Page 77 of Prince with a Chance of Darkness

I was running in that direction in the blink of an eye, desperate to reach the girls. The crazy blonde vampire followed, bringing her on-the-go-heart-drink.

I ducked and weaved, dodging strikes by too many things to count. When I reached an opening, I found Hannah beingyanked in one direction by two robed men, and Temperance at the mercy of three cat-shifters who had her cornered near a tree.

Suddenly, a huge black wolf was leaping up and over my head. It landed by Hannah and grabbed a robed man by his arm, ripping the appendage off before spitting it aside and going at the other man.

I went right for Temperance and the cat shifters. “Get the fuck away from her!”

Their attention came to me.

Good.

One of them charged me at the same time Temperance looked past me, her eyes widening.

“Look out!” she screamed.

The blonde vampire handled the attacking tiger. She was left with a heart in both hands. She began taking turns drinking from both.

“Yummy,” she said.

Something snatched hold of me from behind, and I was instantly taken back mentally to eighteen years ago when the demon had grabbed me in the house and choked me until I passed out.

I’d been in better fighting shape back then and still couldn’t beat it. But back then, I was lacking one thing—a daughter. I was a mother now, and nothing was going to keep me from protecting my daughter or my niece.

I broke the hold of whatever had me and twisted.

A tall man with dark hair and green eyes was there. He was beautiful, yet there was something dark about him—something that said he was evil to the core. Strangely, he made me think of Drac instantly. He looked a lot like him.

He grinned, showing fangs as he looked me up and down. “You are what all the fuss has been over?”

His voice was nearly identical to Drac’s. Any hope I had that he was in the area vanished. It had probably been this asshole I’d heard. Not him.

He tried to grab me, but I deflected his hand.

Surprise showed on his face. His attention went past me to my daughter. “Uh-oh, it would appear your offspring is in something of a predicament. Hurry. And be sure to tell Vlad there is no place on this earth he can hide you or her that I will not find.Fratele meu, dragonul.”

Ignoring him, I spun and went for my daughter. The crazy blonde woman was already there, killing two vampires who had been close to her.

Temperance was backing away from the two remaining tigers who were herding her from the tree area toward the woods near the house.

Robed men came rushing from the woods and grabbed for her.

I tried to get to her but couldn’t. Not with the number of things filling the gap between us.

There was a flapping noise, and then suddenly, what seemed like a hundred or more bats came flying by me. They went at Temperance, and I readied my remaining dagger to throw at them if need be. They converged near her, taking the form of a tall man.

At first, I thought it was the asshole who had told me to give some other guy a message, while also threatening me. Then, the man turned and ripped a tiger-shifter in half—literally. I saw his profile and sucked in a big breath.

It was him!

It was Drac.

He roared and went at the other tiger while I stood there, too stunned to move. He killed the threat and went right for Temperance. “Are you injured?”

She shook her head.

“Good,” he said. A second later, the blonde vampire was near him. He looked down at her. “Teya, guard her. Donotleave her side.”

The blonde vampire inclined her head, sipping from a heart. “Yes, Master.”

---