Too late

Jack's pov I will never forget the look in her eyes, as I tell her my love for her is gone. Never forget how the light in her eyes disappeared leaving them hollow. But much less will I forget my actions only 3 hours later, when I committed the ultimate betrayal against her. Flashback Screams were surrounding us as people ran for their lives, and guards battled countless vampires that kept coming in over the wards. No one had seen it coming, everyone thought the royal court was safe. But we should have known after the countless school attacks that it was only a matter of time before they would come here too. When you are a guard, the screams don't bother you as they should do. They don't make you turn around or lose your focus. You can't afford them too, it will undoubtedly cost you your life. But as I took down yet another strigoi one scream still got to me. It was hers. It wasn't filled with agony, just surprised. I turned around just in time to see her crash into the wall, falling unconscious like a ragdoll to the ground. I threw myself in to stop the vampire coming for her, ready to make her his next meal. The battle wasn't easy but the blind rage I felt, after seeing him throw around with her like that, was enough for me to block most hits and lastly take him down. As his body slumped to the ground a high-pitched sound ran through the air and suddenly, quicker than they had come, they were gone. None of us knew what to expect, the night was still young and they could easily come back but for some reason, I had a feeling that they wouldn't, which made me question: What were they after? I picked her up and held her against my chest before taking off in direction of the infirmary when the head guard's voice stopped me. "Donnovick!" I spun around eager to get this over as soon as possible, so I could get her to the infirmary. He took in her unconscious form and looked at me with deep sympathy, which made my stomach drop. "I am sorry. You need to get to the wards instantly." I opened my mouth, to question what I should do about Haley when he cut me off. "And you need to bring her." He nodded towards Haley then took off, leaving me with a sick feeling in my gut. It hadn't been wrong. As soon as I got to the front line I could see this wasn't going to end well. One of the guards decided to fill me in even though the situation was pretty clear. They had the princess, She was standing in a vampire's grasp crying, looking towards Kian who was also crying. They were willing to negotiate. But what they wanted in return was something neither of us was happy to give up. In return for the princess, they wanted Haley. The other guards didn't know her. They were only concerned because they knew she was one hell of a fighter and if she was turned … I didn't even want to think about that. But on the other hand, did we really have a choice? The princess where the last in her bloodline, we couldn't let them take her. I recognized the vampire in front. The leader it seemed. He had been high-ranking when I had been undercover and we had been cooperating a lot. What frightened me about that was that he knew about my relationship with Haley and was more than likely to use it against me. I wasn't mistaken. He wanted me to exchange Haley for the princess. I knew I had to do it. Yet my heart screamed at me every step I took towards them. I owed the princess my life, but could I really give up my love that laid helpless in my arms? I had to. I didn't fail to notice the laughing vampire videotaping the exchange, clearly amused by the situation. It reminded me of how heartless these creatures were and I realized then, way too late, that Haley had been right about me not being me when I had done those things. If I could feel this disgusted now, then I could have never even the slightest bit have been the monster doing those things. But laying Haley on the ground before walking over to claim Alishia from the vampire holding her, I also realized what kind of monster I had just become. I didn't know what her faith would be but I knew it wouldn't be a good one. Alishia was sobbing hysterically, desperately trying to get out of my arms to get to Haley as they took her away. I returned her to Kain who was almost as big of a wreck. They were soon taken back to their quarters and guards worked alongside the royal staff to redo the wards and started planning new protection techniques to prevent another attack. Trough I knew what they were doing was going to save lives I couldn't help but feel that they were too late. Cause it was too late to save my Leah now.