Page 99 of Destined Dawn

My heart beats frantically and I imagine he can see the blood pulsing in my neck, can feel it under the pad of his thumb. His fangs grow longer still, his eyes so red they’re like blood.

He leans right over me.

But I’m stronger now. Bonded to five powerful mates.

I crash through the magical binds, and smash my magic against his body, just as my mates come racing into the room.

It takes the vampires a second to realize what’s happening as the Black Prince falls to the floor and I yank my arms and hands free of the cuffs, jumping off the couch.I race through the crowd of vampires as my mates barrel towards me, firing my magic as I go so no one can touch me.

As I reach the others, I let the anger and disgust inside me boil and snatch their hands. We form our circle, combining our magic and letting it pound through the crowd of drainers.

They tumble to the ground like skittles. And only then do they compute that something is wrong. They are in danger. They respond, hurtling magic towards us. But their magic is weakened – I interrupted their feeding after all – and they are nowhere near as strong as us.

Behind us there’s a commotion at the door and from my peripheral vision I see Charmaine and two of the other servants. Now I understand why Charmaine’s magic was so weak. They are the vampires’ Sources. Magicals with deep wells of magic that the vampires feed upon.

I take a gamble, remembering how frightened Charmaine had seemed, how she’d refused to answer so many of my questions.

“Help us!” I cry out. “Help us destroy them! Help overthrow them!”

There’s a hesitation and then Charmaine comes running into the room, flinging what little magic she has at the drainers. Others follow. There are shouts down the corridor and then more of the servants follow, standing alongside us and fighting against the vampires that have been using and abusing them.

And it’s working. The vampires fall one by one. Evaporating into dust.

That is until the Black Prince rises back up and strikes.

He raises his magic into the air, shooting blood-red bolts skyward and almost immediately the scores of Sourcessurrounding us fall to their knees, clutching their faces as if pain soars through their skulls.

“You see,” he yells, “they are mine. Infected with my magic as I drain them, programmed to obey even at their own cost. Noble to try of course – I suspected you would have your mother’s feeble sentiments – but nonetheless futile.” His eyes glitter with a madness. “No harm done. Return to your quarters and we will think no more of it.”

“Fuck no!” Renzo says, wrapping his arms around me and shooting us into time and space.

35

Renzo

Little rabbit whacksme hard on the arm.

“What the hell?! You need to warn me before you do that!”

“Wasn’t time,” I say and her eyes grow all angry with me.

“Why the hell did you do that?”

“Instructions from the enforcer. Ping you away if things ever became a shitshow. And that seemed like a fucking shitshow. Those were–”

“Drainers, I know. The Black Prince is a vampire, and he wanted to drain my magic for himself.”

I ball my hands into fists, imagining all the ways I’m going to make him pay.

Little rabbit stomps her foot in frustration.

“I’m going to kill Azlan and then you,” she says, but I know by now, disappointingly, she doesn’tactually mean it. “Where are we?” She swings her gaze around in the darkness. “We need to get back to the others.”

I scratch my head. “No idea.”

“No idea?!” she says, throwing her hands up into the air. “So you’re telling me we could be anywhere?!”

“Yeah,” I say and she looks like she might strike me again. “But close to the dragon.” I tilt my head to one side. “I thought your dad was descended from dragons, not bats.”