Page 113 of Bite The Power That Feeds

My father appeared, blood stained on his armor from butchering all the werewolves and humans who got in his way. He quickly realized our intention and ordered his men to help. He took a spot at the front and helped us ram into the doors.

Finally, they shifted—a little.

“Again!” my father yelled.

We continued to ram the wooden pillar into the door, our men standing behind us to watch our backs. It took a solid five minutes to make the door give at the hinges, for the material to dent from our force.

Finally, the door caved open, and half of it dropped off the hinge.

“Forward.” My father went first with his men, and arrows immediately bounced off his armor because an assault waited for us.

We poured inside, human archers everywhere, raining arrows down on us all. They were merely a sacrifice, because once the vampires rushed in, they were cut down where they stood, another graveyard of bones.

“Let’s separate.” My father took his men one way.

“Come on.” I nodded to Cobra, and we both headed a different way, entering the castle with low-handing chandeliers throughout the rooms, thick rugs in maroon and midnight blue, portraits of the king hunting in the wild, and grand fireplaces that could roast an entire boar.

We moved through the empty rooms until we approached another set of double doors, even bigger than the ones that had prohibited entry into the castle.

“Must be the throne room,” Cobra said. “The little bitch is hiding.”

I moved around the room, seeing if there was another way inside, but all I found was a solid wall that enclosed any other rooms. High up toward the ceiling were stained-glass windows, but they had to be at least twenty feet in the air, inaccessible. “We’ll have to break down this door too.”

“Hooowwwwwlllll!”

We both turned at the sound, hearing it from the front.

Cobra looked at me. “Ambush.”

“They cornered us.” I turned to the men. “Bar the way with anything you can find. Archers, prepare your bows.”

The werewolves poured in, coming from behind, at least three dozen, and we didn’t have ample room to fight.

Then the doors behind us opened at the same time, and more came from the rear.

“Shit,” Cobra said. “This is not good.”

I sliced down the ones who came at us from the rear, relying on our men to take out the ones who flooded in from the front of the castle.

Cobra got punched in the face so hard that he rolled to the floor. His sword dropped, and when he reached for it, another werewolf kicked it away and sneered.

I had only a second to react, and with all my strength, I sliced my blade right through the stomach of my foe so his entrails spilled out. I grabbed my dagger and threw it into the eye of the monster about to take my brother’s head. I got the other with my sword, making him fall right beside Cobra.

Cobra took the opening and crawled to his sword, turning over just in time to stab the beast about to descend. The knife stuck him through the spine, and he was gone immediately. “Thanks.”

“Now we’re even—”

A werewolf stronger than all the others grabbed me and threw me across the room, fifteen feet into the air, making my body hit the wall so hard my armor caved in slightly. I fell to the floor, and that knocked the wind out of me.

“King of Vampires.” The Werewolf King was nine feet tall, taller than all his brethren, and his fur was midnight black, while all the others were a mix between gray and black. “Lord of Darkness. And soon, Lord of Death.”

I pushed to my feet with my sword in hand, refusing to show weakness for the way he’d thrown me around like a fucking rag doll.

Cobra fought off two werewolves at once, trying to get to me but unable to break free.

The Werewolf King sneered at me. “You think I didn’t know?” He came closer, his black eyes like oil. “You think Raventower is strong enough to defeat my army alone? No, I knew you were coming, Kingsnake—and you should have assumed I knew.”

I spun my sword around my wrist and moved to the side, ready for him to lunge so I could find an opening. The neck and the ankles were their weaknesses, but this would be more challenging because he was bigger…and stronger.