Dark Curse (Darkhaven Saga #5) - Danielle Rose Page 0,32

I exit this bedroom, everyone will see. Everyone will know. But somehow, I do not care about that anymore, because I know they need me. Jasik needs me.

I exhale sharply, loudly, and I twist the handle, slowly exiting my room. My palm, which grips my stake, is drenched in sweat. I wipe it against my thigh. I am shaking so violently, I am certain our intruders will find me by that alone. The jingle in my bones, the thudding of my heart, will surely give away my location.

I glance back down the hall. I am several feet away from my bedroom now. Sliding against the wall, I take slow, deliberate steps toward the stairs.

I shriek when someone whips around the corner. The vampire ungracefully stumbles as she sees me, and she falls to the ground. She meets my gaze, her eyes wide with fear. Her face is splattered with blood, and she only looks at me for a second before she disappears in a blur.

I cast my attention back on the hallway before me. I wait only a second, but I hear nothing. No one seems to be chasing her, so I continue stalking forward. Still shaking, I try to squeeze my stake tighter, thinking that might calm my jitters. It does not.

When I reach the top landing of the stairs, I descend slowly. The noise from downstairs is much louder now, and while the sounds coming from the main level absolutely terrify me, it covers my own inner turmoil. So I welcome the screams, the thuds, the clear puff of a vampire combusting. Silently, I pray an enemy has fallen, not a comrade.

I reach the first landing and quickly spin on my heels, stepping backward until my back is flush against the wall. I hold my stake before me, fisting it with two hands. It shakes violently beneath my grasp, my arms growing more tired with each passing second. Slowly, I lower my weapon but keep both hands wrapped around the handle. Again, my palms are slick with sweat, and I know I should wipe them before my stake slips free. But I do not.

I take the first step, trudging slowly, only descending to the next when both feet are firmly planted on the first. It feels like an eternity passes by the time I am far enough down to peer into the sitting room.

As I take another step, I miss the planks, stepping awkwardly on the edge, and I teeter forward, losing my footing and stumbling down several stairs. I fall into a heap at the final landing. Only a few steps are before me now. I stare up from where I sit, catching the attention of everyone in the room.

I do not miss the surprise in my comrades’ eyes. But their surprise is quickly suppressed by another, less friendly emotion: annoyance. Now, they must protect me and the other vampires and themselves.

I desperately want to help my friends. I want to protect the vampires and aid my allies. I watch, helplessly, as the others intercept every rogue vampire who spots me as easy prey.

As one charges, Jasik leaps forward, ignoring the vampire he was fighting in order to save me. With the rogue easily distracted by my mere presence, Jasik kills him swiftly.

My sire shoots me an angry glare, a silent order to go back upstairs, but I cannot move. Frozen in place, I watch as at least a dozen enemies terrorize everyone around them.

So many are dead, with dust coating the air and a sheer layer atop the furniture, and so many are wounded. Vampires who never faced the strength and fury of a rogue are forced to battle to the death, often losing to the superior predator.

Another is charging forward, but Jasik is nowhere to be seen. Lost in another room, likely cornered by even more attackers, he is gone, and I am alone. I look to the others for aid, but no one is close enough to save me. I must save myself.

The rogue vampire pounces, landing effortlessly atop me. He corners me in this place, where I am crouched helplessly on the floor, and as he looks at me, drool oozes down his chin, splattering on my cheek. I feel nauseated as his spit seeps down the sharp curve of my jaw and splashes onto my chest, but I do not wipe it away. I keep my gaze focused solely on him.

He looks at me the way a predator peers at prey. He