Page 14 of Prince with a Chance of Darkness (Grimm Cove #7)

Chapter Fourteen

Mina

I burst out of the cave and ran along the cliff face, staying close to the rock wall to avoid the water from the waterfall as it poured less than a foot from me. Mist from it dampened my clothes and hair again. I’d be a frizzy mess if I wasn’t already. That was fine. I didn’t have anyone to impress right now.

The pull in my gut twisted harder, like someone had tied a rope around my waist and was pulling on it, drawing me toward them. Whatever was happening on campus needed my attention—now. Leaving Willa only partially secured went against everything in me. She needed me too. My stupid fucking calling didn’t seem to care. It kept demanding I return to campus.

The feeling of having a rope around me increased, this time the yank was harder—more aggressive.

More urgent.

Whatever was happening at the college wasn't going to wait for me to work through my guilt about leaving my sister. I hurried down the ledge to the riverbank and then ran straight for the woods. I’d barely crossed their threshold when every hair on my body stood on end.

Danger.

Something was watching me.

Something dark and dangerous.

Something that didn't want to be seen.

I didn’t let on that I sensed it, deciding instead to trust my instincts, which were still screaming at me to get to campus.

I cut through the woods, taking a shortcut that would deposit me in the cemetery behind the chapel on campus. Thankfully, the incident in Romania hadn’t left me with an allergy to holy relics. I had an ample supply of bottled holy water back at the Gallows Lane house, shoved under my bed in a container. Willa had helped me fill twenty travel sized bottles with the jug of it that I kept in my closet on the floor, back behind my boots. If any of our roommates ever happened upon the stash, they’d more than likely assume I had a thing for travel-size hand sanitizer and was really worried about getting thirsty at night—to the point I kept a jug of water nearby.

Should any of our roommates dig deeper and notice the loose floorboards beneath my bed, and lift them, I’d have a lot more explaining to do. There was a battle-ax, daggers, a crossbow and countless stakes there.

Willa liked to call it my floor stash of death. I called it comforting.

As I dashed through the dark woods, I chastised myself for only bringing daggers with me. They were hidden away in sheaths that tucked nicely in the top of my boots. The Damascus double-edged blade had been handcrafted, as had the bone handles. I’d spent a lot of time carving symbols into handles, ones I could remember seeing in books our father had in our family vaults when we were little. Ones he’d told me helped to fight evil and kill demons. So far, they’d served me well over the past four years.

The heavy weight of being watched came over me again. Darkness seemed to creep in at me from all angles in the woods. My slayer vibes went haywire, alerting me to dark magik, not that I needed them to figure out whatever was happening wasn’t normal. I didn’t slow my pace. If the dark magik wanted me, it would have to work for it.

Instead, I increased my speed, leaping over downed trees and rocks before outright jumping and swinging from a low-hanging branch like I was about to compete in a parkour free running competition. The abilities had been something I’d discovered I’d had after Romania. I could only guess they’d come from the attempted siring I’d somehow lived through.

Not looking a gift horse in the mouth , I thought, jumping over another large rock.

Movement caught my eye—a flicker of something darker than the surrounding night. I spun toward it, dropping into a slight crouch. I cocked my head to the side, knowing that action was animal like. I didn’t care. I listened for the threat.

Nothing.

Just the normal sounds of the woods at night. But the sensation of being hunted intensified.

I sprang forward, continuing toward the campus. Whatever was out there, it already knew exactly where I was. The smarter play was to get to more open ground where I'd have room to maneuver if I needed to fight.

The trees blurred past me, branches reaching like gnarled fingers in the darkness. One scratched my cheek, but I paid it no mind, knowing it had cut me. The invisible pull to campus had become almost painful now, a constant yanking sensation that threatened to double me over.

I burst through a dense patch of undergrowth and nearly collided with a weathered stone gargoyle. They were everywhere on campus. The school really seemed to take their mascot name seriously.

The cemetery. I'd made it to the chapel grounds.

The watching sensation disappeared so rapidly it made me wonder if I’d let my imagination run wild. If anything had been watching me at all. One second, I'd felt like prey, the next—nothing.

I turned, looking back at the woods, wondering if something would leap out and try to bite my throat out. Wouldn’t be the first or last time.

Nothing.

With a shrug, I turned to make my way through the cemetery but stopped as a group of men stepped out of the shadows, looking like they were some kind of made-for-TV gang of baddies. My slayer side let me know what I was dealing with—vampires.

Wonderful.

I counted six in total but that didn’t feel right. Was there another? One watching from a distance?

They spread in a loose semicircle, surrounding me, acting like they had the upper hand.

Cute.

I didn't want to burst their bubble just yet, so I stood there, trying to act scared, when all I really wanted to do was stake them and get back to the Gallows Lane house—to whatever had been pulling me in that direction.

”Lookie. A toy to play with.” The tallest of the group stepped forward, his accent thick—Russian maybe. “A little mouse who has lost her way?”

I wrapped my arms around myself, making myself look smaller, more vulnerable. “I-I was just taking a shortcut back to campus.”

A second vampire laughed, the sound harsh and grating. “Through a cemetery? In the middle of the night?”

”Brave little mouse,” said a third, moving closer. His gaze fixed on my neck in a way that made my hands itch to throat punch him. “Or stupid.”

I backed up a step, playing my part. “I… I have to go. People are expecting me.”

“Sure they are, sweetheart,” said another.

Sweetheart? I was for sure going to ram my boot up that one’s ass.

The leader's eyes danced with evil glee. “There’s no need to rush off.”

The others chuckled, spreading out more, closing the circle around me. It was evident this wasn’t their first time corralling prey. But, if I had anything to say on the matter, it would be their last.

”I have a boyfriend,” I said, trying to sound like I was nervous, not annoyed.

“Is that so?” asked one of the vampires. “Smells like a lie.”

Okay, he had me there. Henry wasn’t exactly my boyfriend. He was more of a man friend with benefits.

"No matter," said the leader, his fangs flashing in the moonlight. "You won't be seeing him again."

I let out what I hoped sounded like a frightened gasp. Really, I was just trying not to roll my eyes. These guys were hitting every cliché in the vampire handbook.

I whimpered, backing up another step. "Please. I don’t want any trouble.”

"Cute. I like it when they beg," the one who'd called me sweetheart moved closer, and I started to fantasize about all the ways I’d be making him beg before the night was out.

They tightened their circle, closing in on me like a pack of wild dogs. The leader reached for my hair, and I had to physically stop myself from grabbing his arm and snapping it like a twig. I did regret not having my hair in my normal ponytail though, especially as he lifted a section of my hair and let it slide through his fingers. “Such pretty hair. Silky. Long.”

“All the better to hold her head with,” said the one who called me sweetheart.

It’s like he wanted me to make his death slow and painful.

The others laughed, drawing closer still.

The leader yanked on my hair, jerking me toward him. I flinched, partly for show and partly because I really didn't want his hands anywhere near me. His breath smelled like blood. He'd fed recently. They probably all had.

I readied myself to wipe the floor with him. I was about to go for one of my daggers when I sensed something. Power. Raw. Old. Close. It slid over my skin like silk, leaving me shivering.

“Do not fear, little mouse,” he whispered, his accent thicker now. “Just a little taste. Maybe we keep you around after. Would you like that? Want to be one of us? We don’t have a female—yet.”

Been there, tried that. Got the T-shirt in Romania and didn’t want a repeat performance.

I kept that all to myself, my focus shifting from the asshole who was nearest to me to the foreign power I was sensing in the area. Power that didn't trigger my slayer alarm bells but did make my core ache. I nearly whimpered again, this time because the power was turning me on, not scaring me.

Weird.

“Let’s turn her,” said Sweetheart-guy, moving in from my left. “She’s smokin’ hot. I want to taste her first.”

The others started rattling off what they were planning to do to me, seemingly oblivious to the threat that was close. One that didn’t even include me.