Page 16 of House of Crimson Kisses
“What about this is fine? Yes, this fucking prick interrupted our argument, but that doesn’t mean I’m okay with you. You fucking lied to me, Octavia. You broke the one promise you swore to keep to me.”
Three things happen at once.
One, Red winks at me as she slides her hand down her hip and to a stake lodged in a concealed thigh pocket.
Two, the vampire I threw against the wall, gurgles and rolls onto his front, trying to stand up.
And three, the vampire in front of us reaches for Red as she ducks and I lurch forward, grabbing his throat.
Chaos erupts.
He throws himself forward, seeing me coming a split second before I can get a solid enough grip on his throat.
Red lurches forward, swinging up with her stake a second too late and punctures his shoulder instead of his heart.
“Fuck,” she roars as she rolls and scrambles back to her feet.
Then it’s an eruption of arms and fists and kicking as the second vampire races in to defend his brethren.
He focuses on me, swinging fist after foot after fist. I duck and throw my legs out, knocking his feet from under him. He flips his body, throwing himself upright before I can jump on top of him. And then the second vampire spins around Red’s back to land a savage punch to my jaw, slamming me back.
I stagger several paces before leaping forward and jumping onto his torso, locking my legs around his arms so he can’t move.
He swings about, trying to throw me off. He steps back, back, back until he crashes against the wall, crushing my legs. But I’m punching him hard and fast on his jaw, his eye, his nose over and over.
He’s woozy and fading.
I’m going to win.
And then a blast of white-hot pain has me detached and falling to the ground.
“OCTAVIA,” Red screams.
My vision whites out. I try to roll over, but my legs and arms aren’t working. I’m paralysed. The vampire I was attacking sneers down at me, yanks the stake out of my spine and hauls me up by the throat.
As soon as it’s out, the tingling sensation of nerves regrowing trickles through my body, but until I regain full movement, I’m defenceless. We’re sitting ducks, especially because Red is now being held by the other vampire. Her face is bloodied, one of her arms hangs limp.
But she’s done a serious amount of damage to the vampire too. She appears to have dislocated his shoulder, and he’s limping. I glance down. There’s a vomit-inducing amount of blood on the floor, but it doesn’t appear to have come from her.
“Well, well, well, looks like we’re at a standoff,” the vampire holding me—let’s call him Fucknut—says.
“What do you want?” Red says.
“Just you, pretty little thing,” Fucknut replies.
“Take me instead,” I say.
“Octavia, no.” Red’s eyes narrow, and I’m not sure if it’s because she’s defending me or wants to murder me instead. More feeling seeps into my limbs and body. My fingers twitch at my sides.
“We don’t want you,” Fucknut snarls.
I’m shunted forward as Fucknut slides his arm under my neck and pulls a stake out of his coat, resting it over my heart.
Red inhales, sharp and uneven, her eyes watery.
There’s a moment of sheer silence where none of us move. The only thing I hear are the whirling, ragged breaths from Red as her shoulders heave up and down, up and down.
“I’ll come with you,” Red says.
