Page 7 of Prince with a Chance of Darkness

She looked up at him. “I could not save her. My blood brought her back for mere minutes. Then she collapsed. Her sister,” said Katarina, her gaze flickering toward the white wolf. “She went into a blood rage. The Dark One tries to calm her now. She doesnotwish to be calmed.”

Radmila curled her lip in Lucian’s direction. “She should kill him. It will save you the time later, Master.”

Vlad didn’t chastise her for calling him master, despite having told the three of them to call him Vlad or even Dracula too many times to count. He did give her a cross look for daring to suggest harm befall the young woman.

Lucian growled at Radmila.

She hissed.

Vlad pointed at Lucian. “I shall deal with you later. For now, secure the white wolf. Harm her not.”

Teya sat near the dead body of a male hunter. A crossbow lay at his side. His shirt was torn open and his chest was covered with blood. The vampire’s white dress had blood splatters on it, as did her blonde curls. She was tracing lines through the blood on the man’s chest, repeating a pattern of sorts. When Vlad realized she was playing a game of tic-tac-toe, he shook his head, his focus returning to Katarina and Ponytail Girl.

Blood was smeared across Katarina’s mouth, chin, and wrist. The girl in her grasp was deathly still, her lips stained red, blood trickling down her cheek, pooling onto the forest floor.

He heard no heartbeat.

The world shrank around him, narrowing to a singular point—her.

Under the scent of blood and death lingered something else—of night jasmine and honeysuckle. Both scents he associated with the night as the flowers tended to bloom and be more fragrant overnight. He never realized how much he liked the scents until now and both seemed to be coming from the young woman in Katarina’s arms. She also smelled heavily of blood and death.

He was moving before he realized it, yanking the young woman from Katarina’s grasp, dropping to his knees in the damp earth. She was limp in his arms, her head lolling to theside, exposing the delicate curve of her neck. He pressed his ear to her chest, not that the act was required. His sensitive hearing could pick up heartbeats from miles away, and could smell the smallest of drops.

Like a shark.

“You attempted to heal her?” he asked, his gaze colliding with Katarina’s, already knowing she had. It had been at his behest. It didn’t matter. He needed to hear her say it. Needed verification.

Katarina nodded faintly as she stared down at the girl in his arms. “She was brave. She tried to make her sister leave her to die. Tried to sacrifice herself for the greater good—for her sister. For family.”

As Vlad looked harder at the young woman in Katarina’s arms, he began to draw parallels between what had happened to the fourth Weird Sister and what had happened here on this night. Reaching out, he touched Katarina’s shoulder lightly. “How much blood did you give her?”

“More than enough,” she said, her eyes flashing with red, something normally reserved for Radmila. “It should have healed her. It has not.”

“Katarina,” he said, his accent thickening. He spoke in the old tongue, knowing hers was not a demon that could be permitted to be set loose. “Cage your demon. Now is not the time to let it free.”

Unenthusiastically, she did.

Now that the threat of Katarina’s demon was handled, Vlad’s focus returned to Ponytail Girl. He didn’t doubt Katarina’s word. If she said she’d given the young woman more than enough blood to heal her, she had. Something was wrong. Why wasn’t it working? Katarina was powerful and old. Her blood held a great deal of healing abilities.

Give her our blood, his demon pushed, a frantic edge to its voice.Hurry.

His fangs extended, responding to the desperate need to save the girl in his arms. Vlad lifted his arm, undid his cuff link, and bit into his wrist savagely, unconcerned with the aftereffects. He would heal. He put his bleeding wrist to Ponytail Girl's mouth.

The white wolf growled and lunged at Vlad, her intent clear. She was going to protect her sister from the perceived threat—him.

Lucian headed her off, slamming into her with great care, considering how much bigger than her that he was. The two rolled, ending up next to Teya who was still deep in her one-person game of bloody tic-tac-toe.

Vlad waited, expecting to see Ponytail Girl’s wound begin to close over.

Nothing happened.

Chapter Four

Vlad

Vlad’s blooddripped uselessly past her lips, pooling beneath her head on the forest floor. Vlad pressed his wrist harder against her mouth, willing her to swallow, to take what he offered.

Bite her!his demon demanded.Turn her!

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