“Night?”
The vampire called Night grumbled, “I’m fine. Bitch burned me.”
Grave returned his focus to her and gave her a look that said she was going to die painfully, but only after he had played with her a while, making her suffer for harming his brother.
She wasn’t sticking around to find out what he had in mind for her.
Mackenzie twisted away from him and shoved to her feet, blazed a trail past Night and kept on running, sprinting towards the edge of the town. Behind her, the King of Death barked orders, and her pulse tripled as she sensed vampires closing in on her from all sides.
Damn it.
She ducked down a narrow alley and shoved past a woman as she tossed a pail into the central gutter that ran along it, caught her and pushed her behind her. The woman grunted as she went down, but whoever was behind her was too nimble to be caught by her falling, leaped over her and landed hot on Mackenzie’s heels.
Her life wasn’t going to end here.
She summoned her strength, focused on making it beyond the sphere of the spell so she could teleport. It didn’t matter where she landed, as long as it was a good distance from here.
Mackenzie rushed across another street and down another alley, kept her eyes fixed on the other end of it.
On her freedom.
If she could make it out there, into the wasteland, she would be safe.
She burst out of the alley and focused, calling upon her ability as she sprinted across the loose black dirt, towards distant mountains. They would do.
She willed the teleport.
Again, nothing happened.
And it wasn’t because she didn’t have the strength.
Her eyes widened as something hit her in the back, toppling her. She grunted as she slammed into the dirt with him on top of her, cried out as his weight crushed her back and battled the panic that lit her veins.
The bastard had lied to her.
The spell his mate had cast didn’t only cover the square.
It covered the entire town and beyond it.
The vampires were toying with her.
She shirked her attacker and stumbled onto her feet, spun and delivered a hard kick to his face to keep him down. Night grunted and fell backwards. She looked in all directions, desperately seeking a way to escape him.
He was faster than her, but she wasn’t going to just give up.
She turned and pain erupted across her face, her bones burning as a fist ploughed into it. She staggered backwards, fighting to maintain her footing, and shook off the blow. Glared at the one who had delivered it.
The King of Death.
“Do not try to run from me. Many assassins have tried, and all have failed.” He advanced on her and she backed off, gaze darting around again, searching for something although she wasn’t sure what.
A weapon?
She had one of those.
She drew the dagger from the sheath at her waist, earning a raised eyebrow from the vampire.
“A blade meant for elves. The report on the other assassin was correct then.” Grave looked to his brother as Night picked himself up from the dirt and dusted himself off. “Set up a perimeter around the town, ask Lilian to maintain the barrier spell. I want that elf captured the second he returns.”
The brunet vampire turned cold blue eyes on her.
“As for you.”
He moved so fast she didn’t see him coming. One moment he stood a distance away and the next he was behind her, his hand seizing her throat. The panic flooding her veins became all-out fear and she elbowed him in the ribs as she surged forwards. He lost his grip on her and she pirouetted to face him, bringing her dagger up at the same time.
He dodged backwards, narrowly evading her blow, her dagger harmlessly cutting through the air where his chest had been.
Mackenzie lunged forwards and he smacked his palm against her forearm, knocking her blow off course, and she gasped as his other hand slammed into her chest. The air that had been in her lungs burst from her mouth as she hit the ground and her ribs ached as if someone had just hit her with a sledgehammer.
The vampire was stronger than she had anticipated, far stronger than any rumours had painted him.
On a vicious yell, she kicked off and flew at him, ducked when he hurled a punch at her and slid under his arm. She twisted and found her feet, lashed out with her blade and grinned as she caught his thigh, drawing blood.
He growled and flashed fangs at her as she ran past him, aiming for his brother.
Night was ready for her, easily dodged her first attack and came around behind her. His fist slammed into her spine, tearing the air from her lungs again and sending her staggering forwards. She stumbled to a halt and fought for air, her head turning as her lungs burned.
Grave was behind her before she could recover.
He grabbed her wrist as she swung at him with the dagger, and she snarled as she unleashed a fraction of her power, heating her skin. He hissed and released her, growled as he looked at his palm. Blisters covered it.
She backed off, keeping her blade in front of her and shaking off the dizzy spell that came from using her powers when she was low on energy. She had to be careful. Pushing too hard right now would be a death sentence. Her body wouldn’t be able to handle it.
She tossed her blade to her other hand and focused, breathed deeply to get oxygen into her starved lungs as she readied herself. The two vampires closed ranks, moving to only fifteen feet apart, and advanced on her.
Mackenzie didn’t dare take her eyes off them, but she did a quick scan of the area with her senses and noticed something.
Grave and Night were the only two people out here with her.
The rest of the vampires waited at the edge of the town, too far away to be of use to their leader.
Her blood chilled a few degrees as a feeling ran through her.
The King of Death knew what she was, and that was why he had let her run.
He had wanted their fight to be out here, in the barren land that surrounded the town, far away enough from it that there was no danger of her damaging it.
It wasn’t possible.
Only a handful of people knew what she was and none of them would have told him.
But as she looked into his eyes, she knew it was true. He knew what she was and had taken measures to protect the town and his men, placing only himself and his brother in danger.
The temptation to go all-out as he expected was strong, luring her into surrendering to it, but she held on, refusing to give in. She couldn’t. If she did, it would weaken her, and the vampire could easily seize hold of her.
Could cage her.
Dim, dark memories threatened to surface but she shoved them down and buried them deep. She had vowed no one would ever hold her like that again and they wouldn’t.
Grave slowly drew the blade that hung at his waist, brought the katana down and gripped it in both hands before him.
Night went one better.
He reached around his back and pulled out a black gun, and had squeezed the trigger before she could react.
Fire exploded in her left shoulder, the force of impact knocking it back. She slammed into the ground, a grunt bursting from her lips as she hit it hard enough to send a vicious jolt up her spine. Her eyes widened as Night pulled the trigger again and she rapidly rolled to her right, flipping over twice as three shots rang out in quick succession.
Grave sighed. “It always seems so unnatural to use firearms.”
Night shrugged it off and fired again.
Mackenzie gritted her teeth and rolled backwards this time. A deep, hot throbbing in her shoulder stole her breath and her head turned. What the hell had been in that bullet? It felt as if it was pouring molten fire through her, incinerating everything in its path.