Page 105 of Hunt Me

Luka’s jaw clenched, and his hand tightened around the leather reins, pushing them to the brink of snapping. He needed to collect himself. He couldn’t allow the man’s venomous words to get to him. Anger and rage on the battlefield often beget mistakes—usually fatal mistakes.

“How can the citizens trust a king to protect them if he will not protect his own castle?” Luka answered.

Casimir scoffed. “You have lost the citizens’ trust when you took up with an inferior being and plan to make her your bride! And more so when she resorted to trickery to defeat Alaria Marquis!”

“Trickery did not occur. The ancient texts specifically state that any number of weapons in any form are allowed. Poison is a weapon, and she simply outwitted the disillusioned woman.”

“And the slaughtering of the House of Belmore?” Casimir questioned.

“A necessity.”

It was Casimir’s turn to bare his fangs. “We will not wait around for you to deem us ‘a necessity’. We will take our kingdom back.”

“I see that Talgor Bryne isn’t present for your suicide mission. For his sake, I hope he retained soldiers for his protection.”

Luka’s blood ran cold when Casimir shot him a toothy smile.

“It is not Talgor Bryne who is in need of protection. Did you think that sodomite Lord Gustafson, a handful of guards, and that beastly orc would be enough to protect your whore?”

Terror closed around Luka’s throat, but his expression remained neutral. The bastard was watching him, waiting for the slightest crack in his composure.

“Come now. Don’t look so appalled, King Alesi. As I have stated, you have lost the citizens’ trust, especially the ones behind your castle walls who are forced to bow and kneel in submission to the human.”

Luka knew there was potential to have a disgruntled servant or traitor in their midst; however, the level of inside knowledge Casimir had was alarming.

“Let us end this and usher in the fall of the House of Bryne,” Luka demanded, unsheathing his sword and forcing Casimir to do the same.

“After I cut you down, I will cut that abomination from her womb, and the House of Bryne will rule over the lands of Night Falls.”

Something inside Luka snapped. He moved before Casimir could react. He launched himself from the saddle, wings tearing free and spreading wide as he shot across the distance separating them. Casimir barely had time to reach for his sword before Luka struck him with enough force to rip him from his horse.

Shouts erupted from both armies as Luka’s hand closed around the general’s throat. He shot upward, dragging the brazen general into the clouds.

Casimir’s boots kicked uselessly beneath him as the battlefield fell away. His hands clawed at Luka’s wrist in vain as the vampire king flew higher.

Luka let out a throaty laugh, amused by the fear in the general’s eyes.

“Where has all the bravado gone?” he asked, continuing to climb with the squirming general in his clutches.

“You may kill me, but my beloved will avenge me! She will carry out our mission!” General Casimir shrieked.

Luka determined that General Casimir’s lover worked closely with Matilda because only a handful knew she was with child, since she hid her figure with flowing dresses. Belzara, the nurse, and the seamstress were the only women who knew.

He decided to take an educated guess.

“Vivian will taste steel from the blade wielded by the same woman she despises.” He smirked when Casimir blanched. “Yes, I know. I wish I could stay and converse about all the ways we plan to torture your beloved, but duty calls.”

Luka dropped the man and soared towards the castle as fast as his wings would take him. Briefly, he enjoyed the panicked screams and the subsequent splat when Casimir collided with the ground. He prayed to the gods he wasn’t too late.

***

Matilda cried out as her dagger sank into flesh. She yanked it out of her victim’s neck with a fearsome cry, slinging blood through the air. Her chest heaved with every move as she fought to keep herself alive.

As customary, Matilda and Belzara were escorted to the Great Hall, where they were to wait out the battle with the women servants. Barely a minute passed when the doors flew open, and a horde of insurrectionists, led by her seamstress Vivian, filled the banquet hall. Vivian spewed her hatred of her and declared with a vicious war cry that she’d have her head on a spike. Belzara immediately complained that she wished she’d never been forced to apologize.

Instead of being shocked and mortified, Matilda was prepared with two daggers on her hips and the will to keep herself and her child alive. What better time to end the queen than when the king was on the battlefield?

“Belzara!” Matilda shrieked over the clanging of steel, desperately trying to get the orc’s attention as she fended off the guard’s blade with one dagger and disemboweled him with the other. “No!” she screamed when Vivian beheaded Belzara.