Read Online Forest Fire (#2 The Legends of Regia) by Tenaya Jayne - Free Book Online

snapped his fingers, and one of the ogres pushed through the crowd to the one making the fuss. Leith stood on his toes. The haughty vamp making demands was Dracula.
     
    "How dare you!" Dracula yelled as the ogre picked him up. "Unhand me! I am Dracula! DRACULA! Put me down!"
     
    The ogre looked back to the official. "It is Dracula, sir."
     
    The official huffed and rolled his eyes. "Let him go back to the castle. He'll be wishing he stayed with us once he gets there."
     
    The ogre dropped Dracula back on his feet. Leith pushed through the crowd. "Wait! Me too! I'm going with Dracula." Leith grabbed a hold of Dracula's arm.
     
    "Oh no you don't!" the official barked. "Get in line."
     
    "Please! I'm a noble."
     
    Dracula sneered at Leith and jerked his arm loose.
     
    "Dracula, please. It's me, Leith. Son of Vladien. Tell them I can go to the castle with you."
     
    "Well?" the official demanded. "Is he who he says he is?"
     
    "Yeah," Dracula huffed and turned on his heel, striding toward the castle.
     
    Leith didn't wait for permission. He followed Dracula swiftly, hoping no one would stop him. Dracula looked straight ahead, ignoring Leith completely, as they moved away from the crowd, north to the castle.
     
    The stone road dropped under the shadow sand, forcing them to walk slower. Dracula stopped at the base of the front stairs, looking up at the castle's main double doors. "Huh," he grunted.
     
    "What?" Leith asked.
     
    "There's something wrong here."
     
    Leith looked up at the doors but couldn't detect what Dracula was talking about. He followed as Dracula slowly climbed the stairs. He stopped at the top, a suspicious glare in his eyes and beat his fist against the massive doors.
     
    The hinges moaned as the doors swung inward. A single figure stood in the center of the entrance hall. Dracula gasped, alarming Leith, who was still too fuzzy brained to fully appreciate what he saw.
     
    "What are you doing here, High Priest?" Dracula demanded, his arrogance faltering around the edges.
     
    Rahaxeris looked past Dracula and fixed his ruby eyes on Leith. A smile stretched across his face, one so terrifying, Leith almost wet himself. He had no idea who this elf was, but it was plain he wanted his blood with a ravenous hunger.
     
    Rahaxeris took a step forward. "You are behind the times, Dracula. Like always," he said calmly, not moving his gaze off Leith.
     
    As the unknown predator stalked closer, Leith stood frozen in fear, even as his mind screamed Run!
     
    Dracula's brow furrowed in confusion as he looked back at Leith and then to Rahaxeris. "He's not with me, High Priest," he declared loudly.
     
    Rahaxeris reached out and seized Leith by the arm, his smile now obscenely wide. Caught in Rahaxeris' red gaze, like a bird hypnotized by the eyes of a snake, Leith made no struggle.
     
    "Then I suggest you leave my presence before you share his fate," Rahaxeris said to Dracula.
     
    Dracula took off into the castle as if his feet were on fire, no doubt looking for anyone who could explain what was going on.
     
    Leith found himself towed along by his arm, his vision tunneling. Long empty hallways stretched out before him. Then he was maneuvered through a door into a dim, empty room and again faced with those terrible red eyes.
     
    "Oh, you will never understand the restraint I'm exercising right now. How long I've waited, sat still and allowed you to live when doing so raged against everything inside me. You are going to suffer, Leith. You will know pain, and you will die."
     
    Part of Leith's brain shook itself clear. He looked down at the hand on his forearm and then back into the stranger's face. "I don't know you. What have I done to deserve this?"
     
    "What have you done? My dear boy, what haven't you done?"
     
    Leith blinked a few times. "I'm very wealthy. If you are acting as a judge, listening to some accusers, I can make compensation. Amend my wrongs."
     
    "I am not your judge, merely your