Page 41 of Heart of Dawn
The woman faced him, cupping his chin. “I’m not going anywhere. All you have to worry about is staying strong.”
He nodded. “I will be strong.”
“I know you will.” They exchanged a kiss, their chins smeared with blood afterwards.
“That was nice,” the man said huskily.
Did I really have to watch this?
The woman’s red eyes returned to Daria. “A vampire isn’t fun nowadays. Fouled with the blood of vermin without humans around. But we can still harvest her blood.”
“Extra blood is always good,” the man added.
They laughed together as if his words were hilarious.
Dickheads.
The woman steepled her fingers. “What is she doing here, though?”
“Looking for shelter?”
“I’m not so sure.”
Fuck. They were catching on already.
“Why wouldn’t she seek shelter underground?” She drew a curved blade from within the folds of her robes.
Daria hadn’t moved a muscle, practically a statue. What if the runeshadfucked her up and I stood here watching her about to get beheaded or staked.
Shit. Shit. Shit. I pressed my fingers into the tree bark, torn between moving and spectating.
“She knows what she’s doing,” Joe whispered into my left ear.
The woman reached Daria first, the man holding back. “Stupid bitch broke the runes.”
“Shall I fix them now?” the man asked.
With a dismissive wave in his direction, the woman bent down to inspect Daria. “Hello, you. What brings you out here?” She snorted, twirling her fingers, her blood magic building. “Shall we take a look inside that pretty head of yours?” Those stained fingers inched closer to Daria’s skull, held out like a pair of claws.
It took a lot of willpower to stay put, especially with the noise of the horde rising.
“Where did you come from?” the woman said softly, fingertips almost landing. “Spill your secrets for me.”
Daria moved with terrifying speed, on her feet and behind the magi within half a blink. The woman didn’t even get a chance to be shocked, her throat already torn out, her body falling to the ground in a spray of blood.
The man yelped, struggling to formulate a spell. Daria snapped his neck, tossing him across the clearing.
Her eyes found me, her right index finger beckoning me to follow.
“Told you,” Joe said.
I followed as more magi hurried out of the house. Some guy flung an orb of red energy at me. I dodged it, running at him full speed.
“Hold on tight,” I told my vampire passenger.
The magi tried it again, missing like a complete tool. He yelped, turning to run. I leaped at the last minute, delivering a flying kick to his head. The fucker went down on his front. Before he could even attempt to get back up, I stomped on his head, cracking his skull like an egg.
My bloodlust stormed, these magi a hindrance to my mate’s wellbeing. They loved fae blood; their friends had taken Ori and Basil to the Woolwich Ferry to hurt them, play with them, all the bad shit.
