Darkblood Prison - G.K. DeRosa Page 0,17

still fighting tooth and nail. Literally.

Meanwhile, Dembrat leaned against the wall watching.

A flash of silver streaked across my peripheral vision, and I ducked just in time. Or maybe not. A sharp sting raced across my cheek. Ouch! I clapped my hand over my face, and my palm came away sticky.

“If you can’t play with the big girls, you have no place in Delacroix’s crew.”

I jumped back and readjusted my hold on the chair. “Who said I wanted to be in your stupid crew anyway?”

She jabbed at the air with her weapon, her thrusts getting more desperate and sloppy with each move. “I don’t understand why you’re so important. Why hasn’t he killed you already? I don’t smell anything special about you.”

“Geez, thanks for that, you slutty succubus. He must not be too particular if he let you into the gang.”

She let out a throaty snarl and yanked at my weapon—A.K.A. one of the chair legs.

“Let go!” I shrieked as I twisted the cumbersome thing to get it out of her grasp. She kept coming as I staggered back, quickly losing my grip.

A sharp scream from the other side of the room curdled the blood in my veins. Dallas. The werewolf hovered over him, a mouthful of blood dripping from his maw.

Oh my gods, wasn’t werewolf venom toxic to vampires? But would his poisonous saliva even work if there was no magic?

The succubus jerked the chair free from my hands while I was distracted and tossed my makeshift weapon to the floor. Craptabulous. She advanced, brandishing the contraband knife, a wicked smile forming on her lips. “Now we’ll see who’s the baddest demon bitch in this joint.”

My shoulder blades hit the back wall, and I muttered a curse. I was trapped. From over the succubus’s shoulder I could just make out Dallas. He was still on the floor, but it looked like he was fighting back.

I released a breath and focused on my advancing assailant. She thrust the dagger at my chest, but I managed to block it with my forearm. The blade sank into my skin, and I bit back the scream at the back of my throat. She sliced the air again, and with my shoulders against the wall I was stuck.

A brilliant purple glow lit up my upper arm, the light emanating through my black sleeve. It caught her eye and diverted her attention. It was all the distraction I needed to throw a good sucker punch to her gut.

She staggered back, clutching her stomach and shrieked a curse. This time, she charged.

I threw my hand out as the blade grew dangerously close, and a burst of energy exploded from my palm. The ball of mystical power slammed into her chest and tossed her across the room. She smacked into the opposite wall with a sickening crunch and crumbled to the floor.

My shoulders sagged in relief and I slid down the wall, landing in a heap. My heart fluttered. I drew in a breath to get my raging pulse under control.

The door flew open, and the crack of metal hinges snapping yanked my attention to the massive dragon in the doorway. Not that I’d really needed to look, I could feel Talon the moment he neared. He barreled through the ongoing battle, shoving one of the guys Dallas was still fighting out of the way and raced toward me.

He slid to the floor, and his rough hands cradled my cheeks. “Gods, Azara, are you okay?” Smoldering silver orbs bored into mine, two pools of bottomless emotion. Removing one hand from my face, he pressed it into his chest. “I felt something terrible. I thought… I thought you—” He clenched his jaw, and his lips pressed into a tight line.

I nodded quickly, the depth of concern in his tone sparking a wave of unexpected sensations. Hot tears filled my eyes, and I hurried to blink them back. “Help Dallas. I think that werewolf bit him.”

With a lingering glance that melted my insides, he darted toward his friend. I sucked in a breath of air not tainted with Talon’s musky scent and scanned the room. Dembrat was gone. The succubus and the Fae’s unmoving bodies littered the floor. In a second, the two guys battling Dallas would join their fallen comrades. The fire raging across Talon’s eyes was nothing like I'd ever seen.

Sometimes I forgot how scary the massive dragon could be.

A roar shot across the room, vibrating the very wall I leaned against. I glanced up to find Dallas