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Dekes arched his back, trying to get away froet away from me

I didn’t let hi out of his heart with every sloist of my knife Finally, when I’d pushed the blade all the way down to the hilt in his chest, I ripped it out just as brutally as I’d stabbed it in I drewthe vah his voice was already dying down to a raspy whi over

Then I leaned down and cut the bastard’s throat, just to be sure

Chapter 25

I climbed to my feet, stood there, and watched Randall Dekes bleed out It didn’t take long, considering the vicious wounds I’d inflicted on hi all the same Vanessa came to stand beside me The diamonds and pearls in the choker around her neck and the ones in the leahts They litter of the elemental Ice on the books and walls

"You killed him," she whispered in an awed voice "You did it You really killed hi her a crooked grin "I always like to keep my promises And don’t sell yourself short You helped - a lot A whole hell of a lot You saved h I didn’t think she’d really heard ether in a thin line, and she kept staring at Dekes ide, unblinking eyes, as if she couldn’t quite believe he was gone and that she was finally free of him

Another popular myth about vampires was that they could come back from the dead or that they were even dead, or undead, to start with But I’d killed enough folks over the years to know that nobody could get up from that last, fatal slice I’d made across Dekes’s throat - vampire or not

Still, despite what Dekes had done to her and her sister, I thought Vanessa would be okay in the end After all, the Fire eleh to stand up to the va the mansion with Owen, Victoria, and the others, Vanessa had co for me instead - and Dekes

She’d had to face him the same way I’d had to, and the Fire ele and the vamp wasn’t If she hadn’t coic when she did, I would have woken up bound, gagged, and at the vamp’s mercy - at the very least I owed Vanessa for that, whether she realized it or not, and I was going to do whatever I could to help her

I let the Fire ele body while I went around the library and picked up all my various knives I put the extra weapons into the pockets of my vest, but the knives that Owen had crafted for me went into their usual slots My five-point arsenal, back where it belonged

I also grabbed Owen’s staff, which still huic, just like all my knives did Of course, the knives had soaked up o, but now they contained even ic I wasn’t quite sure what I’d do with the power that was stored in the weapons, but I was certain I’d find some use for it sooner or later

When ere both sure that Dekes was rotting in hell where he belonged, Vanessa and I left the library and stepped out into the hallway I went first, keeping an eye out for any giants who ht be left in the mansion, but the men’s hoarse shouts and the sounds of their heavy footsteps had vanished from the house like they’d never even been here I didn’t know if it was because Finn and the others had killed all the guards or if otten smart and slipped out of the mansion Didn’t much matter If one of them popped up and tried to stop us, I’d put hihting Dekes in the library, so else had happened - Vanessa’s ele froh the structure unchecked, and ulfed, with the rest of the house soon to follow We headed toward the o out the front door but had to turn back because of the s the flaulfed the rooms on either side of the hallway, the ones that housed all the things Dekes had collected over the years The low matched the fierce emotion in her eyes

"Burn, baby, burn," she muttered in a hard, satisfied voice

I cleared my throat "As much as I hate to interrupt the supre the et out of here before the whole house collapses on top of us"

Vanessa gaveme down another hallway

The fla al on smoke by the time we finally stuetting our breath back and letting the night air clear our lungs, before walking around to the front of the hts with the last giant and Dekes, but I knew that the others would be there waiting for me, just as I would have been for them

My friends, my family, stood on the front lawn, a safe distance back fro mansion Owen, Finn, Bria, Sophia They stared up at the fla for me to come back to them the way I always did - the way I hoped I alould

Nearby, Jo-Jo was using her Air rass even farther back fro flames Jo-Jo had already healed Callie’s minor injuries, and Callie watched while the dorked her Air irl’s head cradled in her lap and was slowly stroking her hair, whispering to her, even though Victoria was still unconscious I could see the power gli in Jo-Jo’s eyes all the way across the massive lawn, and I knew that Victoria would be alert and awake by the tile" style="display:block" data-ad-client="ca-pub-7451196230453695" data-ad-slot="9930101810" data-ad-format="auto" data-full-width-responsive="true"></ins>