he yanked me off the counter and swung me over his head. The next thing I knew, I was hurling through the air, and had a split-second glance of the windows, rushing at me, before I struck the glass with a splintering cacophony. Cold Chicago wind hit my face as I hovered in empty air for a moment, then started to plummet.
I twisted desperately, lashing out with both hands, seeking anything solid. My fingers scraped against the wall, and I hit the side of the building, one hand clinging to the ledge below the windows.
I looked up. Jackal loomed above me, the side of his face webbed in crimson, yellow eyes blazing as he glared down. But he was still grinning, his own blood trickling into his mouth, turning his fangs red.
“That,” he said in a conversational tone completely different from his expression, “wasn’t very smart. Ballsy, but not smart. And after I just offered you a way out, too. Any real vampire would have jumped at the chance. But not you. No, you’re still hung up on the humans.”