Page 24 of The Vampire's Hunter

She was no longer anyone’s plaything.

Every pair of eyes in the room fell toward them then, the attention of every partygoer coming to a halt. Whether it was because someone had dared spit in Lucien’s face, or because it’d beenherwho’d been the offender that wasn’t clear.

She was known to be docile. Meek.

A glittering prize to be won.

Not a queen like Corbin painted her to be, though she was behaving as one now.

What was happening to her?

Her eyes combed the crowd then, already knowing the answer she’d find there. She may not have been certain she could trust him, at least not completely, but Corbin’s belief in her had been unfaltering, his actions tonight and the previous evening backed up by all the times he’d saved her before. Trusting him hadn’t been without president.

Her eyes settled on him then, the look in his gaze stopping her breath instantly.

Fury was what she expected to find there, a protective instinct as he played the king at her side once more. She’d expected him to shield her, to protect like he always did.

Instead, the look he gave her was one of apology.

As if to say,I didn’t want to betray you.

And yet he had, hadn’t he?

But how?

Her eyes shot toward Lucien then, to where he gripped her in an unbreakable hold, and then to Corbin’s men about the room, the almost choreographed way they moved, as if they were all gears of a turning clock, sliding into place at Corbin’s will, causing the hour chime to sound, andshewas his Cinderella, forced to go home. Her slippers suddenly ill fit.

The clock chimed. All the pieces falling into place.

But Dani didn’t hear it.

She was too busy feeling the way in which her heart shattered, her eyes falling to the nine-millimeter at Corbin’s side as, at his behest, the first rounds of gunshots shattered the windows.

As he claimed her revenge, as if it were his own.

Fucking hell!She was supposed to have made it to the safety of the upstairs, damn it, and now, he wasn’t supposed to move.

Corbin had been instructed to stay where he was. To be the first to drop to the ground, signaling to all his men in the room to do the same, shielding themselves from the crucifix laden bullets that would no doubt leave them all bleeding upon the marble floor whilst true death lingered near. But in the mixture of careful planning and the evening’s chaotic fray, he’d failed to account for his own feelings.

Feelings for the human woman, who’d already gotten too near.

The fear he felt the moment he’d looked in Dani’s eyes overtook him in an instant, though he no longer saw a cowering, innocent woman there. Instead, she was furious, a breathtaking harpy out for vengeance.

Vengeance against him. For betraying her. For lying to her.

For stealing her revenge.

Her hatred for him was clear. And if Corbin didn’t act now, he was certain to regret it.

Though the hit had already been cleared.

He was running toward Dani then, before he even realized he was moving, tackling her to the ground to protect her from the onslaught.

And giving Lucien the split second of warning that he needed.

At supernatural speed, Lucien spun, grabbing the human woman he’d forced to trail him and falling to his knees behind her. He used her body as if it were shield. As if she were cannon fodder. No better or worse than he’d nearly done to Dani.

Corbin felt instantly sick.

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