Page 80 of The Prince's Curse

Julian burst through the door, then stopped dead in his tracks like he’d been shot. The silver bracelet exploded away from his skin in a rain of metal shards, and he dropped to his knees. His fingers dug into the floor, his back arching terribly.

She left the book and fell to her knees next to him. “What’s wrong? Julian?”

His head lifted, and his eyes were pure black. Veins of bruise-black bulged across his brow, down his arms. He stank of blood, but it was Carrigan Shea’s.

“It’s her protective wards,” Kova said. “Julian, get out.”

The older vampire convulsed, then coughed up blood onto Mina’s pristine rug. All those years of hating this man without seeing him faded away, and she was overcome with the need to help him, to protect him. She clasped his cheeks and gasped at the ice-cold skin beneath her palms. His eyes met hers.

“You’re okay,” she said. “We’ll get you out of here.” She rose, offering her left hand to him. When he clasped it, a shock radiated up her arm, and she felt the world shaking beneath her feet. He stumbled as he rose, and put his arm around her as she helped him to the door. “Kova, hold him while I get the books.”

The other vampire grabbed Julian as she bolted back into the workshop. Now inspired, she swept books from shelves, stacking them onto the huge grimoire. As she rifled through her aunt’s things, she could hear a voice scolding her. But this was no spell, no strange manifestation of a curse. This was merely her conscience wondering if she would give up her aunt’s trust for a bunch of vampires.

She ignored it and hefted the stack of books, joining Kova and Julian at the door. “Where do we go?” she asked.

Kova had Julian’s arm slung around his shoulders. Between the battered Russian vampire and the magic-tangled Elder, they were a pitiful pair. “I have no idea.” Then he raised his eyebrows and shouted, “Sasha. Gde ti?”

Another male voice called out, somewhere outside.

Kova nodded. “I don’t know the voice, but he says to come outside. You have another Russian with you?” he asked.

Julian nodded, tried to speak, and then groaned. Scarlett staggered under the heavy stack of books, but said, “Take the back door just in case.”

A familiar dhampir smell washed over her just as she emerged into the hallway. A glint of Marlee’s bronze-kissed hair caught her eye as the other hunter barreled into her, sending the books flying. “Not so fast,” Marlee said, her voice flat. “I remember Seattle, too.”

“Get off her,” Kova shouted.

“Get him out,” Scarlett said, writhing under the other woman. “I can take her. She can’t hurt me.”

Marlee grabbed a handful of Scarlett’s loose hair, then slammed her head onto the floor. Stars exploded in her vision. When did the other woman get so strong? Marlee let out a scream of pain, though Scarlett hadn’t touched her.

With a groan, Kova grabbed Julian by the collar and dragged him down the hall.

“The mistress says you have to stay,” Marlee said. “She told me not to kill you.” She pulled up and smacked Scarlett’s head again, and it was only the plush carpet over the hardwood that kept her from cracking like an egg.

Cold air whipped around them, and Scarlett peered through blurred vision to see black tendrils snaking over Marlee’s skin, like when Shea had attacked her in the woods.

When Marlee’s grip on her loosened, she drove her knee up into the woman’s belly and boxed her ears. In a scrambling pile of limbs, the two dhampir woman fought down the hall, bouncing off the walls and the floor in a clumsy dance.

Marlee got enough distance to throw a vicious kick into Scarlett’s chest, and something cracked there. As she gasped for air, Marlee dove on her, throwing her back against the nearest wall. Those strange markings on her neck were glowing now, and her eyes were eerie and dark.

“Marlee, please,” Scarlett pleaded.

“Lux said you have to stay. You can’t go with the vampires,” Marlee said.

“Since when do you do what the witch says?” Scarlett said. “You don’t answer to Armina Voss.” A firm hand closed around her throat, sealing off her airway.

“You have to stay,” Marlee said again. She started to haul Scarlett back, but she froze, her dark eyes flickering as if a light bulb was struggling to illuminate behind glass. “What…I don’t…”

“Let me go,” Scarlett said. Her voice rose, and she wound up for a vicious punch to Marlee’s face. Her fist cracked into the other woman’s brow, splitting it in a spray of blood.

Marlee yelped and let her go, but when her head snapped up, her eyes were dark again. “You have to stay. You?—”

“Get back!” Scarlett said. She kicked Marlee in the belly, sending her flying back. The markings on her arms flared bright and angry, just as Kova’s did when Mina was angry with him. Something in Scarlett ached to see the other woman that way.

“Scarlett!” Kova called from outside. “Fuck, I’m going back in.”

“Stay!” someone else shouted.

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