Page 5 of Queen of Ashes and Scars
“Yes.” With one hand on the steering wheel, I zoom through the outskirts of the city. “We need to ditch this flashy car as soon as we’re downtown. A dozen Pereira guards are bound to keep up with my car-racing antics, and a hundred more will be canvassing the city before the night is over.”
She shakes her head as though she’s struggling to focus. “Where should we look for a boat?” she asks, apprehension thick in her tone.
Vampires secretly detest the sea. Not because we can’t swim ten times as fast as a human, or hold our breaths underwater for hours. Not even because the salt wrecks the taste of blood. It’s the fear of being stuck without food. Humans are scarce in the middle of an ocean, and the last thing any vampire wants to risk is dying of hunger.
My mouth dries up just thinking about it.
The high speed slams us into our seats as I accelerate again, heading toward the shore. “We’re not going on a boat.”
“But Lucas said—” She narrows her eyes, one arm braced across the car’s door. “Where are we going then?”
“The angel told me where to go.” I hesitate, searching for the right words. “You still trust Lucas, but I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s already spilled our entire conversation to his uncle. That kid has no spine.”
A strangled snort pops out of her mouth. “Can’t disagree with that.”
“I’m going to drive close to the ocean, then we can kill the guards that managed to keep up, but we’re actually going to switch cars and drive inland to Keenan’s coordinates.”
She shifts to face the rear of the car and brushes my arm. “How many of them are there? Five SUVs with one to three soldiers inside each of them?”
My gaze flicks to the rearview mirror. “I’ll lose a couple before we stop, but don’t worry, I can take them.”
She sinks back into the passenger seat, her perfect brow arched in defiance. “And leave me with nothing to do?”
“You don’t know how to fight.”
Her jaw opens. “You refused to teach me.”
“You only askedyesterday.” I add, unable to bite back a grin at how cute she looks when she’s outraged.
Long black nails skim my stomach down to my crotch, her light touch distracting as hell. “You taught me a thing or two yesterday…”
A full-on smile stretches my lips, and my eyes dart to hers. I’m simply caught by the undertow of her ocean-blue stare and the barely-veiled joy brimming from her humorous quip.Fuck, I love this.
But I can’t forget what really happened tonight. She became Queen, and I’m the one tasked to protect her. I might not agree with everything the crown has asked me to do over the years, or even understand the pressure that comes with ruling over an entire continent, but I know she’ll be as good a monarch as her mother. The Shadow World will be better off with her as Queen than it was with Victor as King.
Arielle Delacroix needs to sit on the throne of shadows and claim her rightful place in the world, and it’s on me to get her there. How bad is it that all I want to do right now is make her mine again?
It’s like my body is cursed now that it knows what it’s missing, but I resist the urge to pull her in for an irresponsible kiss. “We’ll be long gone by the time the next batch comes, but I’ll leave you one. If you insist.”
“How generous of you.”
She has no training, but she’s a newborn vampire. She can do enough damage to kill one or two while I get rid of the others.
I pass her one of the slim, aconite blades I slipped in Lucas’ jacket before we left. “Here. Stake them through the heart with that, and they’ll be easy to finish.”
“Alright.” She grips the hilt of the dagger and runs her index finger across the blade with an expression of quiet wonderment.
The buildings around us grow taller and taller as we make our way downhill to the heart of the city. I ignore the red lights and zip past the stop signs, counting on my lightning reflexes to avoid an accident. Pereira’s guards nip our wheels, ready to pounce if the opportunity arises. A tight corner comes up ahead, so I grip the steering wheel and take the curve a little wide to open up my exit, a technique that allows me to go full-throttle sooner and head into the next straight line faster.
Powerful honks rebel in my wake, the traffic disturbed by the race. I repeat the feat until the dark expanse of the ocean flashes between the high rise towers. Once I’m satisfied that we lost a couple of SUVs, I slam the breaks and pop the door open. I run to the curb where Arielle is already waiting and guide her into an alleyway to force the guards to get out of their car and follow us on foot.
A handful of them run up on our rear, gunshots tearing through the air. We run past the building’s corner and climb up the gutters on each side of the back alley.
I’d overestimated the guards’ ability to think on their feet, and they barrel past our hiding spot without hesitation—as though we’re little girls running from the big bad wolf. It’s too easy to jump on the back of the leader to stake him through the heart. I use my gun to incapacitate another while I behead the third.
Arielle sticks her blade inside the fourth man's back, a little too high to kill. The vamp propels her over his shoulder and pauses, probably torn between his survival instincts and the need to complete his mission. The king certainly didn’t give these half wits permission to strike his betrothed down, and I take advantage of his hesitation to slit his throat.
The fifth member of the team manages to lodge a bullet in my neck, but Arielle stakes him clean through the heart, and he vanishes in a cloud of dust.
