Page 11 of Bite of Passage
The wizard’s volume increased.
Skarde should be paying attention to whatever the magical man was doing.Instead, he mouthed to her, “Leave.”
Guess his paralysis didn’t apply to his face.
“You think your spell will work?”Skarde asked loudly of the wizard.
The wizard sounded to be in the final phase of whatever kill spell he was about to cast, undaunted by the vampire’s attempt to stall him.Without thinking, or perhapswiththinking, since she’d already calculated in her mind what someone else—a character actually in the show, not her—was supposed to do, she picked up the wooden crossbow in front of her and pulled the trigger.The weapon’s wicked kick threw her backward onto her back.The arrow wasn’t on it anymore.
A shriek shredded the air.She pressed her hands tight against her ears.The wizard landed back-first on the ground with his wrinkled face inches from her foot.The arrow had impaled his chest.Dark blood spread in a stain across his ratty shirt.The man’s screeching stopped, but his gaze fixated on her.
His mouth worked as if he were attempting another spell, but blood dribbled between his lips.The wizard’s dark pupils dilated in the death glaze.She’d seen life leave a body more than a few times at the hospital.
That had to be a magical crossbow.She hadn’t aimed.In fact, considering the odds and the way she’d blindly fired the weapon, she had a higher chance of hitting Skarde than the wizard.What insanity had possessed her to even pick it up?
The vampire stood.Whatever paralysis spell the wizard had cast must have vanished when he died.
Skarde offered his hand to help her up.
She stared at the for-real, offered hand.As she slid her small hand into his much larger one, the rough and callused skin of his palm surprised her.She’d expected a vampire to have perfect, blemish-free skin.The roughness made him more real.
He’s a vampire.He’s not human.Get that through your skull.
He yanked her upright and lifted her many feet away from the dead wizard.As he removed his huge sword from his back, she backed away.He turned and efficiently beheaded the wizard.
Breath in.Breath out.Steam swirled with her exhale into the frigid air.
She looked up…and kept looking up.
Skarde Blackmann.Everything about him was huge—height, muscles, hands.Big fangs.
I’m in the snow in scrubs.My socks are wet.Skarde is staring at my neck like I’m his next meal.
He stood frozen, sword in hand, but he didn’t move to attack.
The reality of what she’d done settled in.She’d killed someone—no, not a human, but an evil creature in a scripted TV show.Did the creature have to die?Had it been redeemable?Maybe, but it would’ve killed them both long before she could have a chitchat to reason with it.I had no choice.
I killed him.Her stomach twisted with the threat of spewing.
“Are you going to boke?”he asked in that deep accented voice.
Heat blasted her cheeks.“No.I’m good.Won’t puke.”
She gaped at Skarde’s broad shoulders and harsh features.His calm scrutiny scared the hell out of her.Did he plan to drink her blood?Attack her?
Tension swirled around them as they stared at each other in silence.He didn’t make a move toward her.
Don’t say anything weird.She tucked her hair behind an ear.“Stop staring at me.”
“You’re the one staring.”
“You’re from the show.You’re…you’renotreal.I have an excuse to stare.None of this is real.I shouldn’t be here.”
“Feels pretty fucking real to me.What are you?A witch?”
“I have no magic.”
“You smell human, but you have use of magic.”He pointed at the shimmery doorway.“Explain that.”
