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Yowling, I struck out with claws and teeth, the acrid bite of vampire blood a bitter counterpoint to my defeat as they overpowered me. Me! A prince of Nightmare overpowered by mere vampires. Fuck.
I now bore the indignity of being stuffed in a large sack and slung over someone’s shoulder. I shouldn’t have even fit in the bag, but dream logic was clearly at play here. I’d tried to claw through the material, but whatever it was made of, they’d planned on keeping a clawed being contained. I spent a few precious moments and much of my remaining energy attempting to shift. That also failed, so finally I curled up and tried to rest.
Some indeterminate time later, one of the vampires dragged me out by the scruff of the neck. I thought about hissing and taking a swipe at them, but what was the point? They’d clearly won.
“Feeling a little defeated?” The woman grinned. “You’ll make a lovely rug once we’ve drained your essence.”
I snarled.
She laughed.
Fuck, that’s why I’d done it in the first place. People had come after my essence. They’d already gotten Baz’s. I’d hid mine, but I hadn’t had time to warn Nic. Mr. Shadows was so slippery, I hadn’t been nearly as worried about him getting caught.
Sighing, I didn’t bother to fight as they tied my paws together, strapped my wings down painfully, and hung me from a tree. We hadn’t gone too far. We were still in the Wandering Forest—named both for the trees that were far more mobile than they should be, and the movable nature of the woods itself. It wasn’t always easy to find.
Hanging from my front legs was painful, but that was nothing compared to knowing I’d never see Ember—even from a distance—again.
Hot fire pulled a scream from my muzzle as they jabbed something into my skin, probably a knife, and ripped down my stomach.
I couldn’t help thrashing, trying to get away, but I was stuck and so totally fucked.
Someone shouted, and I wasn’t sure what happened next, but suddenly I was falling. I landed hard, twisting a joint in my back legs as I hit.
One of the vampires ran past, flinging dirt in my face. Whatever had gone after them, it gave me a minute to chew the ropes around my front paws. I almost had them undone when the damn knight fell to his knees next to me and sliced through the rest of my bonds, starting with my back paws. The rope around my midsection that trapped my wings to my sides hurt like a bitch when he pulled it away from my skin so he could get his knife underneath.
I hissed a warning, and Geraint dodged a strike from one of the vampires just in time. He turned, lunging upward with the knife he held and plunging it into the dream creature’s chest.
The vampire screamed, flinging the knight away. The creature scrambled to his feet, creating a sword out of the essence flowing around us. Obviously, this vampire had been born in one part of Dream or another. Vampires created in the conscious realm couldn’t use the essence like this one could.
Geraint scrambled to his feet, but he wasn’t fast enough. The vampire slid his sword into the knight’s chest. Geraint’s eyes went wide, and he dropped his sword, collapsing.
I took the moment of distraction and launched myself onto the vampire’s back. I clamped down on the creature’s neck, trying not to get too much blood in my mouth, but pulling hard at his essence. After a sluggish start, the energy flowed into me as was my right as a prince. The vampire jerked his sword free of the knight, making a feeble swing at me, but it was too late. He disintegrated, and I fell, landing on top of Ember’s knight.
Not wanting Ember to deal with the pain of losing someone she so obviously loved, I pushed some of my essence into the knight. Not that I had much to spare. What I’d stolen from the vampire—the irony of that was not lost on me—was only enough to heal the wound he’d given me.
I hissed angrily as the energy failed to heal the knight.
He coughed. “S’okay,” he slurred. “Tell Ember I love her.”
“What the fuck, Dio!”
I twisted, looking over my shoulder. Ember swirled out of the shadows and ran toward me, rage contorting her features.
Still unable to shift back, I jumped off the knight, hoping she could help him. Still glaring at me, she fell to her knees next to her lover and put her hands on his chest. I could feel his energy strengthen.
Not wanting to watch their reunion, and not able to do anything to help, I scampered away into the woods. I was glad she’d arrived in time to save her knight, and I was grateful he’d arrived in time to save me.
“I’m going to kill him,” was the last thing I heard Ember say before I trotted out of hearing range.
I didn’t get far before the question of who she wanted to kill was answered. Shadows writhed from the black areas between light and snapped around me tightly before jerking me up in the air.
Ember swirled out of shadow once more, looking like a goddess of vengeance, her hair flying wildly, her clothing a skintight black unitard. She stalked forward, squeezing the shadows around me.
“What were you thinking? Why? He came after you to make sure you were safe, and you did that?” She pointed back in the direction I’d come in.
Shit, she thinks I hurt her knight. I tried, one last time, to shift.
I managed it, barely, then hung limp in her shadowy grip.
