Page 104 of House of Crimson Kisses
“Sorry, Red,” he says.
“Help a girl out next time,” I say and dart into the crowded market as he’s already vanishing back into the door to reappear no doubt on the other side where Octavia is.
“Fuck me,” I say.
The market is crammed full of people, human and vampire alike. I don’t see any hunters. But as soon as I think it, a squad appears at the far side of the market square.
Dozens of humans protest with placards, more vampires do the same. All are jostling and shouting at each other. I can’t tell who is on whose side at this point. It’s a jumbled mess of bodies and an undercurrent of seething rage that continues to bristle along my skin.
As I step down into the crowd, I notice Talulla being manhandled. She’s putting up an excellent fight, but she’s completely overpowered. There are three vampires to herself, and Keir is right next to her, being dragged away by several hunter nobles.
The fuck?
I’m sprinting before I can question whether it’s sensible. I pump my arms as my vision speckles, and I regret not having taken another dose of blood. It was a mistake.
But there’s no time to worry about that. I shove people and vampires aside as I force my way through the growing crowd. Even as I make my way across the market, the mass of bodies seems to swell. This isn’t good.
Talulla is throwing roundhouse after front kick; Keir is trying desperately not to injure the humans who are grabbing for his arms and legs. They manage to find purchase and he’s lifted into the air.
What the ever-loving fuck?
There are as many protesters holding signs for the cure and dhampir as there are against it. But where they’re usually in neat clusters either side of the square, they are now a seething mass of bodies slamming into each other. Fists and feet flying.
Talulla is screaming as a vampire pins her arms to her body and hoists her up.
That’s when the real shit kicks off. The humans holding Keir and the vampires holding Talulla round on each other as I come careening into their area.
“Give the dhampir to us,” a vampire I vaguely recognise says. And then it clicks. It’s the noblewoman from Cordelia’s, Lady Net-something.
“Give the dhampir to us,” a human retorts, his hair slicked back and as greasy as his stare is potent.
“How do you know you’re holding the dhampir?” Lady Netterley says.
“I don’t. That’s the point. We want all of them safe and in our protection,” the human says.
“Your protection?” Lady Netterley scoffs. “You’re what they need protecting from.”
The human’s eyes darken. “Us?” He throws his head back, laughing a dark, and ugly deep in his throat. “How fucking dare you. The dhampir is our birthright. They share our DNA.”
The vampire rounds on him, shoving the still struggling Talulla into the arms of another vampire.
“Hunters may have once been dhampirs. But you’re certainly not anymore. You’re weak. Pathetic. This is a new dusk, a new night, and the new dhampir belongs to us. They will be half vampire. They have to turn, become one of us. Whether you like it or not, that means they have tochooseus. And we will see to it that they are part of their rightful community.”
The human nods at several of the other men around him. They drag Keir off in one direction as the space is filled with dozens of other humans. And this time, they’re all drawing weapons.
“Over our dead bodies,” he snarls.
Lady Netterley sneers, turning her elegant, beautiful features bestial and terrifying. “That can certainly be arranged.”
She draws back her lips, her fangs descending.
“STOP,” I bark, moving into the space between them. “In the name of the Chief, I command you to stop. There will be no bloodshed. Unhand Keir Thomas and Talulla Binx at once.”
The vampire cocks her head at me, as a sinking intensity winds its way around my gut.
Fuck, she recognises me. Lincoln catches up and appears at the edge of the market square. Our eyes lock for one brief second, before one of the humans catches sight of him and nods at half his men.
Lady Netterley spots Lincoln a second later and then all hell breaks loose.
