Page 115 of Mortal Blood
“Get away from him,” I snarled, straightening.
“Cali?” Kallan frowned as he looked around, his eyes skipping straight over me. What the actual fuck? “I could’ve sworn I just heard…”
“Yeah, me too,” Eva said, looking uneasy. “Let’s get this done and get out of here.”
“We should just leave,” Harvey said. “Their scent is all over this place, they’ll be back soon. And I don’t want to fight the dhampir if she’s fed recently.”
“Fucking coward,” Eva snapped. “He’s practically dead already, and if the others were nearby, they’d have heard us and come running by now.”
“But—”
“But, but, but,” Wes said in a high pitched, mocking whine, shoving past Harvey. “Man the fuck up. With Bryant out of the way, the Iron Shadows will be nothing. We can end the war right here, and claim his territory for the Black Winds.”
Wes started to shrug out of his shirt, and I bit back a curse. If I was hoping they were going to stand around here grandstanding for another hour or two until Jax and Alina got back, I was shit out of luck. But at least I had one advantage: they couldn’t see me, for some reason. Whatever. I’d take it. I moved as quietly as I could, circling round behind them. Eva tensed as I passed within a few feet of her, then rolled out her shoulders. I’d deal with her later. Right now, I needed to keep Wes from putting his filthy claws anywhere near my mate.
I stretched out the vine between my hands, and crept behind him.
“What the fuck is that?” Harvey said, his eyes widening as they fixed on my hands…no, the vine.Fuck.
I didn’t give them time to react, lunging forward and looping the vine around Wes’s neck. As he cried out in shock, I hauled back and down, pulling him off balance. His feet scrabbled in the dirt and his hands clawed at the vine.
“Wes!”
“Get the vine!”
Well, shit. Dropping my weapon, I raised my foot and stamped down hard on Wes’s knee, my lips pressing into a grim smile as I felt it buckle under the blow. He roared in pain and dropped to the floor, clutching the shattered joint. He kicked out with his other leg and I jumped back in a spray of loose dirt.
Kallan froze, his eyes locked onto the spot I’d been in, and then he canted his head, his lips pulled back in a feral sneer.
“Looks like we’re not so alone here as we thought.”
“The dhampir,” Harvey said, his eyes frantically scanning just to the left of where I was standing.
“Come out, come out, wherever you are,” Kallan said, stalking towards me. I stepped back carefully, trying to make as little sound as possible. On the other hand, maybe Ishouldmake some sound, and try to lure them away from Cole.
“How you doing, Wes?” Kallan asked, without tearing his eyes from the spot I’d been in.
“I’ll live,” Wes grunted.
“Pity,” I said, and Kallan whirled round, his eyes snapping to the spot I was in. I stepped carefully again.
“That’s some pretty powerful magic you’re playing with, dhampir,” Kallan said. “Are you fucking a fae as well?”
I bit down on my tongue before I could spit a retort.
“I knew you were a blood whore,” he added, stepping towards me, “but I guess if you’ll fuck a fang you’ll fuck anything, right? I almost feel bad for Bryant, being stuck with a piece of trash like you for a mate.”
A growl almost slipped from my mouth and Kallan’s headsnapped towards me, zeroing in on my position as he took another step. Dammit. I needed to get a better grip on my temper.
“He’ll probably thank us for killing him. It’ll spare him the humiliation of being shackled to a halfbreed whore for the rest of his life.”
I made to step forward, and arms suddenly wound around my torso from behind.
“Got her,” Harvey hissed in triumph. I slammed my head back into his face and heard bone crunch. He cried out but his grip tightened.
“Eva, grab some of those vines,” Kallan said. “Let’s get her tied up. I’m going to take my time with this.”
“Bite me,” I spat, twisting in Harvey’s grip but totally unable to get my arms free. Shit, he was strong. Eva hurried over with a handful of vines as Wes forced himself up with a growl.
