A Shade of Kiev (A Shade of Vampire #8)(37)
Author: Bella Forrest

It was what I would have done.

I ducked beneath the water, swimming toward the ship. I surfaced now and then to check that the ogres were still being distracted by Matteo and his crowd. As I arrived barely twenty feet away from the ship’s stern, I swore. A sharp pain set my nervous system on fire. I looked into the water, reaching down to my leg.

Blood. Mine.

A thick black fin protruded from the waves less than five feet away. I’d been so focussed on my destination, I hadn’t been paying attention to the waters around me. Now, as I gazed around, ten other fins closed in on me.

Beneath the clear waves, I caught better sight of my attacker. A giant shark. Its white teeth were stained with blood as it launched to attack me again. I kicked away from it, narrowly dodging its jaws.

I realized then how savage these sharks were. As a vampire, my blood should have disgusted them. Yet here they were, circling in on me, more and more being called by the scent of my blood in the water with each second that passed.

All right. These sharks want a bite. I’ll give them a bite.

Clenching my jaw against the pain, I extended my claws. As the shark nearest to me hurtled toward me once again, I used both hands to slash out its eyes. Jerking wildly in the water, it swam round and round in a frenzy. I grabbed hold of its fin and pulled myself onto its slimy back, digging my claws into its sides so as to not slip off. When it tried to retreat beneath the waves, into the depths of the ocean, I slid my fangs deep beneath the skin above its head and yanked upward, tearing through its flesh. I did this repeatedly until the shark stopped its downward descent and drifted upward. That’s it. Obey your new master. I gasped for breath as I was lifted above the waves.

With this vantage point, it was easier for me to take aim at the other sharks poising to attack me. I slashed out their eyes, one by one, until the remaining sharks seemed to recognize the risk of approaching me and retreated.

I repositioned myself on the blind shark, and, jerking my claws in a forward motion through its flesh, urged it to move toward the ship. As soon as we approached close enough, I leapt off it and grabbed hold of the base of the carved wooden shark beneath the stern. I winced as my body made contact with the hard wood. The wide gash in my upper leg still hadn’t come close to healing, and it burned from the salt. As I edged my way around the hull of the ship, I just hoped that no ogres had heard any of the splashing I’d caused during my battle with the sharks.

Once I was directly beneath the spot where Mona hung—her eyes still closed—I caught hold of a rope hanging over the deck’s railing. I lifted myself slowly until I was level with the deck. I looked up, measuring the distance between me and the ropes Mona was hanging from. I outstretched my claws in anticipation. Then in one forceful motion—my uninjured leg taking on most of the strain—I leapt up and landed against the ropes Mona hung from.

The ogres beneath me shouted in alarm. Two motioned to climb up the ropes after me. I slashed through the ends of the ropes nearest to me immediately.

I turned back to face Mona. Her body was covered in cuts and handprints where the trolls had touched her. I removed the gag from her mouth. Her eyes still closed, she gasped for breath. I slit the ropes binding her hands and legs, and, snaking one arm around her waist, leaned her against my body. Even after I’d freed her, she felt limp, weak in my arms. I didn’t feel safe letting go of the ropes to make the leap for escape because she wasn’t holding onto me tight enough and might fall down into the crowd of ogres.

“Hold me tighter,” I hissed.

She made an attempt to tighten her grip, but it still wasn’t sufficient to hold her weight against mine. Certainly not for the leap I was about to make.

Several fiery arrows shot up at us, two passing a few inches away from my head.

“Please,” I urged, my eyes blazing into hers. I shook her body, and, having no free hand to touch her face, I placed a hard kiss on her cold cheek, grazing my teeth against her skin, hoping it would bring her to her senses.

She remained limp, a doll in my arms.

Several more arrows shot past us. The heat of one grazed my shoulderblade, singeing my wet shirt.

“Mona!” I shouted in her ear.

Desperation coursing through me, I made one last attempt.

“Irina,” I whispered, “This is Adrian. Adrian has come to bring you home… Darling, please. Hold on.”

At the mention of Adrian’s name, her eyelids flickered open, a spark igniting in her hazy blue eyes. Her arms tightened around my neck, finally giving me the confidence to let go. I slit the final rope with my claw and leapt forward toward the ocean, holding her waist against me so tight I thought I might crush her ribcage.

Several more arrows shot past us as we fell. The shouts disappeared as we hit the cool water. Beneath the waves, I felt Mona slipping away from me. The force of hitting the water had loosened my grip on her. I was alarmed that she had made no effort to cling on to me. But much more terrified that the sharks might come again. I doubted I’d be able to fight them away from both of us, certainly not while my leg was injured like this.

I kicked down into the water and wrapped one arm around her while using the other to bring us to the surface. As more fiery arrows hit the water, I was forced to submerge us both again. I hoped that Mona had had enough time to catch her breath.

I propelled us forward, my eyes fixed on the shoreline, though continuing to dodge underwater to avoid the arrows. As soon as we reached the beach, I slid my hands beneath Mona and lifted her out of the water. As I staggered forward, the crowd watched me in silence—Saira had a shocked expression on her face, her mouth agape. Without saying a word to any of them, I limped to the wall, and barging past the guard, I entered the forest.

I walked to the lake as fast as I could and placed her in the boat. Refusing to look at me, she drew up her knees and buried her head against them. I took the oars and rowed us to her house, where I laid her down on the bed.

I looked down at her face. She’d closed her eyes. The frown on her face and slight quivering of her lip made me think she was still in pain. I lowered my head and pressed my ear against her chest. Her heartbeat was slow, but steady.

Brushing her wet hair away, I held her face in my palms. “Where does it hurt?” I ran my hands along her limbs, examining her skin. Although there were cuts and bruises, and a redness around her wrists and ankles where the ropes had rubbed against her, there didn’t appear to be anything too critical.

“Answer me.”

I stood and looked around the cabin. Opening the door of a cupboard, I pulled out a large cotton cloth and a white nightdress. Kneeling back down next to her, I tugged at her cold wet undergarments.