Page 2 of Of Spindles and Nightfall
“Fine, do what you wish.” Aryana raised her hands and withdrew. She moved from cage to cage, unlocking each one before hurrying to the next. Glancing over her shoulder, she noticed with satisfaction that the first few wagons were empty, the occupants disappearing into the night.
Her taut nerves eased as she unlocked the door on the last cage.
“What the hell is this?”
A rush of air slid past her cheek and a quivering bolt embedded itself in the wagon inches from her face. She spun around, holding the cage opening. Jonas Harns charged toward her, a crossbow clutched in his grasp.
“Men up! To arms! They’re gone! Go get them!” he bellowed.
The men lay sprawled on the ground, unmoving.
A slow smile crept over her lips. “I guess they need their beauty sleep.”
Four men poured out of the tent, crossbows in hand. Heat rose in her veins. The last cage was still full of people. She had to make sure they got away safely. Slowly, she stepped from the wagon. Jonas followed her with his reloaded weapon pointed at her head.
The clicking of the firing mechanism told her when to move. Too quick for these slow humans and their weapons, she dodged to the side, coming up next to a man fast asleep. She grabbed his crossbow and took aim at one of the four men approaching the women and children still in the cage. Aryana fired. The bolt lodged itself in his left thigh and he released a cry, going down.
The other men shouted in alarm, turning their weapons on her. She discarded the spent one, and dove for another. Good thing Jonas must have ordered them to sleep locked and loaded. She hissed as a bolt grazed her arm, cutting through her cloak and drawing blood.
Raising her weapon, she fired again, hitting a different man in the ribs. With a wail of agony, he crumpled to the ground. She rolled to yet another unconscious person’s side and turned the crossbow on a third man, firing and dropping him to the dirt.
Jonas had his crossbow reloaded. With a roar, Aryana threw her used one aside and charged him. She seized his weapon at the triggering mechanism before he could shoot and spun both of them around as it fired, lodging the bolt into the knee of the fourth man. Jonas growled. He grabbed at her, wrenching the hood off her head.
He stumbled back in shock. “Princess? What kind of treachery is this?” His puffy cheeks grew molten red. “We had a deal.”
Well shit.
“Go. Get away from here,” Aryana shouted at the women and children still lingering at the cage’s entrance. As if that broke their trance, they scurried from the wagon, fading into the shadows.
An older woman paused and nodded toward her. “Thank you, Princess.”
Well, double shit.
Jonas, the only man left standing in the camp, let out a bark of laughter. “Raydin is trying to cheat me out of my due, isn’t he? And he sent his whore to do his dirty work. No matter. As soon as your venom wears off, I’ll have the little heifers and calves rounded up and returned to their cages.”
She threw aside the crossbow. “Like hell you will.”
She came at him, but he drew a knife and lashed out, slicing the back of her hand. A gasp ripped from her as her flesh burned, and in seconds her arm was raging in pain and refused to move. She backed up, clutching her limb and snarling. Only one thing could make her respond this way. Holy water coated the blade.
“You don’t think I didn’t come into vampire territory prepared?” Jonas taunted.
The agony and paralysis spread, sinking to her legs, causing her to stumble. Damn it. It was only a little nick.
He approached her, blade at the ready. “Vampires, apparently, are untrustworthy.”
A shriek pierced the night, an unearthly howl somewhere off in the bushes. Jonas spun to look, but Aryana saw her chance. Using the strength she had left, she lunged toward him, her teeth sinking into the arm that held the knife. She drew his blood once, twice. He roared, tearing his bleeding limb from her mouth, deadly rage in his eyes.
He took a step forward, stumbled, his pupils growing hazy before he collapsed onto the ground, the blade rolling out of his grasp.
For a moment she stared at the trees, waiting for whatever had made the noise to show itself, to attack. Perhaps it was nothing. The cry of a bat or some other creature of the night. Maybe it wasn’t the only living thing losing its life tonight.
But she required blood if she was going to overcome her spreading paralysis. Plus, her small bite wouldn’t keep a big man like Jonas down for long.
She limped over to the other four fallen men and took bites out of them to render them incapacitated. Their fresh blood in her system already made her feel a little better. With a final check of the surrounding forest, she confirmed that there was no sign of the women and children. Hopefully, they made it across the border into human territory.
She walked over to Jonas. She kicked the knife a considerable distance before leaning over him. “You find pleasure in killing innocents? You think it’s enjoyable to cause terror for those around you? Know this. Tonight, Jonas Harns, you forfeit your life for your bloodlust.”
A cold panic settled in his eyes. Good. If he was conscious enough to understand her, then he knew what was about to happen to him. It was how she wanted it. Briefly, she considered snapping his neck and leaving, but she refused to waste this delicious treat.
