Bloodfire (Blood Destiny 1) - Helen Harper Page 0,99
in one of my foes, and then not being able to control that supply.” Licking her lips in a way that made me shudder, she added, “I need it all.”
I felt a cold shiver run through me at her words, despite the churning bloodfire that was champing to be let loose. Part of me had hoped that I’d been wrong, that it hadn’t been me that she’d been after – and that it hadn’t been me who John had died protecting. I didn’t really care what she did to her enemies on this plane but I was damned if I was going to let her use part of me to help her continue her terror campaign. And I would have my revenge for John, Julia and all the others.
“Over my dead body,” I growled.
She raised a shoulder, shrugging lightly. “Suits me. There are plenty of ways to kill your mind but keep your physical body alive.” And with that she lunged forward, trying to grab hold of me.
I dodged, only just managing to escape her grasping hands, and turned on my heel, facing her again. I watched her stance carefully, taking note of the shifts in her muscles, trying to gauge where she would move next. I wasn’t going to try to strike her with the dirk until I could be sure of making contact.
She looked amused. “Oh, little dragon, this is going to be more fun than I thought.” She shot up into the sky and disappeared.
I whirled, squinting up above me, trying desperately to work out where she had gone. A faint whistling came sneaking into my left ear and my grip on the dirk tightened. Suddenly, I felt a huge force cuff me on the side of my head. I went flying into the sharp grass feeling its blades rip into the skin on my face and arm.
She stood over me again, laughter pealing out. “Don’t bleed too much, remember I need all that.”
From the ground I kicked out at her leg, connecting with her flesh. She howled in surprise and somersaulted backwards. I sprang up and leapt forward, lashing out with the blade. I felt the satisfying moment when the dirk scratched into her clothing.
“So,” she hissed, “the little human can use silver. I’m not one of your shifters, however. I am a god. It won’t hurt me.”
“Oh, but you’re just a demi-god, Iabartu, otherwise you wouldn’t need me. And when I stick this into your heart, it will hurt you. A lot.”
I was more confident now. She wasn’t entirely invulnerable and now I knew that I could reach her. This was not going to be impossible. I ran at her, dirk in front of me, ready to slice her and make her bleed. This time, however, she skirted right into the air before clawing her taloned fingernails at me. They connected with my cheek and drew blood. Iabartu paused, hovering in midair, and examined the little red drops on the tips of her fingers, a fascinated expression on her face.
“I can feel the fire from here,” she murmured.
“Then feel this,” I spat and attacked again, stabbing at her as the flames inside me roared in approval. The silver sank into her arm before she could pull away, and a dark liquid welled up around it. I managed to keep a firm grip on the hilt and held onto my now only workable weapon whilst Iabartu pulled back sharply. My slice didn’t quite have the devastating effect that I’d been hoping for but at least I got a reaction as her face twisted briefly in pain.
“Enough!” She snapped her fingers and, almost immediately, I heard a quiet rumble in the distance, getting gradually louder as whatever it belonged to drew nearer.
“Afraid you can’t beat me on your own, bitch? I might have figured that you’d call someone else in to do your dirty work. Clearly, a half breed like you doesn’t have much power of your own.” I hoped that I could taunt her into making a mistake but Iabartu had too much ice running through her veins for that just yet.
“You’re a half-breed too, human. I notice you don’t have anyone rushing to your aid.” She swung backwards and out of my reach.
“Because I don’t need help to kill you,” I retorted loudly. Just as I’d tried to encourage her temper to get the better of her, now she was obviously trying it with me. Of course, my temper was often my best weapon –