Page 49 of The Demon Prince's Accidental Mate
When our blades clashed, time stood still. I glared at Victor through the cross between weapons. The vampire was older than much of human civilization. Like me, he’d seen the rise and fall of empires. And yet he was a well-respected member of their community. Not their elder. Not by a long shot. None of that level would bother with a position on Dannorax’s court.
He was impossibly fast and impeccably skilled with the blade, having fought a thousand-thousand duels and more. Victor had practicallyinventedhalf the moves at one point or another. I would not beat him at swordplay.
But then, I didn’thavea sword, now did I? My arm swept up, and I twisted just as he blocked, locking his blade against the edge of my axe.
Victor grunted, but I tore the handle from his grip, the sword arcing out toward the front of the chamber. Audible gasps went up as it headed toward Dannorax, but the dragon just snorted in disdain and lifted a paw.
Ding.
He flicked out a claw, hitting the spinning blade on the tip and sending it ricocheting toward us.
I spun out of the way, using the motion to slice my axe through the air at Victor. The vampire jumped. I batted him out of mid-air with a wing.
—and he simply rotated with the movement, grasped the hilt of his sword as it came spinning past, and landed with it in a mid-guard position. The audience clapped, a few of them cheering the vampire on.
“All right, that was cool,” I muttered, impressed by the grace, poise, and general badassness of the move.
Great recognizes great, and all that.
Victor tilted his head toward me in recognition. That was it. Then he came in like lightning, the blade spinning, chopping, and slicing. I backed up across the now-open room, my wings picking up chairs and pews and tossing them out of my way to ensure I didn’t trip or stumble on anything.
Eventually, the vampire’s attack ran out of steam, and I started pushing him back the way we’d come. I came around with a mighty hack down at his shoulder. He raised his blade to block it, an awkward reverse motion.
The weaponsclangedtogether, only Victor’s supernatural strength preventing me from breaking through and robbing him of his arm. But the block was across and up. Leaving his entire lower body open.
I hung my weight on the crux of our locked weapons and used it to swing a foot through the opening, right into the side of Victor’s face.
Perfect skin parted, and thick, dark blood flew everywhere, the liquid dead in his veins already. The entire room was so quiet we heard the skittering of a tooth as it bounced over the stone chamber.
Victor spun away, momentarily holding a hand to his face before he shook it off. Spitting more coagulated gunk away, he stood tall, facing me with renewed fury.
“Nobody is to touch her,” I growled, pointing at Lily. “That one is mine, and any who dare challenge me for her will die if they do not yield. Do you yield?”
The vampire cast a baleful glare at me, then, to my surprise, back at Dannorax. “I’m not dying for you.”
Then he sheathed his blade and strode from the chamber. My eyes turned to the dragon, who had sat at the front of the chamber and done nothing so far. What had he promised Victor? What had the two of them planned?
“I am taking what is now mine by right,” I growled, heading toward Lily. “And I am leaving.”
The entire chamber watched in silence. Waiting. The only noise was my boots as they clicked against the stone.
“Hi,” I said as I got to Lily. “Sorry, I’m late.”
“Better late than never,” she said, staring at me. “Although this look might take a bit of getting used to.”
“I don’t normally walk around like this,” I admitted.
“Too tiring?”
“Too bloody inconvenient,” I said, grumbling irritably. “Stupid wings catch oneverything. Hallways are not built for them in mind, as nice as they are in a pinch.”
“I see.” Lily looked around. “What now?”
“Now,” I said, pointing toward the big doors I’d entered from. “We leave.”
Lily’s eyes darted past me momentarily at the dragon, but she didn’t say anything, instead following my lead as we headed for the exit.
“No.”
