Page 118 of Wedlock
After the date I thought I’d finally won her back, that she’d admit she loved me as I loved her and offer to come home. But then, the tears.
‘What the fuck was that about? A charade? What prompted that bullshit? Why come onto me, then cry after we’ve been together? Did she want me so badly to fuck her that she was disappointed I’d only gone down on her? Or was it because I didn’t compare to Jag? No, I’ve buried that concern. I thought it would feel strange being intimate with her knowing she’d slept with him, but it hadn’t. It had felt right. Only right. She’d been so forceful, so demanding, so unlike herself. But I don’t think she cried because she hadn’t enjoyed herself. I’d licked and sucked her perfect body until she’d screamed and bucked, just as I remembered. God, she tasted so good, it took every ounce of my self-control not to fuck her. But I wouldn’t. Not yet. I want more, and she deserves more. Still, afterwards as I held her and whispered my reasoning, there’d been no disappointment in her expression, only sorrow. Why? Why did she push me away? Why claim it was all an act? I can see she cares for me. I know women. I see it, but she won’t say it. Why can’t she just admit she wants me as much as I want her? What’s really holding her back? And why had she forced my hand tonight? Why suddenly throw down her walls and come onto me so forcefully? Shit. Why hadn’t I stopped to question that? Because I wanted HER so badly, I’ve wanted her for so long, I was blind to anything but her hot body pressing against mine, her breath panting in my ear. Something was clearly wrong, and I’d missed the cues again. No, I’d ignored them. Fuck!’
“I’ll get to the goddamned bottom of this,” I growl. “Pilot! Speed it up or I’ll rip your fucking heart out!”
93
There’s no mistaking that I’d heard Revna’s whispered promise, but I have no time to react as shots ring out against the still night and all hell breaks loose.
“Fuuuuuck,” I squeak, ducking low and running for the treeline in the opposite direction to where I’d heard her voice. I realise my mistake as a line of men burst out of the shadows and run towards me and, screeching, I spin and turn to make for the other direction, thankful I’m barefoot and my torn dress is no hindrance to my speed. But I barely make it half a dozen strides when I’m shoved from behind and pinned to the ground.
“Ugh!”
The wind knocked momentarily out of me, I gasp for breath and try to wriggle free of the heavy weight upon me, but a low, deep voice tells me to “stay the fuck down,” as dozens of other booted feet run past me towards where I’d heard Revna.
I can’t raise my face to try and see what’s going on, but screams, shots, and hideous, maniacal laughter are all around, and I whimper as a dismembered arm hits the ground inches from my nose.Revna is shouting orders, and Yin too. A third voice, one I recognise, a man, is cursing and shouting “have courage — death to the monsters,” at the top of his lungs.
It’s then that I realise that I was right. Yinhadbeen organising protection through The Free Men over these past weeks. And knowing Yin, she’d also been organising the destruction of a certain royal vampire I’d just attempted to seduce in a helicopter.
‘Thank God he isn’t here. At least they can only kill Revna and her vampires.’
“Get off me,” I snap to the man still pinning me to the ground. “I can fight. Give me a gun.”
“I said, stay the fuck down,” he snarls, pressing me further into the dirt, “I’ve got…”
Whatever he’s about to say is cut off as a shot rings out so close I’m momentarily deafened. An acrid tang stings the back of my throat as his brains splatter all over my hair. Coughing and gagging, I squirm halfway out from under his corpse and roll over to stare through sticky eyelashes at an armed man striding into view, his steps faltering as he stares down at me, surprise written all over his face.
I recognise him immediately as the man I’d heard cursing earlier.
“Phil.”
Leaning down, he shouts into my face, “Are you alright, Angie?”
“Like you give a shit,” I groan.
“You’re not supposed to be here.”
“Neither are you,” I snap.
More gunshots sound out all around us as, shaking his head, he turns to run. I remain where I am for a second, my ears still ringing, and focus on who had pinned me down as I struggle to roll his body fully off me and wipe my face on his jacket. I recognise the uniform immediately as one of Falcon’s men.
“Oh Jesus,” I moan, realising Falcon too must have organised guards for us, one of which had been trying to protect me. One of The Free Men, or maybe even Phil, had likely killed him because they kill everyone associated with vampires.
“Idiots!”
The fighting all around me continues as I reach for the gun in the holster of the dead guard. It contains silver bullets, which is a huge relief, but there’s no such relief in the new sound on the horizon. The sound of a helicopter.
“Good guys or bad guys?” I groan. “Shit, shit, shit.”
Wriggling, commando style, my bare legs getting scratched to hell against the hard ground, I make, once again, for the woods furthest from where I’d heard Revna.
94
I’m consumed with rage as I see what’s happening on the mountainside, and I jump from the aircraft well before it lands, hitting the ground running.
I don’t need to ask what’s going on. I know. I’d barely ordered the pilot to turn around when I received a panicked call from one of my guards. Revna had sent her forces to kill Angie.
As I sprint, I take note of the dead. It’s clear the princess had underestimated, gravely underestimated, the resistance she would come up against. From the sheer number of bodies in the clearing it looks like squads of my men and Revna’s vampires have fallen. Many of the vampires were decapitated, but some were just hurt. Most would heal in time to continue their attack.The same couldn’t be said for the humans who lie strewn around like broken dolls. I recognise the uniform of my guards, and others wearing camouflage gear I don’t know.
