Page 90 of Stalk the Dark
“We’re sorry to have bothered you,” Edwin said. “Enjoy your evening.”
Waste of fucking time. We were almost at the curtain when several vampires strode in. It took a moment to recognize them in their casual clothes, but when I did, my heart sank.
Their attention fell on me, and surprise morphed to something dark and sharp.
“Orina?” Padma stepped closer to me.
I swallowed past the dryness in my mouth. “They’re the fledglings from the Exciatio.”
Edwin and Padma flanked me as the five vampires approached.
“Fancy seeing you here,” the sandy-haired one said.
“We’re here on official business,” Padma bit out. “And we’re leaving.” We made to step around them, but they sidestepped to block us.
“Seriously,” Edwin growled. “Move.”
Dominic fixed his dark eyes on Edwin. “You don’t get to give us orders, human. You can get on your knees.” The last was delivered with the authority of acompulsion, and Edwin wobbled, fighting the command. Ordained were trained to resist mental coercion, but we were still human. Still susceptible. I had an amulet to help me, but Edwin didn’t.
“What are you doing, Dominic?” Bart called out. “Compulsion is forbidden here.”
“Fuck you, Wentworth. This bitch is the reason Eloise is dead. My sister is fucking dead because of this whore.”
The room fell into silence as we became the focus of attention for every vampire in it.
This was bullshit. “Your sister is dead because you tried to feed on me against my will.”
“We were within our rights!” sandy boy screamed, spittle flying from his rubbery lips.
I exhaled and fixed a flat look on my face. “Doesn’t matter how loud you scream it; it doesn’t make you right.”
“You fucking bitch?—”
My blade was at his throat before he could finish his sentence or his lunge.
He stilled, his gaze dropping to my deadly steel.
I shook my head slowly. “Don’t be stupid.”
His lips pulled back from his teeth, exposing his elongated canines. “I’m going to kill you. I’m going to drain you dry.”
“What you’re going to do is step aside so we can leave.”
“Do it,” Dominic saidto his brothers.
They stepped aside, and that’s where I made the mistake of lowering my blade because as soon as it was down, someone hit my back.
Padma let out a bellow, a warning too late, and then all hell broke loose.
Chapter 27
Every vampire in the VIP lounge was on us. I guess Eloise had been a fan favorite here. Padma knocked the vamp off my back, but there were still twenty more between us and the exit.
I swung my blade to clear a path, nicking skin, drawing blood, but the fuckers were too fast to get stabbed properly. This was the difference between a scavenger and a pureblood. The difference between sucker rats and made vampires who hadn’t gone ‘wrong.’
Every muscle in my body was put to work, twisting, diving, and evading, with the exit getting farther away as they pushed us deeper into the room. The fact that this fight could have been avoided if I’d kept my blade up wasn’t lost on me. I’d made a rookie mistake, and we were paying the price.
I spotted Padma to my left, surrounded by threevamps while Edwin fought to my right. But this wasn’t a fight we could win, and if either of them got hurt because of me, I’d never forgive myself.
