Free As Midnight Loves the Moon by Beth D. Carter

bloodlust was
more than a match. His claws were out and his fangs were down. He came out
swinging and snapping and Wayde had to push Alex out of the way just as Seb’s claws swung. They dug into his shoulder and he yelled
out as agony sliced through him. But better him than Alex. He would heal in a
minute.
    Wayde grabbed the rogue around the
neck and flung him back just as Alex swung around with his sword. Even though
it cut deep, it only managed to infuriate Seb even
more and he roared as he lashed out. The sword caught his claws, but Alex fell
back.
    Wayde winced as his wound closed,
but didn’t hesitate to jump onto Seb’s back in another
stranglehold. He forced the rogue off Alex and the two fell heavily onto the
ground. Seb threw his elbow back and managed to
dislodge himself, but by this time Wayde’s claws were
out as well and the two began to really slash at each other.
    Alex watched them. He was tough and
a strong fighter, but a battle between two vampires was out of his league. If
only he had the Blessed Blade. It was probably the first thing Seb thought to destroy. Then something flashed at him in the
top of Seb’s belt that made Alex blink.
    Seb hadn’t destroyed it.
    Why hadn’t he destroyed it?
    And how the hell was he able to
touch it since he was now, technically, a vampire?
    The two vampires were vicious with
each other. Blood was flying everywhere but as soon as the wounds appeared they
healed. If Alex used it, he would be killing his friend, the man he’d worked
beside for years.
    But that wasn’t really Seb any more, was it? His friend would never have killed
three people. And if he and Wayde didn’t stop him, there would be more victims,
more humans caught in the Shade crossfire. It was his duty to stop law breakers
like Seb , no matter if he’d been a cop before. Any
reasoning with the man was long gone.
    “Hold him still!” he called out.
    Wayde grunted as he grabbed hold of Seb . “What…do you think…I’m trying to do?”
    “I have to get the blade off his
belt.”
    “I can get that,” Wayde called out.
    “No! No, you can’t. It’s been
blessed by a seraphim.”
    Wayde snatched his hand back and
instead smashed it into Seb’s face.
    “Hold him still!” Alex ordered
again.
    Wayde threw him a disgruntled look
and then tackled Seb to the ground, wrapping one leg
around his neck and arching while he kneed the rogue in the back. Seb roared out his pain and fury, his one free hand
slashing around.
    “I’m sorry, Seb ,”
Alex said and sunk his sword into Seb’s hand, pinning
him to the earth. Seb screamed as Alex grabbed the
weapon at his belt.
    The Blessed Blade was a dagger that
glowed with angel fire. He held it up and both vampires became transfixed
looking at it. Seb , the rogue, shook his head and
tried to scamper backward, away from it, but his hand wouldn’t let him leave.
    “You won’t use that on me,” Seb managed to say around his bloody incisors.
    “I don’t want to use this on you,”
Alex said. “But you’ve killed three humans, Seb . And
you won’t stop.”
    Seb bared
his fangs in an ugly snarl. “And the first person I’ll eat is you.”
    He lunged forward, breaking free
from Wayde’s hold at the same time he ripped his hand
wide open from the sword pinning him down. He fell on top of Alex and both let
out a grunt.
    Then everything went still.

Chapter Eleven
     
    “Alex!” Wayde yelled, panicked. “Alex!”
    “I’m all right,” Alex managed to
gasp out.
    Wayde frowned and grabbed the dead
vampire, pulling. A moment later, Wayde looked down into Alex’s wide eyes and
dragged the man into his arms. He hugged him tight and didn’t want to let go.
    Instead of trying to wiggle free Alex
simply rested against him. They stayed like that for a long time. Finally, they
pulled back and looked at Seb . He was lying face down
and blood was everywhere.
    “He was your friend?”
    “Yeah,” Alex said sadly. “I’ll have
to call the Council. They’ll