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He circles me, and I whip around, tracking him with my eyes. “No answer? Typical human. So scared of everything.”
Niles’s fangs lengthen, and he starts toward me. I back away, but plants prevent me from escaping. His wicked laugh fills the air. My ears ring from the nearness. “So easy,” he says. “I smell the power on you. I cannot wait to absorb it.”
My eyebrows draw together, and anger flashes through me. I will not be an easy target. I’m tired of having my power drained for someone else’s gain. Tired of being a practice dummy, a target of malicious attacks with no purpose other than to destroy.
Niles continues to rant, telling me the horrible things he will do to me with my own power. I raise my hand toward the shadows, ignoring the filth spilling from his mouth. Holding onto a sliver of my power, I beckon the shadows to me, driven by instinct.
Coils of shadows flow to me, and Niles’s tirade abruptly stops as he yells, “What are you doing to me?”
He shivers uncontrollably, arms and legs twitching to a silent rhythm. He spits, cursing me. “I will rip your throat out and leave your head on the castle doorsteps.”
I glare at him, and pull more on his shadows, wrapping them around me as they drain from him. The second they touch my skin, they turn into a beautiful golden glow. At last, only a small shadow is left above his heart that does not even move.
For the first time, I take a good look at Niles. He shivers, barely able to stand. His skin is shriveled and devoid of any color. His hair is greasy and thinned, as he has aged a millennium.
I grin, a malicious grin matching the one he dared give me. The vampire collapses to the ground, and twitches back and forth.
“Where is Carmen,” I ask Nava.
In the forest. She is fighting another vampire.
I swear under my breath. “Raúl!” I yell, hoping he will hear me. “The gardens!”
It’s the closest landmark I can think of. Not waiting, I breathe deeply and head off into the forest. Unsure where to turn, I just keep going straight. It isn’t long before I recognize the sounds of a struggle. Ahead, I see Carmen with her arm around a vampire’s neck. A stick cracks under my foot when I step forward to help.
Carmen glances up, her fangs out, her red eyes flashing with anger. The other vampire takes advantage of her distraction and breaks out of Carmen’s hold. In a flash, he is behind her, sinking his fangs into her neck. She cries out and drags her long, black fingernails across his arm. Still, he holds on. She continues to struggle as he rips into her neck.
All of this happens in mere seconds, and when I finally realize what’s going on, I reach out my hand, grasping the shadows of Carmen’s captor.
No time for hesitation. I pull hard, yanking his shadows off his body, the same as I did with Niles. He lets go of Carmen, who collapses to the ground.
Stumbling toward me, he grips my arm in a death vice. I try to rip away, but he holds tight, his nails creating deep crevices in my skin. Ignoring the pain, I continue pulling on his shadows, watching as his skin turns a sickly gray color.
Suddenly, a new vampire runs into the forest. His blond hair flashes in the light. He carries Niles on his shoulder. He rushes toward us and flings Carmen on his other shoulder, then tears the vampire off me.
I cry out as nails rip across my left arm, a stinging pain bursting through my skin. The vampire disappears into the forest, taking Carmen with him.
Chapter Forty-Six
Blood streams down my arm, and I hear a rushing sound in my ear. My breath quickens and I feel lightheaded. I crouch to the ground, grabbing the edges of my skirt. Wrapping it around my arm, I hold it tight, hoping the blood will stop flowing.
Before I can stand back up, I am surrounded by vampires I don’t recognize. Slowly, I rise, gritting my teeth. I will not be afraid. Every single vampire’s fangs descend, their red eyes taking on a crazed glow as they stare at the red liquid sinuously seeping through my dress. I move my arm closer to my chest, their eyes glued to their next meal.
I hold my other hand out, about to grab the nearest vampire’s shadows, when Helena pushes through the throng. “Penny?” She gasps when she sees my fabric-covered arm. “It’s your blood I smell?”
The vampires around me shift at the mention of their favorite snack, and Helena’s back stiffens. In one movement, she wraps her arm around my waist and holds me tight. “Wait, they took Carmen,” I say as she prepares to jump.
Rage simmers in her eyes as she turns to the other vampires. “Find her.”
She pushes off the ground and flies through the air toward the castle. “We needed to get you away from them, fast. They’re already amped up, and adding the scent of fresh blood will drive them mad.”
“I understand,” I say, my voice weak. My stomach lurches. “I don’t feel well.”
She says something, but darkness and shadows cloud my vision.
When I come to, I am lying on the sofa in my quarters. I sit up, gasping when my head pounds. Gingerly, I raise my arm, taking a look at my new battle wound. It’s all sewed up, in tiny, neat stitches.
My dress is horribly covered in dried blood, and I hold it up, moving it back and forth under the candlelight. I have experience removing blood from fabric, but never this much. I sigh, letting it slide out of my hand.
