Page 101 of Rogue Wolf

And Kodiak’s gaze burned hot. “It’s so pretty,” she whispered.

“Stop, Tamaska, please! Fight him!”

She ignored the pained cry of Kodiak and Admis grinned at her like he had her, like they were the only ones in the room.

And she couldn’t look at Kodiak, because if she did, her resolve might crumble and the terrible manipulations she was attempting wouldn’t work at all.

“It’s all yours,” Amdis said. “Yours and mine, the things we could do.”

“Yes, yes.” She shifted closer to Kodiak who struggled, even though the wire’s burn must be agonizing.

Amdis followed.

And she brought her hand up a little higher. “I want it…” The words came out almost as a moan.

Kodiak snarled and one of the vampires cried out as suddenly the shifter hurled himself up to get Amdis.

Everything seemed to happen at once.

Kodiak howled as the other vampire hit him with a net and he went down so hard she felt it. Amdis was knocked forward and to right himself, his hand came down and touched hers.

She snatched at the opal.

Amdis snarled.

The heavens failed to open and lightning failed to strike, but the vampire had touched her.

It was going to happen, she knew that, but this way, now it had, she had freedom.

Tamaska moved fast. She executed a spinning roundhouse kick, knocking Amdis hard and sending the Blood Opal flying out of his hand.

“Bitch!” he said, and he dove then, to try and catch the gem. He missed it completely.

It skittered and she used her momentum and shoved him hard, running for it. She had it in her sights. She reached down and—

Something slammed into her back, right between her shoulders. Hard. Air rushed from her lungs and she couldn’t keep her footing. She slipped and crashed face-down on the floor with a scream.

Desperate not to lose the gem, she pushed herself up. Adrenalin pumped through her body, giving her the boost she needed to keep going. She reached for the gem, but the Blood Opal was too far away. Stretching as much as she could, she pushed herself into the air, skidding forward. One of the vampires near the writhing Kodiak—she couldn’t let herself think of that—kicked it as she reached for it, sending it into the air.

Cursing she twisted and lunged, her outstretched hand openingnto catch the priceless stone.

She missed and the vampire kicked it again. She leapt for it.

It wasn’t enough.

The gem fell just out of her reach and hit the floor hard. A shard chipped away as the gem bounced, then slid to a stop.

Fuck. Did it break?

Did opals break? And if so was this good or bad for her, for the shifters? The vampires? Christ, she didn’t know but she still needed to get it.

Tamaska shimmied along the floor, desperate to reach the gem. A commotion erupted behind her, but she focused on the Blood Opal. Its two parts lay side-by-side on the floor. She almost had it, one more shimmy and—

Something grabbed her around the ankles.

“No, you don’t.”

Automatically, she flipped and kicked Amdis hard. Now he’d touched her she didn’t care. She kicked him again for good measure, that one for Kodiak. He cried out and one of his hands lost its grip, giving her the chance to kick some more and try to fend him off.

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