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Authors: Angela Knight
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flares of blue energy bounced his bullets into the dark. The centaur charged, axe lifted as it howled out a challenge.
The AK-47 clicked on an empty magazine. Kadir grabbed the rifle by its no-doubt burning barrel and swung its heavy stock at the onrushing Beast. The centaur reared, and the swing slammed into its armored ribs, only to rebound harmlessly. That enormous axe descended in a blur of bright steel.
The Pakistani vampire swore and leaped aside, barely avoiding the lethal blade.
Kadir had just drawn the rifle back for another try when he saw the snake rear to strike. He threw himself into a roll that barely avoided the reptile’s plunging dive. Its head alone was damn near the length of his entire body.
“He did know how to fight,” Conal mused, watching with brooding pity. “But there’s no way he could take both those monsters. Not unarmed.” He looked at Tristan. “Why the hell didn’t he have one of those magic swords you types carry instead of that useless rifle?”
Tristan shrugged. “Kadir was armed for combat in Mirpur City. He’d expected to fight men, not monsters.”
The centaur’s massive hooves swung over the vampire’s head, preparing to stomp Kadir into jelly. The Pakistani leaped in a bound no mortal could have matched, avoiding the plunging hooves. He hit the ground rolling, made it to his feet, spotted the snake lifting its hooded head, and jumped ten feet straight up . . .
Too late. Before he could tuck his legs out of its path, the snake’s fangs caught his left thigh, punching deep to pump deadly venom into the muscle. Kadir screamed as his body whipped through the air, dangling from the Beast’s mouth. Clamping down, the reptile began chewing, driving still more venom into the vampire. Cursing, Kadir swung his rifle in a clumsy arc at the thing’s head.
The snake reared high into the air—and dropped him. He fell fifteen feet to hit the pavement hard, right on his head and shoulders. Obviously stunned, barely conscious, he lay in a heap as the snake slithered around his body, opened its jaws, and swooped down to engulf his legs. It could have swallowed his head first, but that would have meant a faster kill as the vampire suffocated. The monster plainly wanted Kadir to suffer.
And he did, shrieking in agony as the snake began swallowing him in a series of lunging gulps.
Eyes helplessly locked on the video, Miranda made an involuntary sound of pain. Justice moved up behind her, not quite touching. She leaned into him, accepting the gesture of comfort.
Wish we weren’t wearing armor
.
And then she thought,
What the hell am I doing?
Miranda straightened with a jerk. She thought she heard Justice sigh, but when she looked back, his handsome face was expressionless.
On the screen, Daliya leaped through a dimensional gate, wearing full armor, a sword in her hand. Kadir screamed again, and her head jerked toward the sound, her dark eyes going wide and desperate.
She shrieked something in Potwari and charged the snake, her weapon blazing with magic as she started trying to hack the monster in two so she could free her mate. More gates sparked open around them as the Knights of the Round Table and the most powerful witches in Avalon arrived, summoned by Daliya when she’d sensed her husband’s danger.
Too late.
Branwyn clicked the remote, stopping the video as the vampires converged on the snake, still in the act of swallowing Kadir. “And that’s as much of it as I can stand to watch.”
* * *
In the end, Tristan told Conal, he was the one who took Kadir’s head. “Daliya begged me,” the knight explained, his voice gruff with pity. “Most of her husband was down the snake’s throat at that point, and she said she could feel the venom dissolving his muscle tissue. He was paralyzed by then, but vampires are pretty fucking tough, and he just wouldn’t die. She couldn’t stand to feel him suffering any longer.”
“We tried everything we could think of, but
The AK-47 clicked on an empty magazine. Kadir grabbed the rifle by its no-doubt burning barrel and swung its heavy stock at the onrushing Beast. The centaur reared, and the swing slammed into its armored ribs, only to rebound harmlessly. That enormous axe descended in a blur of bright steel.
The Pakistani vampire swore and leaped aside, barely avoiding the lethal blade.
Kadir had just drawn the rifle back for another try when he saw the snake rear to strike. He threw himself into a roll that barely avoided the reptile’s plunging dive. Its head alone was damn near the length of his entire body.
“He did know how to fight,” Conal mused, watching with brooding pity. “But there’s no way he could take both those monsters. Not unarmed.” He looked at Tristan. “Why the hell didn’t he have one of those magic swords you types carry instead of that useless rifle?”
Tristan shrugged. “Kadir was armed for combat in Mirpur City. He’d expected to fight men, not monsters.”
The centaur’s massive hooves swung over the vampire’s head, preparing to stomp Kadir into jelly. The Pakistani leaped in a bound no mortal could have matched, avoiding the plunging hooves. He hit the ground rolling, made it to his feet, spotted the snake lifting its hooded head, and jumped ten feet straight up . . .
Too late. Before he could tuck his legs out of its path, the snake’s fangs caught his left thigh, punching deep to pump deadly venom into the muscle. Kadir screamed as his body whipped through the air, dangling from the Beast’s mouth. Clamping down, the reptile began chewing, driving still more venom into the vampire. Cursing, Kadir swung his rifle in a clumsy arc at the thing’s head.
The snake reared high into the air—and dropped him. He fell fifteen feet to hit the pavement hard, right on his head and shoulders. Obviously stunned, barely conscious, he lay in a heap as the snake slithered around his body, opened its jaws, and swooped down to engulf his legs. It could have swallowed his head first, but that would have meant a faster kill as the vampire suffocated. The monster plainly wanted Kadir to suffer.
And he did, shrieking in agony as the snake began swallowing him in a series of lunging gulps.
Eyes helplessly locked on the video, Miranda made an involuntary sound of pain. Justice moved up behind her, not quite touching. She leaned into him, accepting the gesture of comfort.
Wish we weren’t wearing armor
.
And then she thought,
What the hell am I doing?
Miranda straightened with a jerk. She thought she heard Justice sigh, but when she looked back, his handsome face was expressionless.
On the screen, Daliya leaped through a dimensional gate, wearing full armor, a sword in her hand. Kadir screamed again, and her head jerked toward the sound, her dark eyes going wide and desperate.
She shrieked something in Potwari and charged the snake, her weapon blazing with magic as she started trying to hack the monster in two so she could free her mate. More gates sparked open around them as the Knights of the Round Table and the most powerful witches in Avalon arrived, summoned by Daliya when she’d sensed her husband’s danger.
Too late.
Branwyn clicked the remote, stopping the video as the vampires converged on the snake, still in the act of swallowing Kadir. “And that’s as much of it as I can stand to watch.”
* * *
In the end, Tristan told Conal, he was the one who took Kadir’s head. “Daliya begged me,” the knight explained, his voice gruff with pity. “Most of her husband was down the snake’s throat at that point, and she said she could feel the venom dissolving his muscle tissue. He was paralyzed by then, but vampires are pretty fucking tough, and he just wouldn’t die. She couldn’t stand to feel him suffering any longer.”
“We tried everything we could think of, but
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