Lord of the Vampires (Royal House of Shadows #1)(27)
Author: Gena Showalter

She slammed her elbow backward, hitting her attacker in the stomach, meaning to turn and stab. He grunted, but held tight, and she wasn’t able to twist around. She opened her mouth to scream. Before even the slightest sound left her, her mind shouted, You can’t distract Nicolai.

The giant—and she knew a giant held her—dragged her backward, but she didn’t allow herself to struggle.

Perhaps they weren’t as dumb as she’d first thought. This one had known to hang back, to wait, to watch, and grab her while everyone else was preoccupied. Were any others waiting in the shadows?

How would she fight them all?

A cold rage of her own infused her. Thankfully no one else appeared, and when Nicolai and company were no longer in sight, leaves and branches shielding them, she erupted. Fight. She angled her arms, lifted both of her elbows this time, and then slammed them home. He gave another grunt, finally loosening his hold.

Another angle shift, and she thrust her arms down, using the makeshift daggers. The tips sliced deep into his thighs.

With a howl of pain, he shoved her away from his body. One of the daggers remained lodged, but the other glided free as she stumbled forward. Jane righted herself and whirled around, facing him. This giant was scowling, his fangs dripping with saliva. His red eyes glowed with menace.

“I punish you,” he snarled as he ripped the other dagger free. A flick of his wrist. The sharpened wood clanked on the ground, now useless.

Fight. “Wrong. I’ll punish you.”

That confused him for a moment. He blinked, brows knitting together. Then he shook his head. “No. I punish you.”

Okay. Back to her original assessment. Calling these things dumb as rocks was an insult to the rocks. “Bring it, big boy.” Six months of self-defense lessons were about to pay off.

Or not. She’d never had to use her “skills” in a genuine life-and-death situation.

He stomped toward her, booted feet kicking up dirt with every step, the ground shaking. Blood poured down his pant-covered legs, yet he didn’t limp or even seem to notice his injuries.

When he was within reach, he tried to grab her. She ducked, and when his claws encountered only air, she twisted and stabbed. This time, her dagger sank into his middle. Another howl rent the air. Before she could dart out of the way this time, his fingers were fisting her hair and pushing her face-first into the dirt.

Seriously? Over that quickly? Oh, hell, no! She rolled into a ball before he could pin her with his massive weight, maneuvered to her back and worked her legs between their bodies. She pushed. He didn’t budge an inch. Damn it!

Think, Parker. She still had one of the daggers. She stabbed again, going for his neck. He reared back. Too late. Contact, just not where she’d hoped. His cheek split open, and blood poured.

He flashed his saber-fangs as he snarled.

“Punish.” Then he was leaning down, those fangs sinking into her neck. This bite lacked the pleasure and heat of Nicolai’s. This one provided only pain. So much pain.

He thought to drain and weaken her. A mistake on his part, she thought darkly, steeling herself against every ache and throb. He’d left himself wide-open. Before her mind could fog from blood loss, she wilted into the ground. Either he assumed that she had been properly subdued or that she’d passed out. His fingers left her hair to move to her br**sts and squeeze.

She struck, finally slamming the dagger into his jugular, all the way to the other end. His entire body spasmed, his fangs locking down tight.

Okay, reassessment time. This was pain. She nearly screamed from the intensity of it.

There was no dislodging him, even when he sagged against her. His weight shoved the air from her lungs. She lay there, trying to catch her breath, his blood pouring over her.

For a moment, she was transported back to her car. Her mother dying, her blood dripping onto Jane. Both of them crying, because they knew the others were already gone. Unsavable.

I love you, Janie.

I love you, Mom.

Something sharp dug into her scalp, ripping strands of her hair. Her body was pulled out from under the giant. His teeth had still been buried deep, and the movement caused his fangs to tear through skin and vein, leaving teeth tracks down her neck, chest and stomach.

Another scream fought its way from her throat. Still can’t risk distracting Nicolai. His battle royale hadn’t ended. Otherwise, he would have been here. And she knew it wasn’t Nicolai who had grabbed her, even before bright, crimson eyes were glowing down at her. Nicolai would have been gentle, would have tried to soothe her.

“Woman. Ugly. I will bed, anyway.”

Peachy. Her eyesight fogged. Had this guy escaped Nicolai, or was he new? Even if she’d had twenty-twenty vision just then, she doubted she would have been able to tell. One hideous monster was the same as any other, she supposed.

“I’m a…princess,” she said, trying anything to scare him. “Princess…Odette. Of Delfina. You have to…let me go.”

Like the caveman he was, he continued to drag her through the dirt. Twigs and rocks scratched at her scabbed back, and she winced. Soon her robe was in tatters and tears burned her eyes.

She tried again, even as the fog migrated to her mind. “My mother…queen…will kill—”

“Witch queen not my queen. No queen. Only king.” He rounded a corner and the new angle hurt worse. “He have you.”

Extra peachy. “You’re taking me…to your king?”

“After.”

After. The same word she’d once thrown at Nicolai, while he’d been chained and helpless. Never again. After was now stricken from her vernacular. “You keep this up…and I’ll be dead…before we get there.”

A confused silence. Then a triumphant, “You not dead. You alive.”

Box. Of. Rocks. “Pick me up…stupid shit. Carry me.”

The simple order worked. He stopped, swooped down and hefted her up—over his shoulder, fireman style, squashing her stomach into her kidneys, but hey, anything was better than leaving a trail of scabs and blood on the ground. A trail Nicolai didn’t need. Wherever this brute took her, Nicolai would find her. He’d marked her, he’d said. And thank God he had.

She and her abductor ran into another giant along the way, and stopped. An angry conversation ensued. She caught words like king and now, and curses so dark her ears were probably bleeding. Just like the rest of her.

Didn’t take a genius to figure out the problem. Word of a female’s capture had already spread to the king. Ugh-O here was not to sample her goods. He was to bring her in and allow the king to decide her fate, as well as become the first to rape her.