Page 27 of Bite of Vengeance

The vampire laughed, knocking her hand off him and then gripping her throat. My nostrils flared when she struggled to take a breath as she stared up at him. Viggo shifted next to me, glancing at our father as if waiting for him to stop this. But he wouldn’t. Not until Kali was seconds from death.

“Stop,” Kali screamed hoarsely, grabbing Lucio’s wrist. “Get off me.”

Shock overwhelmed my rage when his hold faltered for a second. Kali’s eyes were still locked on his, and her next words came out crystal clear.

“Get your hand off me,” she snarled, power radiating in her voice.

Lucio’s gaze stayed on hers as he slowly withdrew his arm. My lips parted as I watched in disbelief. Kali was nearly shaking as she pushed Lucio away from her and climbed to her feet. Her shoulder was still bleeding, her black blood soaking her shirt. Confusion filled her eyes when she tore her eyes from him to glance at me.

“Lucio,” Amaros boomed. “Fight her. Now.”

With a scowl, Lucio lunged at Kali, but she was ready. This time when she grabbed him around the throat, she had enough strength to keep him from attacking. She stood tall, tilting her head slightly as she caught his eyes again.

“Stop,” she ordered, her voice a menacing growl. “Do not fight me.”

The energy drained from him, and his shoulders slumped as he stared at her. The silence was deafening in the room as everyone took in what was happening.

Amaros froze, his jaw slack as he watched. “Not possible,” he breathed out, shock covering his features.

“Did she…” Viggo trailed off, sharing our father’s disbelief.

“Entrance him?” I forced out. “I think so.”

“Holy shit,” Viggo mumbled, shaking his head. “This will change things.”

“Lucio,” Amaros called out. “Look at me.”

He received no response as his vampire continued to stare at Kali. I’d seen it so many times in my life that there was no doubt he was under entrancement.She could control vampires. If I wasn’t seeing it with my own eyes, I wouldn’t have believed it. Shadows couldn’t entrance vampires. At least regular Shadows. Or us. My brothers and I didn’t hold that power. Neither did our father. He could entrance us because we were his sons. But he had no control over his other vampires other than using loyalty and fear. Not like Kali was doing to Lucio.

“Look at me,” Amaros yelled, his control waning. “This is not fucking possible.”

“He can’t,” Kali replied tightly. “He’s busy.”

Her concentration was evident, and I wondered how much energy this was taking. But I mean…fuck. She hadn’t even started drinking blood yet. Entrancement had taken me a month alone to master. She was just touching on her skills. There was no doubt she’d be able to overpower me at some point very soon.

Amaros stalked toward the cage entrance, anger rolling off him in waves. Without thinking about it, I crept forward, relief filling me when my father’s command didn’t stop me. His entrancement forbade me from interfering when she fought Lucio. She wasn’t fighting him anymore.

“I want you to try to kill Amaros Kane.” Kali’s words had me stumbling over my next step. “Don’t stop until he kills you.”

“Enough,” Amaros hissed as he entered the cage. “You think you can go against me?”

“Zan, don’t,” Viggo warned as I ran to get to Kali before my father did. “He won’t kill her.”

I didn’t respond. I knew he wouldn’t kill her. But he would hurt her. And even if I wanted to stop, I couldn’t.Shewas all I worried about.

Kali released Lucio, and the second he was free, he whirled around and bared his fangs as he leaped at Amaros.

“Fuck,” Pax muttered from somewhere behind me.

“Stand down,” Amaros ordered, his eyes gleaming with malice. “Don’t?—”

His words were cut off when Lucio attempted to rip into his throat, but Amaros grabbed his hair, wrenching his head away. Kali wasn’t moving a muscle, a smug grin on her face as she watched. Amaros let out a roar of anger as he reached forward and plunged his hand into Lucio’s chest. His body went still, and he crumpled to the floor once Amaros ripped his heart out. Heheld it for a moment, blood dripping from his fingers before he let it fall to the concrete.

My heart skipped when Amaros set his sights on Kali. She raised her chin, defiance dancing in her eyes. I raced forward, just entering the cage when he raised his arm, backhanding her across the face. The hit had her staggering back, and her hand flew to her face, but her hatred didn’t waver. Even if it hurt, she refused to give him that satisfaction.

“You need a lesson in how to behave,” he gritted out, his eyes wild with rage. “I own you. You obey me.”

“I’ll never obey you,” she sneered. “Kill me. Because what you want—I’ll never fucking give you.”

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