Page 101 of Bite of Passage
Still no response.
“We have to get out of here.I don’t trust this crowd.”Skarde licked his wrist to close the wound.
VanFliet held out his hand to help Skarde up.He took the offering after setting Gemma on the ground, putting his body between her and VanFliet.
They stared at each other for endless moments.
“She knows a way to help me,” VanFliet said.“You’re not taking her anywhere.We made a pact to help each other.”
“She’s coming with me.”
“No.”VanFliet reached out to restrain him.
He knocked off the offending hand and snarled as he pressed VanFliet backward until the other vampire’s back hit the wall.“I just forced a fucking demon to run home with his tail tucked.Do you want to fight me?”
VanFliet struggled without success against Skarde’s grip.He wheezed out, “What have you become?”
“Shut up and stop fidgeting.It’s irritating.”He leaned in close and whispered, “She comes with me.Her fight isn’t over.But I swear to you on the bond we made long ago—blood brothers forever—I will help her find what’s needed to help you.We will return.”
“You swear?”Desperation tinged VanFliet’s tone.
“Yes.Make sure your people don’t kill the Hunters.It’d sure be nice if you let them stay tonight, provided you can guarantee no one will try to eat them.”He released his hold on his former ally and turned to pick up Gemma, ignoring the pain burning with every movement.One foot in front of the other.Faster.And faster.He held her close against his chest, his vision blurring over his failure to rescue her sooner as he and Cade jogged out of the keep.He’d been broken and lost until she came crashing into his life.Without her to keep him whole, Skarde feared he would fall apart.
A shudder of helplessness ate at him as he fought to keep himself upright on the horse.Two hours to daylight.
Don’t be lost, Gemma.Wake up as the Gemma I love, not a damaged shell.
Blood roared through his veins as terror grabbed ahold of his heart.With every moment she didn’t wake up his future drifted further into bleakness.
ChapterForty-One
“Where are we going?”Cade asked.“We’re both in bad shape and she’s out of it.I don’t want to spend the day hiding in a forest filled with magical beings that hate our kind.”
Skarde didn’t answer as he neared the rock house that, to most, looked like the side of a mountain.He dismounted, stumbling against the horse’s side as he struggled to keep Gemma in his arms when his mind spun.The horse skittered a few steps away.Without the animal to balance against, he staggered before forcing himself back to a stand.
He knocked.“Give us shelter, ye twerpy dwarf.We did our part.”
The door opened.Fontaine, dressed in a red and pink coat that left his chest bare, crossed his arms and cocked his head.White paint streaks crisscrossed his face and hairy chest.“You stink.”He waved them inside.
But when he turned to walk away, his ass was bare—the jacket ended at his waist to show off his assless pants.
“Dinnae need to see that,” Cade muttered as he ducked to enter the small doorway.
“The most powerful magic is powered by sex.”Without an ounce of shame, Fontaine stalked through the foyer.“Apparently, it worked.Come, you need to sleep.”
Two naked dwarf women scurried out of view.
“Didn’t need to see that either,” Cade said.
Fontaine showed Cade to a room.Efficiently, he set Cade’s arm in a wrap.“That ought to help it heal correctly.”
“Fuck with me while I’m sleeping and I’ll kill?—”
Fontaine waved his hand.
Skarde’s brother shut up mid-sentence and collapsed, fast asleep before his head hit the pillow.
“Come.”The dwarf led him into a windowless room.“You sleep here.She stays with you.”
