Page 18 of Queen of Darkness
He took my hand—and his fingers were so long and strong. I grasped them firmly, letting him take me wherever he wanted.
Stop it.
Fred took me around the little grassy meadow where we’d arrived, moving us to the edge until we were staring into the center of it.
“There’s nothing here,” I whispered serenely while my mind fought with itself, trying to stay in control.
“Not yet,” Fred agreed. “But there will be soon. And we need to stop Elenia’s man before he leaves here. He won’t linger long. Just enough to report that we were here. So when you see him, youattackhim, okay?”
“Attack?” I said lazily, smiling. “Yeah, sure.”
Fred slapped me. Hard.
I hissed and backed away from him, fangs sliding into place as fury came over me.
“You’re stronger than this,” Fred growled, not even reacting to my challenge. “Start acting like it. You belong to Aaron, not me. You will wait for him.”
Aaron.
An image of the vampire, clad in a form-fitting suit with eyes of sapphire and muscles from heaven, flew into my mind. Yes. He was the one Itrulywanted. The one I would let have my body. My mind.
“Here he comes,” Fred hissed.
Fred was right, and he was wrong.
Someone came through the portal. But he was swiftly followed by someoneelse.
The first was of average height. He wore a black jacket, dark brown work pants, and steel-toe construction boots. He had a buzz-cut and a thick goatee. The second man was much taller and wore tight dark blue jeans and a red and black plaid shirt. He also rocked a large lumberjack beard.
“Shit,” I said, my mind momentarily cleared. “They both came.”
“You take the smaller one,” Fred hissed, pushing me into action as the pair started to turn around, looking everywhere for their quarry.
For us.
I stumbled forward while Fred surged past me, tackling the lumberjack to the ground, rolling over and flinging him even deeper into Faerie, outside the little grassy area around the portal and into a bush. Then, he got up and went after him.
Leaving me and the construction worker to face off. The man looked at me, then over his shoulder to where his friend had gone before making his decision. I expected him to come after me. Instead, he tried to step back into the portal.
Oh, no, you don’t.
I launched forward, passing through the back of the shimmering portal and into the smaller vampire. My stomach heaved as I crossed the magical door, only accessible from one side, and my vision stretched as time slowed. I saw stars and solar systems swing past while the colors swelled into numbers more immense than time itself.
Then, I hit the vampire, and we went down, rolling around. Stunned by my journey through the portal, I was left wide open for his first punch. It hit my jaw, and I fell back against the ground.
Something about being punched, so unlike Fred’s slap, snapped me back around, clearing my mind and bringing me back to the present.
The construction worker hauled back one of his boots and slammed it into my side. I groaned, wincing as a rib cracked under the impact. I still managed to grab onto his ankle, and with a grin, I twisted it as hard as I could.
Screaming, the vampire went down, moving with the rotation of my twist. As soon as he was down, I swarmed over him like a damn spider monkey. He managed to duck his head before I could get an arm across his neck.
Angry at being denied, I reared back and delivered an elbow to his head. Then another. Pain shot up my arm, but I hit him again. He tried to toss me, but I hung on tight, a cowgirl with her bucking bronco.
I rained fists down on him as best I could while being shaken around violently. I’d never been in such a close-quarters fight like this before. It was exhausting. Breathing heavily, I wished for my rings back. At least for the moment. I wanted nothing more than to squeeze my legs tighter and snap his spine.
Unfortunately, I wasn’t strong enough. Despite his wiry frame, the vampire was much stronger than he looked. I couldn’t risk looking around for Fred either. This was my fight, and I had to finish it.
So, I took a cheap shot. When he covered up his face to block my fist, I leaned forward, striking like a snake, grabbing as much of his junk as I could. Then, I squeezed.
