Page 7 of Forced Vampire Mate

“I—” she started, then froze.

Moments later, I heard it too. The sound of voices wafting through the gardens. I cocked my head, triangulating the sound. Guests, maybe? Or it could be servants taking advantage of the party. Either way, I didn’t want word to get back to Luken that Thessa and I were wandering the gardens having secret conversations.

“Go this way,” I said, pulling Thessa to a little-known path. “Get back to the party and act like nothing’s wrong. I’ll just tell them that I needed some air.”

Thessa nodded and scurried off.

I rolled my shoulders and checked my hair before I strode forward, intending to walk past whoever it was and get back to the party. I rounded the corner of one of the hedges to find a party of half a dozen vampires, all men. Their glowing eyes locked on me, and all at once, a shudder ran down my spine. Maybe I should have taken the same path as Thessa had.

Chapter 4

My heart hammered in my throat as I continued to walk, praying my steps didn’t falter. I moved to one side to brush past them, and a vampire stepped into my path. I paused, breath catching in my lungs. A light flicked on somewhere above us, and I saw the group clearly. Relief washed over me when I realized my first assessment was wrong. Out of the six of them, half were women. They were simply dressed in pantsuits rather than dresses.

The fact that one of them was blocking my way was less of a relief.

“Excuse me, I’ll be missed at the party,” I said breezily, stepping closer.

The vampire who blocked my way, a woman I recognized as Lola, narrowed her eyes at me. “The king made a mistake by picking you.”

She was one of the women who had flaunted herself in front of my husband during the dancing. I kept my expression smooth as I stared her down. At least I knew they recognized me. They might be messing with me here, but it was doubtful they would hurt me. Not when I was under Luken’s protection.

“Take it up with my husband if you think he made a mistake,” I answered with a shrug.

Lola narrowed her eyes at me. The vampire next to her staggered forward, making me back away. The scent of alcohol rolled off them. They must have been really celebrating for them to have gotten drunk. It was nearly impossible for a vampire to drink that much. Or… as I took in the hatred that spread over Lola’s face, they weren’t celebrating. They were drinking for another reason.

A new shiver ran down my spine. The six vampires were all locked on me like sharks scenting blood in the ocean.

“You must have cast some sort of witch spell on the king,” Lola said, her gaze dragging over me with clear distaste. “For him to forsake all others for you? If you were some rare beauty, maybe I’d understand. But your blood can’t bethatgood.”

One of the others laughed. “Maybe we could see for ourselves.”

He stumbled and fell to his knees, still laughing. One of the others hauled him to his feet and punched him in the gut. He doubled over, wheezing.

“You can’t say that. Do you know what the king will do to us if he hears that?” another of the vampires hissed.

Lola’s gaze never moved from me. Out of all of them, she seemed the least drunk. But no matter how drunk they were, they were still dangerous. The hairs on the back of my neck prickled as I remembered the screams of the other teams during the Blood Trials. The ones that failed their tasks and were hunted down for sport by the vampires.

“Luken is my husband,” I said, drawing myself up again. “You’re drunk. Let’s return to the party, shall we? He’ll be looking for me. I told him I was only stepping out for a moment.”

“Or we could wait for him to find you,” Lola said, sidestepping in front of me again. “He’ll be happy to know that we were here to keep you from getting lost in the gardens. It can be such a maze, after all.”

Even vampires weren’t fully immune to death. I’d seen them come back from blows that would be fatal to any other creature, but take off their head, and they wouldn’t survive it. If only I had a weapon. My staff would be ideal, but perhaps I could get their weapons. I didn’t need to fully decapitate them. Severing the spinal cord would be enough. Once I was back with Luken, he could decide what to do with them.

I was still vulnerable. They were stronger, faster, and could withstand more damage.

Given the look in Lola’s eye, she wanted to cause a lot of damage to me.

“You aren’t fit to be our queen,” she said, advancing now. “You’re nothing but a lowly human. It would be a blessing to the king and kingdom both to take you out.”

I rolled to the balls of my feet, ready to take her on. One of the others jumped at me from the side, clumsily slashing a knife at me. I dodged, grabbing his wrist. With a quick turn, I’d lifted my knee, snapping his elbow. He released the knife with a howl, and I snatched it before it hit the ground. I shoved the vampire away and angled myself to watch them all, the knife clutched in my hand.

“Luken will see you all dead for threatening me,” I said. All the fear was gone, replaced by the calm of impending violence. Adrenaline surged through me.

Lola’s lips pulled back from her teeth. Her fangs lengthened as she snarled, crouching. “I would rather be dead than see what harm you will bring to the kingdom. I won’t allow you to weaken the king. But don’t worry, little human. I’ll kill you swiftly, as a kindness to the king.”

This damn dress was going to hamper my movements. No time to cut off the skirt. Lola sprang at me, and I spun, ducking under her outstretched hands. She grabbed hold of my hair and yanked my head back. I swung out with my fist, and she caught my wrist with her free hand. As she lunged for my throat, I brought my other hand up. The dagger pierced through her forehead, a splash of blood spraying out as I yanked it back. Lola stumbled, releasing me. I whirled, slashing across her throat, and knocked her feet out from under her. With a single thrust, I drove the dagger through the base of her skull.

She slumped forward, twitching. The other five stared at me and Lola, eyes wide. I quickly cut at my skirt, opening it up so I had a wider range of motion. That was all the respite I got. The other five all howled and came at me at once. I slashed one across the chest and kicked at another, but my legs were hampered by the skirt. One of them grabbed the skirt from behind and yanked hard, making me stumble. I whirled and put the knife into the face, and snatched their knife from their belt to throw into the throat of another one.

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