Page 30 of The Vampire Court

I can feel him chuckle against my skin as he continues to drink. Faster and faster, I can feel him draining me. Tingles spread through my body, weakening my muscles. My legs tremble.

Otherworld save me—he’s killing me.

Shifting the dagger in my hand, I whisper, “I warned you.”

He pauses and starts to pull back just as I bury the blade in his throat. Kerin stares at me in shock as I jerk the dagger then pull it out. Blood gushes from the wound. I can see his thoughts skitter across his face—confusion that his immortal body isn’t healing and then understanding as he his eyes drift to the night-forged silver weapon in my hand, and linger there.

He falls to his knees, collapsing to his side. His hands reach up to his throat as if that could stop what is happening.

I slide down, crouching. There’s the faint clatter of metal on stone as I drop the dagger.

Kerin stills, his hands going limp and falling away. I watch for the slight rise and fall of his breath, but it’s not there, not anymore.

I wait for guilt to hit, for sorrow at taking another life, but I feel nothing.

A piercing scream rents the air.

I slowly lift my head, dragging my gaze up to a group of vampires on the other end of the hall. Their faces move in and out of focus. Then one pushes forward. Blond. Familiar.

I’m too tired to think.

My feet slide out from under me, and I land hard on my butt. Black spots continue to dance, blocking out parts of my vision, growing in size.

If I pass out, I know I will never wake up again. I cling to the edges of consciousness, willing myself to stay awake. I’m quickly losing the battle.

A smile forms on my dry lips.At least I took this bastard out first.

“Clara.”

The name sounds familiar.

My name.

And the voice…

I try lifting my head but can only manage to lull it to the side, looking up at the man at an angle. I squint. Slowly, his features sharpen.

“Cassius?” I murmur. Or at least I think I do. I can’t feel my mouth anymore.

I think that should worry me.

He plucks up the dagger from the floor and wipes it off on his sleeve then sheaths it in my boot. I want to tell him that’s wrong, but I can’t seem to form words.

He hooks an arm around my waist, draping mine over his shoulders, then hauls me to my feet. I try to push away from him and walk on my own. My feet trip over nothing, and I almost fall.

“Stop fighting me,” he growls under his breath as he leads me away from the crowd of onlookers.

I try to get my limbs to cooperate, but they are loose and uncoordinated.

“Stop right there,” a woman’s voice commands.

Cassius obeys. I glare from the corner of my eye, willing him to keep going and ignore her. Instead, he turns us to face her.

The crowd parts down the middle, and a small figure emerges. The vampire queen storms toward us, furry twisting her features.

“What in the Otherworld happened here?”

I open my mouth to tell her exactly what I did, but Cassius cuts me off. “He drank from Clara when he knew that she was already claimed and marked.”