Zone Zero: Vengeance (Book 3 of 3)

Chapter 23

A/N - Change of perspective for this chapter. It's in Alex's point of view!

Alex's POV

I stand to my full height and ignore everything that surrounds me. Everything except one person that is.

Evie.

She is still kneeling with her eyes fixated on me as though she can't believe what she is witnessing.

She herself willed me back to life yet she cannot believe it with her own two eyes.

I reach my hand out to her and she takes it without hesitation. She stands upright and continues to gape at me.

I don't waste another second and bring her figure into my chest. I wrap my arms around her fragile form and squeeze tightly.

My lips are in her hair as I press sweet kisses to the top of her skull. Only Evie could ever bring me to love someone so much that even words could not explain it.

Her body jolts as she sobs into my chest but I don't let it dissuade me. I pull away from her just enough to press my lips to hers in a powerful way.

Although I want nothing more than to show my gratitude to her for saving my life by taking her in this exact moment I hold back. There is work that still needs to be done.

I pull our lips apart and smile at the gorgeous way she pouts at our lack of contact.

All in due time.

She nods as she hears me in her mind and another couple of tears stream down her face. I am quick to wipe them away with my thumbs before turning into the serious version of myself.

Time to play the role of king.

I scan the people that surround us with tactful eyes. I assess each of them individually, human and vampire alike. I need to know who is and isn't a threat anymore. And that's when I see it. The sight I have longed for ever since that night Evie helped me escape the prison within this zone.

Maxim, the man that Evie was supposed to marry. The man that had her beaten ruthlessly before striking her with his own hand. The man who chose to blame her for me killing his father. He is now bleeding out on the pavement with a terrified gaze set solely on me.

I stalk over to him and assess him fully. His heartbeat is so rapid that I can hear it with ease. His hands are pressed against his neck as his skin grows more and more pale. The pool of blood surrounding him is growing with every passing second.

He doesn't have long at all. I need to seize my chance.

"You." I point to him and he pales even further.

"You struck the woman I love and would have done worse if given the chance. For that reason alone you will not live to see the sunrise."

His eyes widen just enough to see my boot heel connect with his face as I stomp him into the dirt.

He splutters and coughs for a quick second before I am above him thrusting my hand into his chest cavity. I reach into his ribcage and grasp hold of his beating heart only to tear it from its place inside his body.

He tries to scream out and struggle against my hold but he has already lost.

The final look of defeat flashes through his eyes just as the life leaves his frail human body.

Maxim will never again hurt the woman I love.

I rise to my feet still holding Max's heart in my hand and raise it high for all to see. A mixture of faces stare back at me; some scared at what this image means while others ready to embrace the end of this war.

"This war ends here! All vampires will stand down and leave the humans be. All humans will let us leave once and for all."

I examine each of the faces that watch me, all of them are in a state of disbelief.

"As the newly crowned vampire king, humans need not worry about vampires. We will leave your zone and never return. But you will set free all vampire prisoners."

Blank faces stare back at me until one single soldier steps forward.

A young man, a boy really, with jet black hair and skin to match. He eyes me carefully to ensure I won't kill him for speaking. I nod my encouragement for him to speak his peace.

"If we free the remaining vampires, will you swear that you let all humans live?"

He is courageous to stand for his kind and I do not dismiss his courage.

"You have my word. No one else will die here. We will leave and never step foot beyond this wall but only if every single vampire comes with us."

A few mummers and shared looks of uncertainty sound before the same soldier speaks once more.

"We will see it done."