Thevampires had a fucking throne.
Abernathywas sitting on it, chin on his fist, sneering at me as I burst into the room.
Thatclose to dawn, I had assumed he'd be alone. I had assumed so very, very wrong.A kiss of at least twenty vampires stepped from the shadows and rushed me en masse. Fearlessly, they swarmed me,confident in their numbers. In the space of a heartbeat, I was gripped andpushed to the ground at their feet. One of them grabbed a fistful of hair andlifted my head to face their lord as they parted before him.
"What?Did you truly think you were a match for me?" He lifted his chin from hisfist and started laughing. The vampires around me joined him and stopped whenhe trailed off.
Whenhe finished, I started and ended it with a single word. "Fidget."
Abernathytilted his head and scrunched his eyebrows in confusion. I smiled as I felt theshadow slither down my sleeve and crawl over the flesh of my hand, dropping tothe polished wood floor between me and the vamps.
Soundlessly,he grew and then bellowed a screech as he stood and towered over the semicircleof undead around me. They began hitting the walls around us, thudding twice asthey fell to the ground wetly after.
Awave of fear washed over me as the shadow demon started tearing their flesh andlimbs. I stood slowly and let the fear change me into exactly what I needed tobe at that moment.
Snarling,I walked toward the mediocre throne as my fangs ripped through my gums, mynails tore through the flesh of my fingers, and a burning bloodlust boiledthrough my veins. For nothing but effect, I ripped the broom charm from my neckand swung the scythe. I led with the dull edge as I charged, stopping shortjust as the metal pressed his neck against the high back of his chair.
"Callthis pointless war off."
"You'renot even a vampire!"
Ihissed and bared my fangs at him. His eyes bulged even more. "No. I'm more,"I lisped around my overly large teeth and let the shadows rise up around himand bind him to the chair he'd been so proud of the moment before. "Areyou done?"
Henodded, quickly and emphatically.
Fidgetroared behind me. I turned my head and sent a mental command to him, sparingthe lives of the handful of vampires cowering on the floor.
Thesqueal of the shadows binding the vampire to the throne were the only warning Ihad. He had been bound, but with silver daggers hidden in his hands, bladesturned toward him. I caught the glint of their gleaming surface as he raisedthem after severing the bindings. In a blink, he stood and plunged one in mychest and the other into my heart, the other through my back, its tip nearlynicking the other between my ribs.
Ilooked down at the grizzly wound as pain blossomed through my chest. My visiondarkened as the edges faded away into nothingness.
Abernathy'slaughter filled my ears as he lowered me to the ground at his feet. With anevil sneer he twisted the blade in my chest and yanked it from my chest.
Ididn't scream, I didn't call out, the pain was already too intense for rational,or irrational, thought. The wounds weren't enough to kill me, but I wasfighting to remain conscious. If I passed out, it was over. He could really kill me at his leisure.
Abernathymade one horrid mistake.
Withoutmy reins, Fidget was free to flee or feast. He might have been a shadow demon,possibly just a baby, but he loved his mother. His shriek of anger blasted the laughterfrom my ears and Abernathy's lips as he hurtled over the bodies of the vampiresbetween us and smacked Abernathy across the room with an elongated shadow claw.Blood sprayed over my field of vision in a crimson bow and splashed down overme in liquid fire. Three more shadowy figures joined my shadow demon as theyflew across the room and ended Abernathy in screams of pain and rage.
∞∞ ∞
Acool cloth wiped across my brow and the smell of wet blood wafted to my nose.Blinking, I stared at a very worried looking vampire hovering over me. "Yuki?"
Shepulled the cloth away and frowned at me. "If you were in better shape, I'droll you over and kick your ass. Master," she added almost as anafterthought.
"Wewould, too," Dar chimed in angrily, hugging a scared looking Shea to hischest behind my vampire nurse. They had been the shadowy figures I'd seenbeside my angry looking Fidget. He chirped in my ear to let me know he agreedwith all three of them.
Turningmy head, I smiled at the little shadowy fluff beside me on the unfamiliarpillow. "You, too?"
Anotherangry chirp, but he quickly favored me with a wispy cuddle shortly thereafter.
"Howis she not dead?" June asked from the doorway. I guessed we were still inAshville.
Yukiturned and looked at her mother, eyes narrowing in distrust. "Do youreally think a couple of daggers can kill a god?"
"God?"Quickly she strode across the bedroom floor and hovered over me as she staredat me. Gingerly, she held out her hand and lightly ran the tips of her fingersover my still damp skin. Power flared between us. She gasped and knelt at mybedside. The bedside, not mine, as I didn't havea fucking clue where I was.
"Myold room," Yuki answered with a sad smile. "She needs blood,"she said over her shoulder to Dar and Shea.
"Wehave some in the vault?" June answered questioningly.
"Nothuman," Yuki answered.
Darstepped forward, but without hesitation, June offered her wrist. "Shedoesn't smell like a vampire," she said thoughtfully as my fangs grewagain and pierced her flesh. I fed without gripping her, letting the blood fillme, and the holes her brother-in-law had left in me before he died. She gaspedand braced herself against the bed as I fed.
"You'regrounded," Yuki said to me, uncharacteristically motherly.
Ilet it go for a few moments while I fed. Finally feeling a little better thanshit, I let go of June's wrist with a nod of thanks. "Because I didn'tkill him?"
"Becauseyou tried to do things your way without
