Page 87 of Queen of Darkness
It was over in seconds, and we emerged out the far side, the bulk of our escort peeling off and slamming into the side of the vampire army, killing as they went. They drew the vampires’ attention, allowing us precious moments to accelerate and pull awaybehindthem.
I had to hold on for dear life. The ground flashed past underneath as we got up to full speed and cruised, swiftly distancing ourselves from the vampires behind us. I groaned and clung tighter to the neck of my mount. My thighs would be bruised for a week from trying to squeeze tight and stay on.
“Guys, we might have a problem,” Jaxton called from behind me.
Seeing him point to our left, I followed his finger. The bouncing gallop of the horsi-gator made it tough to focus on details, but I didn’t need to. What Jaxton had spied was very obvious to see.
A block of vampire cavalry had split off and was heading toward us.
“It must be Corvis and the Nacht Bringers!” Aaron shouted.
How he could tell that, I didn’t know, but it felt right. If anyone were going to come after us, it would be Corvis. I didn’t relish the thought of going up against him again. He would probably be hot for retaliation after Aaron had all but shot him dead in the parking lot of the blood bank.
“We’re not going to have long before they catch us!” I called.
“Then, we make the most of it,” Aaron said.
Our lead was substantial, and it seemed to be growing, but the first time we encountered any resistance closer to the palace, we would be in trouble. Corvis was going to be perfectly primed to attack us from the rear while we were busy trying to smash our way into the throne room.
“Making the most of it,” as Aaron had suggested, was going to be difficult, if not downright impossible. The Black Nacht was simply not going to give us that time.
“We need to delay him somehow!” I shouted.
Aaron didn’t reply, but I could see by his face that he knew it, too. They were too close. Our plan wasn’t going to work.
“Dammit.”
The muffled curse was only audible thanks to my wolf’s hearing. I turned just in time to see a giant black form catapult off the back of the horsi-gator and go racing toward the oncoming vampire cavalry.
“What the hell does he think he’s doing?”
“Buying us time,” I said to nobody in particular, just as another horsi-gatorcroak-croakedand whirled, charging after Fenrir’s racing form. Astride the back of his mount, Drakul unsheathed his sword and went to aid the wolf.
Inside, my own wolf howled to be let out. She wanted to run free, too. Her mind spoke to me of power and speed. We could run far more comfortably on all fours than we could riding the beast.
Not yet,I urged, watching as Fenrir smashed into the side of the vamps, sowing confusion as he went. He was fast, and his presence disrupted the careful formation, drawing away many of the Nacht Bringers.
But a small group broke free of him and evaded Drakul’s wild attack as well, charging after us instead.
“He’d better not get himself killed,” I growled as Fenrir hauled a vamp down from the saddle. “That would be really stupid.”
“We can’t worry about them now,” Aaron admonished. “He made his choice.”
I didn’t like it, but Aaron was right. Worrying about Fenrir and Drakul was pointless. Their fate was out of our hands.
Putting my head down, I urged my mount onward.
Faster. We had to go faster!
We raced over the ground until we reached the narrow crevasse that I knew would spit us out high above Madrigal. Our mounts charged down it, and the wind slowed as we galloped through twists and turns as fast as we could.
“Getting close!” Aaron remarked once we emerged from the split in the land, the city of Madrigal sprawling out below us.
Our mounts took a hard left and went down the long, long ramp. The Enkk came along behind us, looking as fresh as when we’d first set off.
I watched the vampire city grow larger as we descended, my gaze drawn toward the center of the city and the large rectangular building that I knew was the palace. That was where we would find Elenia. Where I would kill her.
If I can.
