Page 73 of A Throne of Blood & Vengeance

The question was . . . was this just another act? Was there a knife at my back?

“I’ll tell you,” I said slowly, “but first . . . where is Dominique?”

I had a split second to see Aniela’s eyes turn almost a solid white before she threw herself at me. My back crashed against the low table in front of the settee, and I let out a harsh grunt as something sharp jammed its way between my ribs.

The sounds of fighting filled the room, but I was a bit preoccupied with keeping Aniela from stabbing me again. I wrapped one hand around her throat, and the other clung to her wrist when she tried to pull the dagger free.

“You did this!” She let out a strangled hiss as she tried to get my hand off her neck. The blade in my side wasn’t great, but we both knew I’d recover from that. She wouldn’t recover if I tore her throat out, which was why her claws were digging into my wrist.

“Not. Your. Enemy,” I ground out.

“Liar!” she growled and twisted the knife.

I gasped as pain laced up my side. Fuck this. I shoved my hips up to unbalance her, earning myself another flash of pain just as I yanked her down by the throat.

Aniela didn’t let go of my wrist, so her entire body dipped forward as I leaned up to slam my forehead into her nose.

Blood erupted as Aniela shrieked and her grip on my wrist slipped before I shoved her off me. A fresh wave of pain tore through me as she pulled the knife with her, but I didn’t let it slow me down as I lunged forward and hammered another punch to her face.

“Aniela!” one of the Marshals screamed. I rarely heard them speak, so I couldn’t tell them apart by voice.

Everyone in the room seemed to freeze, the sounds of fighting abruptly stopping, but I kept my attention on Aniela, trusting Alaric to keep Roth safe and Kieran, Draven . . . and Vail to keep the others off my back.

The Salvatore Heir panted beneath me, her nearly white eyes feral with rage. I held one of my blood daggers at her throat while my other hand caught her wrist before she could raise her own dagger in defense.

“Do it,” she spat. “I don’t know what you did to my cousin, but I sure as fuck won’t be your lapdog. So fucking kill me already.”

I narrowed my eyes. “Dominique is with Carmilla, isn’t she?”

Aniela went still, and I knew I had guessed right. That alone wouldn’t have set her off like this though. I quickly thought through several possibilities, not letting go of Aniela’s wrist or decreasing the pressure of my blade against her skin.

“Let me guess.” I held Aniela’s gaze. “Dominique did something completely out of character. Maybe issued an order that you know she would never give and one that you don’t want to follow?”

“Won’t,” Aniela whispered. “Won’tfollow.”

Slowly, I pulled the dagger away from Aniela’s throat. I didn’t release my hold on her wrist until I rolled back onto the balls of my feet, then I smoothly rose and took a couple of steps back. Aquick glance around the room showed everyone a little bloody, but there didn’t appear to be any major injuries.

Petra and Brennan sported bloody lips. They looked damn near identical, but Petra’s eyes were a touch darker, which was how I knew it was her giving Vail a look that promised death.

He smiled at her in return.

More rangers had poured into the room while I’d been fighting Aniela. To my annoyance, Alaric and Roth were standing next to Kieran and Draven; the four of them had held off the flood of newcomers. I sent Alaric a cool look for failing to keep Roth out of the fighting, only to yelp when one of Roth’s ropes snapped against my ass.

Hard.

Roth arched an eyebrow at me while I rubbed my soft flesh, trying to ease the sting. They smirked at me as the thin ropes slipped through the air to wind back around their forearms.

I slid the dagger back into the sheath on my thigh and gave a pointed look at the others. Kieran and Draven immediately put their weapons away, but Alaric hesitated for a second before doing the same. Silver eyes glared at me for a long moment before Vail resheathed his sword and threw a dagger back to Petra . . . a little harder than necessary.

Oh, no wonder she was so pissed. Vail had managed to at least partially disarm her.

“So,” I drawled as Aniela rose to her feet, “how about we try this again? Maybe start with talking? We can always stab each other later.”

Chapter Eighteen

Samara

The rangerswho had burst into the room filed out at some silent command from Aniela. I settled onto the largest of the settees that almost resembled a crescent moon. Kieran sat to my left with Draven on his other side. Alaric narrowly beat Roth to sit next to me and earned himself a sour look that he didn’t seem the least bit concerned about.

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