Page 69 of The Prince's Curse

“Scarlett!” Julian rasped.They’d put her in a car, but he could still smell her through that foul magic. If he lost her so soon…

The blonde woman backed away and got into the front seat of a nearby car, then peeled away. He fought through the darkness closing on his vision.

Dark blue SUV. South Carolina plates. 598…

“Fuck,” he groaned. He was cocooned in writhing black, squeezing so tight his bones creaked. Heat bloomed in his chest, pulsing in his left hand like he was holding a flame. “You cannot have her!”

It felt like he was going to split out of his skin, but he managed to wrench his left shoulder through the bindings. One little thread gave way. Angry voices hissed nonsense in his ears, and that biting sensation renewed.

“Fuck you,” he said, imagining Armina Voss was there to hear him. Another thread broke, and then another, and he had one hand free. With bloodied fingers, he scraped at the concrete and propelled himself up and onto his back.

The scent of a vampire washed over him, and he looked up to see Misha Volkov looming over him, wincing in sympathy. “Stop fighting it,” he said. “You’re just going to flay yourself. Just give me?—”

The dark-haired woman, presumably Paige, dropped from the ceiling and tackled Misha, prompting a startled curse. They rolled across the oil-streaked concrete, and he managed to break away from her. As she chased, he swiped at her with his glowing red blade. Black threads tore away from the vampire woman’s skin and wrapped around it, tearing it from his hands.

Misha’s red eyes went wide, and he barely ducked a vicious blow. The woman let out a wordless shriek, and there was a scuffing of feet as the second vampire sprang out from behind a nearby car. “Misha!” Julian called.

The other man ducked, but Adrian moved fast, pouncing and kicking Misha’s leg out from under him. As he fell, both vampires piled atop him. Julian tried in vain to break free from the magical trap. Icy threads cut into his skin, and he felt the distinctive crack of his ribs.

Misha sent the male vampire flying, but the woman clambered onto his back and slammed her fist into the back of his neck over and over until his knees buckled. She was vicious and wild, not seeming to care as some of her hits went wide and slammed into the concrete and left her knuckles bloody.

“Hey!” Julian called. “Come for me! I’m the one she wants!”

Both the vampires looked up at him, and he recoiled at the sight of their eyes—oily black without a hint of red. In that moment of distraction, Misha let out a furious roar, and a shockwave of shimmering red light burst from him. The two attacking vampires shrieked and staggered away from him.

With blood running from his nose, Misha stumbled toward Julian with hands outstretched. Adrian pounced on Misha’s back, and the two of them collapsed onto Julian in a heap of writhing elbows and bloody shouts.

With teeth bared and bloody, Misha shoved himself up to his hands and knees, protecting Julian with his body. A terrible sound ripped through his teeth as one of the vampires drove a stake into his back, but still the blood witch persisted.

Misha slammed his bloody palm against Julian’s chest. Heat burst from his hand and snapped the icy tethers holding Julian. “Help,” Misha choked out.

Freed from his bindings, Julian flipped over to shield Misha with his body. He kicked away the male vampire trying to smash Misha’s face. When Adrian came back for another blow, he caught the other man by the throat and tore out that bloody cartilage. Even with blood pouring from his neck, the man still lunged for Misha as if Julian wasn’t there.

Julian rose, then hurled the man across the garage. Adrian bounced off a concrete support pillar, groaned, then got to his feet. As soon as Julian turned back, Paige was already lunging at Misha with a wicked silver garrote stretched between her hands.

Julian swept up Misha’s dropped blade, a more elegant version of his own. The vampire woman was so transfixed on her prey that she didn’t even look up as Julian brought both blades down onto her back, then lifted her up like a speared piece of steak. In a whipping motion, he sliced through her spine, flung her free, and lopped off her head.

Adrian limped toward them, stopping short as Paige’s head rolled toward his feet. He looked at Julian with wide dark eyes, then bolted.

“Fuck, fuck,” Julian swore.

He took one lurching step after the other man, then froze to look back at Misha. The blood witch was paper-pale, hands covered in blood, veins standing out on his temples.

Julian whipped out his phone and activated the walkie-talkie app. Any chance of secrecy they’d had was blown now. “Whoever’s listening, I need you tracking a male vampire. Buzz cut, six feet tall, left leg injured, tattoos on his arms. They grabbed Scarlett. Blue SUV with South Carolina plates. 594 something…fuck,” he swore.“Paris, where are you?”

No answer. Shit.

Julian knelt next to Misha, and said, “Are you okay?”

The other man’s head lifted. His face was bruised and bloody, and he smelled like feral vampires. “By what definition?” he croaked. Wincing, he let Julian help him up. “Fucking daylight.”

But instead of instantly retreating inside, Misha limped toward the fallen vampire woman’s body. He examined the back of her neck, then swiped away the blood. “I’ve never seen a mark like that,” he said. Brow furrowed, he cut through the sleeve of her jacket, revealing dark marks on her wrists, similar to the ones that had marked Kova’s skin. “We need to get her body back to the compound. Something’s not right.”

“We need to find Scarlett,” Julian said. He hit the phone again.“Paris, where are you?”

When the phone chirped, there was a rush of background noise as Paris blurted, “Meet me on the street. They’re cordoning off the lobby.”

Julian helped Misha up, guiding him toward the stairs. “Wait. The body,” Misha said.

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