Page 99 of Tricky Princess
“I don’t know how.” Ros grunted, ripping out the throat of a female vampire. She clawed at his arms until death took her.
The only retreat was for the injured. Some omegas and those who could not fight were on standby to swoop in and drag them to safety. The vampires didn’t care for them; they only seemed to go after Ros and Ellea. It was the only thing he was grateful for in this fucked-up situation. Maybe he could give up. Would they take him and leave his friends?
Doubtful, Garm answered his thoughts.
“Any other bright ideas?” Ros growled.
“Nooo!” Ellea’s scream rang through the entire forest.
Ros and Garm turned to see five vampires ripping at Devon’s skin as they dragged him from Ellea. She ran for him, not seeing the trap. She blasted them with magic he didn’t know she possessed, but it didn’t matter; more immediately replaced them, pulling Devon further and further away. He screamed with pain, and Ellea lost it.
Her body was alight with lightning, and time seemed to slow as she barreled for Devon. Every vampire that ran toward her thrashed and screamed when they came close to her magic. She was unstoppable, and when she neared Devon, the three holding him were thrown hundreds of feet into the woods. Ellea fell to her knees, looking over his wounds. She sobbed as she tried to stop the gush of blood coming out of his neck.
No, no, no.
Ros scrambled for her; she was helpless, and her guard was down. He saw all the vampires closing in, and his heart stopped. They would take her, they would do horrible things to her, and he wouldn’t make it in time. He pulled for the shreds of his magic, but nothing came. Actually, nothing happened. He was frozen in place, and the world was silent and still around him. A figure crested a hill in front of Ros, his eyes glowing with the same light Ellea’s power had. The figure radiated raw magic as that glowing gaze looked upon her huddled form. The air vibrated around him, and Ros’ skin tingled with the power he held.
Cato.
He thought it like a curse. Ellea’s father was here, and for the first time in his life, he felt truly scared. His magic answered as visions of the world burning around him flashed through his mind. If he took her, nothing would stand in Ros’ way to get her back.
Yesss, his powers hissed. That demon lurking at the surface would guzzle the blood of her parents and bathe in the blood of those that dared to think of touching her. He felt the veins of power slowly crack open as time continued to stand still, then a swoosh sounded around them. A scream was stuck in his throat, a plea to leave her, take him instead. But Ros knew no matter his begging, they only had one goal: to get Ellea.
A blur of pale skin and dark hair passed Cato and moved between the frozen bodies. Snarling and slicing took up the silence, and time slowly crept back to normal. Ros’ heart hurt in his chest with each desperate beat.
Could he get to her?
Ros fell to the ground but jumped up quickly, ready to dive toward Ellea. He froze as the sound of squelching and heavy thuds rang around them all at once. In the blink of an eye, every vampire had been decapitated; the only ones standing were the wolven, his friends, and two figures at the top of the hill. Ros pulled at his magic and shadowed to the hill. As soon as he was solid, he went to punch Cato, but a powerful grip caught his wrist. Snarling, Ros tore his eyes away from the trickster and looked to his partner.
“Hello, princeling,” the ancient vampire said. It was Sebastian, Vlad’s brother.
“Hello, Seb. We’ve been looking for you,” Ros growled.
Ellea dumped potions and packs onto Devon’s neck and kept glancing over her shoulder to where Billy and Garm held her father.
“Let a healer do that,” Ros said softly. He had been pleading with her for too many minutes, desperate to whisk her away from here.
“They’re busy; I got this.” Ellea looked back at her friend.
Devon was awake and very pale, but well enough to glare daggers at the vampire beside Ros.
“Well, aren’t you a pretty one?” Sebastian said to Devon.
“Even when you’ve caught me on a bad day and your ilk tried ripping my arm off,” Devon responded.
“Shush,” Ellea hissed. “You need to rest.”
“They aren’t mine, pretty,” Sebastian said.
Devon ignored him and looked back to Ellea. “Don’t heal all of them.” Ellea’s eyes went wide and her hands shook; Ros practically shook with her. His knees almost buckled when he heard Devon whisper, “I’ll look badass, and—and Sam won’t be the only one with a scar.”
Even Sebastian paused his horrendous bedroom eyes and flirting at Devon’s words. A silent tear escaped Ellea’s eye, running through the blood coating her face, but she nodded and continued working on his neck.
Sebastian went to speak again, but Ros stepped on his foot. The sound of crunching bones rang around them. The only reason the vampire wasn’t in irons was because he’d saved all of them. Her father, on the other hand…
“Ellea, you need to rest,” Ros said as she looked over her shoulder again. She was vibrating with fear, and Ros wanted to get her and his friends as far away as possible.
“I’m fine. What’s happening with C-Cato?”
