Page 23 of A Vow of Shadow and Blood

It turns out that having an accomplice is incredibly beneficial when hiding a dead body. Tori and I are done in record time and back in the main room, moving quickly toward the door.

“Is it just me, or does it feel like they’re all staring at us?” Tori mutters as we move through the room of vamps. She’s right. Red eyes seem to glow from every corner, and they’re all focused on us.

“They’re hungry,” I remind her. And we just walked in like fresh meat. Athriel hums his agreement in the back of my mind. “We need to get out of here.”

I know the look of a bloodlust vampire when I see one, and right now, this is the last place we need to be. I push Toriforward, moving quickly as we go, but we come to a halt when four vampires circle us.

“Where are you two delicious things running off to?” the tallest of the group asks.

My heart pounds in my chest, but I lift my head high and give him an innocent smile.

“Amabel is expecting us back now.”

He laughs at that.

“Amabel expects you to stay until we are fully satiated, and I still have ahungerfor more.” His eyes twinkle as he speaks. Instinctively, I step in front of Tori, but she moves to stand beside me. If we make it out of this, I’m going to kill her.

Or you could just use her as bait.

I thought you said you liked her.

I said she was growing on me, not that I liked her.

“You’ll have to take that up with Amabel, but we’re leaving.”

I grab Tori’s hand and quickly try passing between the two vamps at the front, but one grabs Tori, pressing her back against his chest, while the other wraps a hand around my throat and slams me against the wall.

“I think you misunderstood,” he says, squeezing his fingers tighter around my throat. “You’re not leaving until we say so.”

My blood turns to lava, and I’m not sure what the vampire sees in my face, but his grip on my throat falters for just a second before he regains his composure. Athriel’s anger pounds inside me like a drum.

“Take your hand off me.”

The voice is both mine and Athriel’s. Ancient and young. Behind him, a human woman whimpers, terror widening her eyes.

“Perhaps you should make me,” he sneers.

“Wrong answer.”

I slip the dagger from beneath my dress, running the sharp edge of the blade across the flesh of my thigh, coating it in my blood. A quick twist of my wrist and the blade slices across the vampire’s cheek. I slam my heel into his chest, sending him crashing to the floor. The others recoil in shock, parting as they watch the scene unfold. It takes a few seconds for the effects of my blood to kick in, but as soon as it does, he begins screaming and clawing at his face like a wild animal.

“What did you do to him?” a female vampire screams as she drops to her knees beside him.

“Only what he deserved.”

She sneers at me, but then her attention returns to him. “Jeremiah? Jeremiah? What’s wrong?”

His eyes roll into the back of his head, and convulsions wrack his body as she tries to steady him. A strained wheezing sound comes from his mouth, and then his body goes completely still.

The entire room is silent as the others look on in confusion, their eyes drifting from the dead vampire to me. My fingers tighten around the handle of the dagger, and I know without a doubt, I’m going to have to use it again.

There are too many of them,I tell Athriel.

Then use the element of surprise.

When I hesitate, the sound of his voice booms inside my head.

Now!