The Tracker's Rage (Mate Tracker #3) - Ingrid Seymour Page 0,73
anything to stop them from feeding me that poison.
“You had your chance,” Stephen said. “If you had simply considered it, I would have given you the opportunity to prove yourself.”
Danika grabbed my arms and forced me to my knees. She took a handful of my hair and pulled my head back. Bernadetta dipped the dagger into the vessel once more and approached me. Her expression told me how pleased she felt to find me kneeling in front of her, ready to become her slave.
Digging in her claws, Danika grabbed my face and squeezed. I clenched my teeth together with all my might, but her fingers painfully dug into the hollows of my cheeks, slowly prying my mouth open.
Bernadetta placed the dagger over my mouth. A drop of blood slid to the tip and hung there for a split second. Then it fell, ready to seal my fate and give my life over to the evil vamp.
Chapter 30
I closed my eyes, despair washing over me as I thought of my family and friends. They would be as lost to me as my life.
I waited for the drop to hit my tongue, for a bitter taste to fill my mouth. Two beats. Nothing. I opened my eyes and stared incredulously at the hovering droplet of blood.
It hung frozen in midair.
A miracle had happened.
Bernadetta was staring at me, still smiling coldly. She hadn’t noticed the blood was hovering in place. It took her another split second to see what was happening. She frowned, took a step to one side for a better angle, and stared at the blood.
“What—?”
A ball of magic hit her in the chest and sent her flying against the marble altar. The top cleaved in two, rumbling as it collapsed. Shots rang at the entrance. Bullets pinged against the walls. The hands that held me let go. I threw my arms over my head and crawled around the lectern. Stephen joined me, nearly knocking me out of cover. I cursed at him.
Steps rushed over the stone floor. Wood splintered as more shots hit the pews. Another ball of magic flew in and hit one of the stained-glass windows above the altar. I expected them to shatter, but the magic flew past them like a fiery ghost. This place’s spells had spells, I imagined.
Bernadetta rose from the ground in one smooth motion, her trench coat fluttering behind her as she hovered above the broken pieces of marble, literally levitating.
Holy shit!
I’d heard ancient vampires could do that, but I always thought it was bullshit.
Suddenly, Stephen lunged toward the broken altar. I watched as he scooped the jade cup from a puddle of blood in the floor and cradled it against his chest. Next, his eyes darted around, searching for the dagger. I spotted it an instant before he did and dove for it. I snatched it up just as Stephen crashed into me and tried to pry it from my fingers. I whirled to a kneeling position and threatened to stab him with it. The blade was still covered in Bernadetta’s blood. He recoiled, terror brimming in his eyes.
I had a mind to stick it in his mouth so he could taste a bit of his own medicine, but a bullet flew an inch in front of my nose, and I had to duck and crawl behind one of the marble columns. From that vantage point, I was finally able to see what was happening. The temple was a war zone. Vampires blurred in a flurry of movement, trying to reach the double doors as bullets and magic poured in keeping them at bay. Something told me that if those doors closed, we were all doomed. This was some strange temple, probably soaked in layers and layers of spells.
“Close the doors,” Bernadetta ordered in a booming voice too strong for someone so little. She still hovered over the broken altar, her eyes glowing red, her black ponytail fluttering as if a storm were stirring around her.
Another magical attack flew in her direction. Before it reached her, she dropped to the floor and ran toward the doors in a zigzag pattern, blurring with speed. Danika reached the front a second later. They each pushed on one of the thick doors as if they were made of cardboard. The doors swung out, but just before they shut, a current of magic slipped through the crack and, like flooding water, glided over the floor, and spread until it reached every corner of the chamber.