Blood to Spare

Dealers Choice

Vanessa

Knocking her best friend out with a heavy book and leaving her to find Byron wasn't something Vanessa was particularly proud of. Rylie would forgive her…eventually. Though somehow Vanessa knew that Rylie understood. She had just seen her brother for the first time since he ghosted her, found out he was a vampire, and now he was to be executed. She would be damned to lose him again.

She ran through the large building, looking for where they might have taken Byron. Her body screamed at her in protest, but she ignored it. Call it instinct, but somehow, she was able to track them down and she forced her way through the heavy ass doors. She shoved her way through the crowd and stood in front of Byron at last. She wanted to cry with relief. She made it in time.

Of course the vampires laughed when she argued they couldn't take him. She was after all, just a human, right? Well, she didn't give a s**t. These vampires didn't bother her. After everything she'd been through, the opinions of mighty immortals were no more to her than she was to them. She would rather die than lose Byron again. She knew that. She felt that way ever since he reached out. She didn't expect to have to go through with it, but here she was, ready and willing.

“Vanessa, what are you doing here?" Byron muttered behind her. He sounded weak, and she could smell his flesh burning.

“Taking your place." She whispered huskily. Her eyes bore into Malik's. He stared back at her and it made her heart race a little faster than it was already. This amused him, he showed it in his face, and there was zero effort in hiding it.

“You wish for me to kill you instead of him?"

She nodded, “I do."

Malik observed her a long moment. “You really mean that, don't you?"

“Does that surprise you?" she asked as she folded her arms and popped her hip to the side.

Malik chuckled and nodded, “Actually, it does. You fascinate me, Vanessa Owens. In all my years, I've never met a human willing to die to save someone else."

“Vanessa don't do this, please!" Byron protested. Vanessa was the one to shut him up.

“I don't care what I have to do. You will take my life instead of his. After all, I'm 'just a human' right? I was supposed to die the other night. Take me."

Malik arched his brows in surprise, “I see you're still bitter about that comment."

Vanessa took an unphased step toward him, “How about you live up to your words and end my life right here, right now, and let Byron go free."

An annoyingly handsome grin spread across Malik's luscious lips, “And what will you get out of this?"

Vanessa turned to look at Byron then back to Malik, “When our parents died, Byron dropped out of college to take care of me. For three long years, he slaved away at two crappy jobs to take care of me and make sure I had everything I needed. He was my rock when I was unstable. He put me above himself. The other night, he put me above himself." She looked back at her brother who had tears in his eyes, shaking his head. “It's my turn to put him above myself. Leave Byron alone and just take me. Because after everything I've been through with him, if you kill him, it will ruin me. I need my brother."

Malik stood silently, watching and listening intently, “And what would Byron do without you?"

“Little V…" Byron grunted in pain. “I regret nothing. I would do it all over again. You can't take my place. I won't let you."

Tears began to flow out of Vanessa's eyes, “I know you would, it's why you deserve to live for you." Her lip quivered and she used the sleeve of her hoodie to wipe her eyes and nose.

“Taking care of you was living for me."

“When you ghosted me, I thought I was going to die from devastation. When you reached out to me, wanting to bring me here with you, I felt like I could live again. I'm doing this for you, and you're going to let me."

Malik held up a hand to silence them both, “Vanessa, I'm not going to kill you. I've already reached my limit on human lives for the year."

She closed the gap between them, tears flowed endlessly down her cheeks, “Well that's too damn bad. Because I've reached my limit on loss. So one of us is going to have to give. Turn me first if you have to so you don't overdue your quota. But you will not kill Byron and leave me in this world without him. He can be without me."

Malik lifted his hands to her face and cupped it, brushing her tears away with his fingers. His eyes tender and merciful, “I won't turn you nor kill you. Truthfully, I want Byron to live too. I like him, and don't want to lose him. I do believe there's an arrangement you and I can come to."

Byron went to protest, but Vanessa held up a finger to shush him. “Name it."

Malik flashed a side smirk and trailed his finger along her jaw line and lifted her chin so they were face to face. “If I let Byron live, you surrender yourself to me. Your life lies in my hands, and my hands alone."

Vanessa didn't even blink, “So be it."