Page 18 of Prince with a Chance of Darkness (Grimm Cove #7)

Chapter Eighteen

Mina

I stirred slightly, unsure what had woken me. I was cocooned in warmth and the most delicious scent of smoked plums and cloves. It made me think back to my time at the inn in Romania, to the meals that had been prepared by the innkeeper. There had been a plum brandy the old woman served with evening meals that I’d loved. I think it had been called ?uic? . It was one of the only things I’d loved about that timeframe.

I turned my face into my male companion’s chest, inhaling deeply. He smelled amazing. I wasn’t sure how that could be, since we’d spent at least an hour rolling around on the ground. I’d thought round one had been mind-blowing. Imagine my surprise when he followed that up with three more rounds, back-to-back, with little to no downtime.

Dracula.

I couldn’t help but smile at the name he’d given me. Even when he’d found out how much I absolutely hated the Stoker novel and everything to do with Dracula, he’d doubled down on his role playing, really committing to the part. I wish he’d have picked any other famous vampire, even a fictional one. Hell, I’d have even accepted Count Von Count, the Muppet from a children’s show Willa and I had watched when we were little.

But Dracula?

Ugh.

Lucky for him, he was amazing in the sack—okay, leaves, against trees, and while bending me over a large rock.

I studied his features while he slept, committing to memory his strong brow line and the tiniest of scars he had above his upper lip. I’d not noticed it during the height of our sexual calisthenics. I wanted to trace the scar with my tongue, but I didn’t want to wake him. He looked too peaceful, too content, and something told me he didn’t rest this soundly often.

Besides, I liked the fact he was holding me more than I should. Waking him might end that or force me to confess I enjoyed being held. That would go against my womanly-slayer-code. It was a weakness, as Helen would have called it.

Emotions and feelings are for losers and quitters. Murrays are neither.

I shivered as her voice rang through my head. For so long I’d bought into her nonsense. I’d believed in her teachings, and I’d wanted to be just like her. That was before I knew she was a psychopath.

“All around the world… The vampire chased the slayer… The slayer thought ‘twas all in fun…”

I sat up fast, looking around, trying to see through the wall of darkness that was around us, in an attempt to see the source of the creepy feminine voice.

The song it sang was a play on a childhood nursery rhyme, yet the lyrics were anything but playful. Not that the original meaning of the song was sunshine and roses or anything. The person singing it sounded demented and oddly familiar.

Whoever it was sounded close.

They giggled, and a shiver raced up my spine.

I nudged Drac (because I flat out refused to even consider calling him Dracula), wanting him to wake and drop the darkness he’d been creating.

My father had mentioned once that darkness was something only the most powerful of vampires could create. I hadn’t realized he meant they could form darkness into something like a wall or dome in our case, or that they could hold that form even while they were asleep.

He didn't budge.

I tried again.

Still, he didn’t wake.

“It’s raining… It’s pouring… The vampire should be snoring…”

Oh, good. Creepy Chick was moving onto a new rhyme.

I reached for my jeans, which were close, but couldn’t find my panties. Giving up, I slid my jeans on and yanked my T-shirt over my head next, skipping my bra. I hurried into my boots and laced then, trying to wake Drac as I did. Still, he didn’t move.

Worry gnawed at my gut. I wasn’t a vampire. I just had some of their traits, and I knew how good my hearing was. If he was powerful enough to create darkness, he had stellar hearing, to the point he could probably hear a butterfly fart.

Creepy Chick kept singing and giggling, only making her sound creepier. I wasn’t even aware that was possible.

I grabbed for Drac’s pants and laid them over his groin, wanting to shield him from her view if she could see through the wall of darkness.

“Little slayer, little slayer, let me come in,” the woman sang.

Not by the hair of my… I stopped myself from saying it, despite the line running through my head.

I shook Drac. “Wake up!”

The man didn’t budge.

Creepy Chick repeated the screwed-up nursery rhyme about the vampire who should be snoring. Why was she back on that?

It hit me and I gasped, leaning over Drac fast, checking for breathing. There was none. I was about to start CPR on a guy who started out dead when she chimed in again.

“He’s fine,” she said in a sing-song voice that I was positive I’d heard before, I just couldn’t remember where. “But Astria and the others won’t be for long.”

Astria?

What in the hell did my roommates have to do with this?

“If you even think of hurting my friends, I’ll hunt you down and rip your heart out!”

Creepy Chick giggled again. “I’m not the one who is a threat to them. Hurry. You’ll be too late if you don’t.”

My gaze flickered to Drac and I went to start CPR.

Creepy Chick laughed loudly. “Silly goose, that won’t fix him. He sleeps the sleep of the dead. He will wake. Not now, but soon. You should be worried about your friends.”

I moved away from Drac and shot to my feet, running through the wall of darkness. It tickled, and I shook the feeling off, spinning around, searching for the source of the voice.

No one was there.

I spun, wanting to try to wake Drac again, but found I couldn’t get through the wall of darkness. I bounced off it and landed on my backside in the leaves. I tried again, only to repeat the process. This time, I touched it gently, trying to push my hand through. It didn’t work.

A giggle came from seemingly everywhere.

“Hurry home,” the voice said. “You’ll want to beat the storm.”

What storm? And who the hell was talking?

I stood there, torn between leaving Drac, going home, and running back to the cave I’d left my sister in. Guilt swept through me. I was the world’s worst sister. She was chained because of me. Because of my recklessness and now, tonight, I’d run off and left her to deal with things herself all so I could have a random booty call with a hot vampire who fancied himself the Prince of Darkness.

As much as I wanted to stay and protect Drac from whoever the owner of the sing-song voice was, I had to check on my sister. Besides, I couldn’t get through the dark wall. Maybe no one else could either.

I took off in the direction of the caves only to have the feeling of someone tying a rope around my waist return. My slayer instincts went haywire, demanding I go toward Gallows Lane. Toward the house I shared with my roommates.

Dammit.

I pivoted, giving into the pull.

I sprinted through campus and was to home in record time. The feeling of being watched returned as my feet connected with the front porch. Ignoring it, I went for the door but paused before going to the window and peeking inside.

Thankfully, no one was under attack from demons or anything.

It took me a second to wrap my brain around what I was seeing. Krissy, Emily, Jessica, Stevie, and Colleen were on the floor. Jessica was lying in the center of a circle of lit candles with her arms folded over her chest, like she’d been laid to rest or something. The others were gathered around her, sitting on the floor. It was then I remembered Krissy wanting to have a girl’s night and do fun slumber party like things, like we were tweens.

Evidently, her idea of fun included light as a feather. No thanks. I lived and breathed the paranormal, I didn’t want to play party games revolving around it.

Torid was near them all. Emily and Krissy would have a lot to say about that. Neither of them were huge fans of him. I really hoped he ripped a stinky fart next to Emily.

Astria, whose head of shockingly purple hair was hard to miss, was seated at the dining room table.

I didn’t see Snow or Scarlett.

I adjusted my clothing and caught sight of my reflection in the window. I had a cut on my cheek I didn’t remember getting, leaves in my hair, and my chin was red. I looked like something the cat dragged in. If anyone asked, I’d make up something.

There was no point in freaking them out if nothing was wrong. I’d play it cool, check on them and make sure nothing nefarious was afoot. Then I’d get back to the cave and see how Willa was doing. Then I’d check on Drac again.

I really needed to be cloned.

“Is that it?” a girl asked loud enough that I heard her even though she and the girl she was walking with were a few houses down. She was pointing at our house.

The other girl checked a piece of paper she was holding. “Yes. I think so.”

“Um, I’m not sure how I feel about living there,” said the first.

I grinned but it faded when I heard the distant rumble of thunder. Creepy Chick was right. It was going to storm.

These must be the potential roommates we had lined up to view the rooms that would be available soon.

“Come on, Darling,” said the second. “It can’t hurt to look. The price is exactly what we need.”

I went to the door, turned the handle and stepped in, trying to appear aloof and not like I’d been spying on them through the living room window. “Tell me the creep-fest is over and not just getting started. Willa should be here any minute. Oh, I think the two prospects are walking down the street together. Can’t wait for them to walk in and think we’re devil worshipers. Fun. Also, no one mentioned it was going to storm. I thought the weather was supposed to be great all weekend.”

When I glanced up, Astria was standing, her foot crossing the circle on the floor, her eyes wide and locked on me. Fear was evident. “Mina, something is wrong!”

Tensing, I looked around the foyer fast, trying to figure out what the threat was. I felt it then, dark magik seeping in from every nook and cranny in the old home. They needed to stop whatever in the hell they were doing with the candle and the circle. “Stop the?—”

The dark magik increased. The candles blew out.

Gail force wind slammed into me from the front, sweeping me up and off my feet, knocking me into the door. It hurt. A lot. I wasn’t concerned for myself. No. My worry was for my roommates. The dark magik pushed at me more as if it were trying to shove me out of the house.

Not happening!

I twisted onto my hands and knees and crawled, unable to stand from the force of the power and the wind. It whipped my hair into my face and yanked at my clothing. I didn’t care. I kept going. Kept trying to get to my friends.

Had I been new to the horrors this world had to offer, I’d have frozen in terror and disbelief. This wasn’t my first supernatural rodeo, and I wasn’t going to accept whatever was happening without a fight.

Jessica was launched high into the air. She struck the ceiling with a sickening sound that echoed even over the wind. In the next breath, her body came flying at me. There was nothing I could do except brace for impact. She struck me, and I was slammed into the wall. The back of my head hit and for a second, I saw stars.

Furniture lifted and was flung about. Something big started to growl, the sound of it carrying over the wind, setting off every one of my slayer alarms. I didn’t need to see it to know what it was.

A demon!

Jessica’s body was limp and not far from me. Her neck was twisted at an odd angle. One that said, nothing good could come of it. Still, I pushed against whatever force was throwing dark power at me and managed to get to her. I felt for a pulse but found none.

My gaze met Astria’s from across the room. I shook my head.

Something seized me from behind, yanking me away from Jessica’s body.

“Mina!” Astria yelled.

I tried to break the demon’s hold on me, but it was too tight and cutting off my ability to breathe. I kicked and thrashed, knowing I wasn’t weak. I had the strength of a slayer plus that of a vampire. Still, I was powerless against whatever in the hell kind of demon it was. I clawed at its arm to no avail.