‘Slight issue. Almost there,’he called back.
Great.
Queen Drake’s hair was pulled into such a tight bun that it lifted the edge of her eyes in a maniacal cat-like way. “I need to sample the goods, dear,” she purred as her teeth extended, pressing into her bottom lip. “I want to see what all the fuss is about. Something I should have done before.” She reached up with her free hand, and grasped the sides of my face, just as her minion yanked my other cuff off. It fell with a thud to the forest floor.
I couldn’t see the dude holding me from behind, but I could tell by the strong grip that he was powerful. His fingernails dug painfully into my shoulders while she held a gun to my head.
There was literally no way out of this for me. My wolf rattled my skin in an effort to break free but I kept her down. I didn’t fancy leaving my son without a mother.
A buzzing vibration started to radiate from her fingertips. The same buzz I’d felt when I’d shaken the prime minister’s hand. That must be how they sensed my power or something.
“Oh yes,” she hummed, and brought her lips closer to mine.
I recoiled the tiniest bit, unsure if she was going to kiss me or bite me or what. That’s when the white light started to leak from my skin. She breathed in, and it funneled into her mouth, her eyes lighting up the same deep blue hue as mine, which made her look even more psycho than she already did. How the hell had breathing in my power changed her freaking eye color!?
Before I could dwell on that, pain laced up my spine as I felt herfeedingoff of my essence. I bucked a little, but then she pushed the gun harder into my head.
“Now, let’s see if your blood is even more potent.” She grinned like a lunatic, and the next second her teeth sank into my neck. I gasped as pleasure and pain slammed into me with equal measure. The tips of vampire teeth had some type of mild narcotic on them that made you crave their bite. It was psychologically fucking with me to have her feeding off my neck and have it feel good.
“No…” I whimpered.
What happened if she fully drained my essence? Would I die? Or would I just no longer have these extra powers? I had a son to live for now, I had to get out of this situationfast,but I couldn’t make any sudden movements or she’d blow my head off.
‘Would she really? She needs you,’my wolf said.
My wolf was right. She wanted my power juice, she wasn’t going to shoot me … right?
‘Boom time in three,’Rab’s voice called out through our bond and I steeled myself. Just in the nick of time.‘…two … one…’An explosion rocked the eastern border of our land. The queen jerked her head back in shock as her eyelids fluttered open. Crimson blood stained her lips as she glanced over her shoulder to look at what had caused such a great noise.
It was go time.
Striking out with my thumb, I rammed it into the armpit of her hand holding the gun to my head, and that arm collapsed to her side. Then I butted my head backward and was met with a satisfying crunch and a yelp. Wasting no time, I twisted out of his hold and crouched to the ground where my cuffs lay. Snatching them up, I burst out from between the queen’s legs, knocking her over with a yelp of surprise. Then I ran faster than I ever had in my life, still a bit cloudy from the effects of the bite. I had just broken through the thicket of trees when I felt an unseen force slam into me and knock me to the ground.
What the…?
Tripping over my feet, I fumbled and tucked my head in as I did a full barrel roll. Pain exploded in my shoulder, but I ignored it and popped up quickly. The queen cackled somewhere behind me.
“Oh this feels good!” she shrieked with glee.
Dread sank into my gut like a heavy stone. She was usingmyown powers against me. On instinct, I pulled out the silver stake I’d placed into my waistband earlier and chucked it about ten feet off to the side. If she wanted to play at this game, I was going to play. Hadn’t Sawyer said when he’d kissed me the first time and accidently taken my power, that he’d been able to run really fast but it wore off quickly? I could only hope that was the case here, because at this rate I wasn’t going to be able to get back to Paladin Village without her trailing me.
I stood, just as she skidded to a stop before me. “Oh, my darling,” she purred. “You aredelicious, and worth every inconvenience. Now, be a good girl and come with me so we can harvest a plasma serum from your essence. After that, you are free to go. You have my word.”
Plasma serum.
“Plasma serum for what?” I asked. Curiosity killed the cat. And the wolf too.
“To permanently enhance my people with your abilities of course.” She rubbed her hands together in greed.
Oh hell no. I wasn’t a fucking lab experiment.
“Enhance this, bitch.”
The entire time she’d been standing there, I’d been wrapping my power around the silver stake on the ground like a force field, slowly raising it into the air. Now at my will, it shot forward and slammed into her torso from behind. The stake popped out the other side of her chest, bringing with it a sludge of black blood. Her eyes widened; she yelped in shock. It wasn’t a direct kill hit, more near the armpit, but it would buy me time.
I spun, snaking through the trees like a maniac. My heart beat so loudly I could hear it in my brain. It felt like a drum pumping throughout my entire body. Crossing the grasslands, leaping over farm fences, I finally jumped into a barn, skidding to a stop inches from a cow, and slipped my cuffs on so that I hopefully couldn’t be scented.
The cow mooed and I nodded to him. “Hey, buddy. Mind if I hide out here a while?”
