Terror and fury overrode my senses. I didn’t think — just drew back my head and whipped it forward, ramming into Mirabella’s skull.
Pain lanced through my neck as she shrieked, and the vampire recoiled long enough for me to glimpse the monster beneath the mask.
Mirabella’s doe eyes gleamed scarlet, flashing with a predatory greed. Her fangs were out, glinting in the low light as thick rivulets of my blood dribbled down her chin.
“You’ve had your taste,” I rasped, my throat burning with every word. “Now let — me — go.”
Mirabella’s eyes flashed with something like delight, and dread pooled in my gut. “Oh, darling. We’ve only just begun.”
But I was already moving.
Years of training kicked in on the heels of my panic. Countless nights staking vamps in the Quarter had filled me with enough fight to override the weakness in my limbs and the fuzziness clouding my mind.
Summoning every ounce of my hunter speed and strength, I bucked her off me and rolled. We both hit the floor in a tangle of limbs, Mirabella’s infuriating nightdress winding around my legs.
I surged to my feet, but she grabbed my ankle, wrenching my legs out from under me.
In a split second, our roles were reversed — Mirabella straddling my hips as her auburn hair fluttered around us.
Unsheathing my stake, I plunged it toward her chest, but she captured my wrist and wrenched it from my grasp. My heart sank as it clattered across the room and Mirabella’s thighs clamped around me.
“Spirited little huntress,” she purred, rolling her hips into my pelvis. “But that’s not all you are, is it?”
A fresh pang of horror rattled through me as she swept a finger through the dribble of blood on her chin and brought it to her mouth.
“Is thatwitchblood I detect?” She licked her lips, her gaze growing hooded as she stared down at me. “Delicious little thing you are. I think I’ll have you all to myself.”
My insides heaved as Mirabella pounced, using her full vampire strength to pin me to the floor.
This time, she made no attempt to be gentle. Sharp fangs ripped through my flesh, and suddenly, I was back in that filthy alley from five years before. Helpless. Alone. At the mercy of some bloodsucker whose thirst would never be sated.
I thought I’d escaped this — thought I’d grown stronger. But I’d walked right into Mirabella’s trap and allowed myself to become prey once more.
My vision blurred as I thrashed beneath her. With my hands pinned, I couldn’t reach my other stake. I was supposed to be rescuing Kaden, and instead I was bleeding out on Mirabella’s godsdamned floor.
A clamor outside the bedchamber drew my attention, but I could feel myself drifting away. My head swam fromthe venom and blood loss, and my muscles felt heavy and useless.
Then Mirabella gave a jolt, and I heard a sickening gurgle.
Peeling my eyes open, I blinked up at the vampire straddling me, the front of her gown stained with my blood. She was staring in disbelief at the tip of a stake protruding from her breastbone.
Slowly, I lifted my gaze to find Adriel glowering down at us.
“Party’s over,” he grumbled, gripping Mirabella under the armpits and tossing her off me. “We need to go.”
Bracing a hand on the floor, I tried to push myself into a seated position, but my head swam dangerously.
The royal guard crouched in front of me, studying my face with uncharacteristic concern. “Fuck. She really did a number on you.”
He wasn’t angry — at least not at me. I moaned as strong arms hauled me to my feet and dragged me toward the door.
“A little help here!” came Sorsha’s panicked voice, echoing down the corridor.
A low growl rumbled up Adriel’s chest as he dragged me down the hallway.
The princess stood at the top of the stairs, hiking up her voluminous skirts to access a holster just like mine. Her limbs became a blur as she slashed and stabbed, tarry black blood flying as she drove a long hickory stake through a vampire’s breastbone, only to withdraw it with a wet squelch and skewer another.
Her foot shot out, sending the nearest vamp crashingdown the staircase as Adriel retrieved his own stake, supporting my weight with his free arm.
