Page 13 of Cruel Vampire King

I lifted my staff, blocking the swipe of his broadsword. The blade sunk into the wood and lodged there. I spun the staff, yanking the sword from his hands. It went flying, smacking one of the attackers in the back. No time to think about that. I followed up with a solid blow to the man’s chest, and another to his forehead. He stumbled back, wheezing and coughing. His hands fluttered a moment before he drew a knife.

My heart pounded in my throat. This wasn’t like training. This wasn’t learning. It was real. Kill or be killed. I let my body move, shutting off the parts of my brain that would cause me to hesitate. I used the staff to fling myself forward, kicking both feet into the man’s chest. He soared away, slammed into a tree, and then crumpled at its base.

I didn’t stop. The staff went above my head, and I brought it down, using the leverage of its weight to crack that man’s skull open.

Bits of human splattered every which way. He wouldn’t be getting up from that. I whirled, swinging my staff out and around. An elf had crept up on me, and the staff slammed into his ribs. I heard a crack, but he lunged, stabbing toward my throat. I twisted aside just in time to avoid being skewered. A cry burst from my mouth as I twisted my staff around behind my back and turned the other way. My hand met something wet and sticky as I rammed the butt of the staff into the elf’s ribs again.

Then Kael roared. He jumped behind the elf and brought down a double-handed axe. It cleft through the elf’s neck with ease.

Two thumps, one louder than the other, and everything grew still.

Ysara shifted to human form. She was utterly naked, her skin slick with blood. Especially around her mouth. She licked it off her fingers and laughed.

“Looks like we finally got our fight. Any injuries?” Her tone was cool and professional, as though this happened every day. What sort of life had she come from?

“None that I see,” Greyson said, glancing around at the team. His gaze lingered on me, a spark in his eyes that I couldn’tquite read. “You did better than I expected. I thought you’d hesitate. You don’t seem like the sort to have killed before.”

I lifted my chin, met his eye, and grinned, showing all my teeth. “Just goes to show you can’t judge a book by its cover.”

He laughed. “I’ll keep that in mind.”

Inside, I was not so calm. The sight and sounds of my staff doing its deadly work played in my mind. I breathed through my mouth so I wouldn’t have to smell the aftereffects. The bodies lay strewn about, and I carefully checked my pack, making sure nothing had gotten contaminated, to avoid looking at them. My blood felt like ice in my veins.

Despite my bravado to Greyson, this was the first time I’d killed another person. Knowing that the Trials would be a bloodbath hadn’t prepared me for the emotion of killing. My training with the coven hadn’t gotten to the point of killing. It was why Emily told me I wasn’t ready for this.

“Should we bury them?” Kael asked doubtfully.

“No, but we should take their weapons and supplies,” Ysara said. She’s already claimed the human’s broadsword. “What we can’t carry, we’ll throw in the river so nobody else can use them, either.”

I sucked in a breath and headed for Thessa. “You and I can look through their packs for food.”

Thessa shied back from me. Her eyes were wide. I hadn’t paid enough attention to the others in the team to know if she’d killed anyone.

Ignoring her flinch, I crouched near a pack that had been dropped in the bushes. I opened it up and started to move the food into my pack. Surprisingly, I found about half as much as what we’d been given. Had this team already gone through somuch? Had they hid some of their bounty? I didn’t want to admit there was another possibility.

Thessa crouched next to me. “Elara?”

I glanced at her from the corner of my eye.

“If we do make it to the colosseum, will you kill me?”

My hands paused. I stared at the pack, the blood rushing in my ears. Was that a request or a fear? I couldn’t tell. After what we’d just done here, it was only natural to wonder who was going to kill who when we survived this. I didn’t know what to tell Thessa. The stark contrast between what I’d imagined and reality had put me on my hind foot. I felt this more keenly than I was prepared for.

“I—” I started.

The slight rustle of bushes was the only warning I got. The flash of a blade shone through the air and then there was a howling, a screaming. Thessa was screaming. I whirled, swinging my staff. It slammed into the side of the human who had jumped at us. The human keeled over, writhing and gasping.

A sleek, tawny-gold panther backed away from the human, blood dripping from its muzzle. The knife still lay in the human’s hand, unused. I turned to the panther, and deep brown eyes stared up at me. A sound like snapping bones filled the air, and the panther melted back into Thessa. Blood stained her mouth and neck. Unlike Ysara, she had stayed completely clothed in the transformation.

“Gods, I thought there was something familiar about you,” Ysara crowed. She’d pulled on a tunic and trousers and sauntered over. “That was quite the reveal, kid. A panther. You might actually come in handy after all.”

Thessa scrubbed her sleeve over her mouth, shaking.

I turned back to the packs and quickly took what I could, hiding my own surprise. It was just one more reminder here that I couldn’t underestimate anyone on this team. I had to put some trust in them so long as we were here in Wickham Forest, but they were out to get me. Thessa was clearly more dangerous than she appeared to be. She hadn’t hesitated when that human threatened her with the knife.

Was he coming for her or for me, though?

I shook my head, dismissing those thoughts. It didn’t matter. There was only one way that this was going to end, and I would not allow my emotions to get the best of me. I’d killed once already. I’d kill again. There was no room for hesitation here.

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