Page 59 of Hunt the Dusk
The others converged on the woman, grabbing at her arms and her legs, eager to taste her.
Ezekiel raised his head and roared, the sound like thunder. “Get away!”
The air vibrated, and some of the vampires backed away from the table. Darage, however, held his ground, silver eyes gleaming in defiance.
I shook off Banbury and rushed forward. “Ezekiel. Please.” He looked at me, the crimson hue in his eyes retreating a little. “Please don’t kill her. Please, let her go.”
Ezekiel licked his lips, chest heaving. “Orina…” He growled and shook his head as if trying to dislodge intrusive thoughts. His shoulders heaved, and then increment by increment he relaxed his crushing grip on the woman and slowly laid her on the table.
“What is this?” Darage demanded, looking from me to Ezekiel. “Does the king answer to a human woman now?” Ezekiel hissed at him, and the duke flinched but once again held his ground. “She is an offering for us all,” he growled. “You cannot monopolize her.”
Ezekiel’s chest heaved. “She is mine, and I command that she be unharmed and set free.”
Murmurs broke out amongst the nobles, but Darage spoke over them.
“Your word is law, but I challenge whether it should remain so.”
Laudon took a step forward. “Darage, what are you doing?”
“Our king hasn’t been of sound mind for centuries. He is unfit to rule.”
“Darage, you go too far,” Sangera said.
“No, it is you all that do not go far enough. You complain and you plot and yet you do not act. He is an anchor around our necks. He binds us in blood oaths that no longer hold merit.”
“Dissolving the oaths that unite us will tear our kingdom apart,” Ezekiel said. “I will not allow it!”
“Then I will take the choice from you,” Darage said. “You’re so set in the old ways, then we will use the old ways to settle this matter. APugnare ad Mortem.”
Everyone gasped.
Ezekiel’s eyes narrowed to slits. “You dare challenge me?”
“Yes, I dare. Are you afraid?”
Ezekiel’s lips curved in a chilling smile. “In that case, put your affairs in order, and we shall set a date for theCertamina pro throno.”
“My affairs are in order,” Darage said. “We fight tomorrow night. Unless His Majesty needs time to gatherhisstrength?” He arched a brow, not bothering to hide the sly slant of his lips, and everything suddenly made sense.
He’dorchestrated the specter attack on us and murdered the bloods somehow to weaken Ezekiel so he could play this hand. ACertamina pro throno. A fight for the throne. He couldn’t have known about the offering that would refuel Ezekiel, and now that Ezekiel had marked Regina off-limits, he was playing his hand.
If Ezekiel drained her, then he’d be strong enough, otherwise…No.
“What’s wrong, Your Majesty?” Darage’s tone was openly mocking, and I waited for Ezekiel to knock the bastard on his ass with a word, but he didn’t.
Instead, he leapt off the table, picked up a napkin and dabbed at his bloodstained lips. “Tomorrow at sunset. I will feed the earth your blood.”
Darage’s eyes lit up with glee. “Your Majesty…” The wordsfor nowweren’t said, but they were implied in his tone.
“Dinner is over. Everyone, get out.”
The vampires filed out, but Darage lingered. “I hope you know that I will take no pleasure in draining you, Ezekiel.”
“And I would like you to know I will thoroughly enjoy ending you,” Ezekiel responded.
Darage let out a bark of laughter, his gaze flicking to me and the amulet around my neck. “Till tomorrow.”
The room was empty now except for Ezekiel, me, and Banbury.
