Page 16 of Kiss of Death
“The port to the south.”
He nodded then stepped away. “My commander will remain with the fleet, and I’ll lead the men into battle. Have your army hold them back until I can get there. It’ll be much more difficult to defeat an enemy spread out through a city than on the outskirts. You must keep them back.”
“I will.”
He nodded to dismiss me. “I’ll meet you soon.”
I called Zehemoth back, and I jumped onto his wing like last time. We took off into the sky, dodged a vampiric dragon that tried to take a bite out of Zehemoth’s wing, and flew over the castle back to the village. I looked down into the courtyard just to make sure the grounds were untouched by the enemy before we came to the edge of the village.
I saw the line of five thousand vampires right at the wall of the village, and I felt my face go pale. The dragons were swooping down and knocking them off their feet, and Hawk and his army were trying to shoot them down from behind the wall but were causing little damage.
“Drop me off behind them. Draw them away from the wall.”
There are too many of them,Sunieth.
“I’ll be fine. Just need to buy us enough time.”
Then I will stay with you.
“It’s okay, I don’t need help.”
We’re in this together—always.He flew over the army, drawing the attention of the vampires below, and then landed in the blood-soaked dirt behind them.
I hopped off Zehemoth and landed hard before I unsheathed my blade and moved forward.
“Roooooaaaaaaarrrrr!”
The distraction worked, and instead of marching forward, they started to march backward away from the village where mypeople cowered in fear. I drew them away from my weakened army until my vampiric allies could arrive and extinguish them all. It gave me a burst of new strength and energy, and I beat the hilt of my blade against my chest plate. “Come on, let’s go!” On the verge of victory, I felt a rush of adrenaline that made me even more powerful, more ruthless.
I’d been seconds away from losing everything.
Now I was on the verge of winning it all.
They sprinted for me, eyes slitted like snakes, the bloodlust in their stare.
But with my hand gripped tightly on my hilt, I was ready.
5
LILY
Splattered with dirt and the blood of my opponents, my beautiful armor was a muddy fresco. The battle raged on, me single-handedly drawing their attention while Zehemoth knocked over the others with his tail, making sure I was never swarmed by more than a dozen at a time.
We worked together as a team, and without his aid, I wasn’t sure if I would have been enough. I wouldn’t stop until I defeated this entire army by myself or Viper came to my rescue. After what felt like an hour, the familiar sound of the horn blew from the gate that I couldn’t see because I could only focus on what was directly before me. If I dropped my attention for even a second, I would be sliced by a golden blade and might never recover.
But the funnel of foes in my direction lessened as they turned their attention back to the wall.
My brother’s voice spoke in my mind.The Kingsnake Vampires are here.
I finally let myself feel the exhaustion in my limbs. Callum’s godly strength had sustained me throughout the long night, buteven now, it started to wane. Zehemoth’s energy had dwindled too, so my supernatural focus had begun to fade.Good. Wouldn’t have lasted much longer.
Yes, you would have. Are you hurt?
No.
The gates are open, and they’re coming through.
I noticed the vampires that had wanted me dead turned their attention back to the north, their vampire foes a much bigger problem than me.
