Page 30 of The Vampire's Mercy

More silence descended, testing my patience. I resisted a forward charge, not stupid enough to end things before it started.

Man, I hated myself for finding him attractive. A delicious outside didn’t beautify a rotten inside. Whatever he looked like, he was a vamp. The vamp of all vamps.

The Heart of All faded away, his skin returning to normal.

Fuck. Could I still hurt it without seeing it? Would my killing blow need to be aimed for the center of his chest rather than the traditional heart spot?

I’d try both.

A roar thundered from above, along with the sound of beating wings.

Not a new line of scanhawks, but an airborne frostbrood here to join our rooftop party.

CHAPTER SEVEN

PARIS

The big fucker landed on the roof between us, putting a dent in the floor, shaking the building.

Damn thing.

Its body was humanoid, but with icy wings and an owl’s head. Standing at least seven feet tall, it sported three white eyes, and a wide mouth instead of a beak, full of serrated teeth. Its long arms ended in singular curved talons, both big enough to slice me in half. Not Silvanus. He’d only regrow in seconds.

Like the worm he is!

Rather than hoot, the frostbrood roared, the icy feathers on its body lifting like the hairs on my arms.

It glanced between us, then took a swipe at the vampire king with both talons.

Time for me to go. Which sucked. No killing a king for me tonight because the royal guards would be here any second. They’d take me in for questioning, or possibly a skinning, and I wasn’t about to stick around to find out.

Dashing to the edge of the rooftop, disappointment weighing me down, I reached a ladder.

As quick as a blink, the vampire king appeared at my side, leaving the frostbrood swiping at thin air.

“What the…” I hissed.

He snatched my breaker from its holster, turned, and fired at the frostbrood as it charged.

Two bullets did the trick. The creature exploded into a cloud of ice, the shards scattering across the roof, tinkling with the sound of a thousand bells.

“Pesky things,” Silvanus said, facing me again. “Don’t you think?”

A different kind of ice pooled in my belly, unwelcome defeat creeping in.

I can’t beat him…

Guards burst from the roof door, breakers at the ready.

“Majesty!” Layla cried from the middle of the sea of black clothes.

Silvanus angled his head toward her. Distracted. Exposed.

This was it. This was my chance to get it done.

Without another thought, heart a gong in my ears, I summoned my stakeblade and drove it into his chest, aiming straight for the middle of his chest with every ounce of might in my body.

CHAPTER EIGHT