Page 43 of Bite of Passage
“They’re always the ones who die first on this classic Sci-fi space show.I swear to God I am not a glorified extra.”At his side glare of confusion she added, “Forget it.Not relevant to right now.Suffice it to say I refuse to be a throwaway character.”
“They’re behind us, closing in.”Cade sighed and cast a glance heavenward as if he couldn’t believe some deity forced him to fight for both of them.“It’s too late to get back on the horse.”
A volley of arrows came in around them.He dragged them both behind a rock.
“You’re bleeding.”His voice had dropped an octave as his eyes dilated.His fangs glistened as they peeked out of his lips.“Smells…” He swallowed and choked out, “good.”
She hadn’t even realized she’d been hit.Nothing had hurt—until he pointed it out.Suddenly, her left arm was on fire.“Oh my God.I’mshot.I refuse to die here like this!”
The arrow had lodged in her bicep, and blood pooled around it, dribbling down her arm, mixing with rain.Until now, it hadn’t hit her that she could actuallydiewhile inside the show.
Cade rocked back on his heels away from her, cast his head upward, and licked his lips.“The smell of your blood… Fuck, it’s incredible.”
“No biting me.That’s not happening tonight.Most definitely not by you.”
His breaths came out shaky as he took the shirt off his calf and, without asking, broke off the pointy end of the arrow and pulled it through.Which felt like someone severing her arm in half.
She cried out, but he clapped a hand over her mouth.“Quiet.”
He dabbed blood off with a piece of cloth that looked like a dirty handkerchief, then tucked it into his cost.Next, he wrapped her arm tightly enough the shirt could be considered a tourniquet.But he didn’t release her arm.He stared at her blood saturating the makeshift bandage.
She snapped her fingers.“Stop it!”
He cradled his forehead.His accent thickened.“I cannae take ye with me.Nae with ye bleeding.VanFliet wants ye as much as the Directorate.He won’t resist…this.Ye’ll be best with Skarde who’s too much of a puss-ass to taste you.Stay here.I’ll lead them away.”He muttered, “Have to go.”
“You’re leaving me?Here?”She waited for his reply.She waved around them.“There’s an army of mindless, hungry vampires who like to shoot arrows around us.”
“Yes.”He glanced down at her.“This’ll work.Skarde follows, but be warned, I’ll find you again.I’ve never failed to complete a mission.”
She caught his hand as he started to move.“I knew you weren’t a creepy evil killer.There’s still good in you.”With a big grin, she kissed his cheek.“Skarde is your brother.The two of you need to stop fighting and realize how important that is.Talk your shit out.Fix it before one of you dies and you’re filled with regret.”
Then she shot her fist straight into his balls.
Direct hit.Total crusher.
“Fuck.”He doubled over.
“That’s for the kidnapping experience and getting me impaled by an arrow.Also, for you being a grumpy asshole.”
“I’m trying to save ye, lass.Trying nae to bite.”He grunted as he slowly righted himself.“You’re…” Now she got the look, the one that said she’d gone bat shit crazy.
Cade’s gaze dropped down her body.“When he won’t bite you because he’s… Next time I find you, I’ll do it myself.”
“You’ve got your own dark, complicated, totally fucked up, hot vibe going on, but, no offense, I’m Team Skarde.If anyone’s ever biting me, it’ll be him.”She put space between them and hunkered down behind the embankment.“Sorry, but he’s hot as hell and sets all my lady parts on fire.You don’t.”
“You’re trouble.”With a headshake, Cade stepped toward her, grabbed her bandaged arm and coated the wrap in mud.“This should mask the smell of your blood.”He took out the handkerchief and waved it in the air as he mounted.
“I’m not trouble, I’m Gemma.And I belong with Skarde.”
ChapterEighteen
Skarde chewedon one hell of a flared-up temper with an itch to kill the vampire who’d stolen Gemma.He didn’t care if it was his brother.He planned to disarticulate every joint on Cade’s body and ram his fist into his chest to remove his heart.
Random thoughts fired through his brain.What if she was dead?What if Cade bit her?The ferocity induced by the thought drove him to push his horse to a brutal pace the poor animal couldn’t hold for long.
The lack of answers might make him crazy.
But then he laughed.He could handle the anxiety.Until he found her body or whatever remained of her, he would survive.Thanks to years of careful training under the cruelty of his father’s singular drive to create the best warriors in the world out of his three sons, there was no level of shit he hadn’t already survived.Starvation, hopelessness, helplessness, humiliation…been there and done that.
