my heel, landing a kick against my opponent’s sternum. His grunt turned to a snarl as he wrenched me backward with his cement-like grasp on my ankle.
Just moments ago, I thought I was going to die at Ryder’s hands and become a meal for his friends to enjoy.
Now, I saw my death reflected in a pair of evil blue eyes framed by a handsome face and underlined by a cruelly curved mouth.
His hunger hit me like a heat wave, his hands reminding me of lycan claws as he tried to pull me beneath him.
No.
No.
No!
I refused to play the victim card, all those days in a cell raped repeatedly while drugged. Glimmers of the memories flashed behind my eyes, reminding me of the pain and torment I’d experienced. Just enough to kick-start my heart and my survival instinct.
My training took over, my arms and legs moving with a precision I’d honed over the years.
This had happened at the breeding camps, too. I had a vague memory of making a lycan bleed. He paid me back in kind by slashing his claws across my stomach.
There and gone in a second, my mind protecting me from whatever vicious act came next.
Not this time, I thought, blindly fighting for my life. The vampire crawled over me, his strength insurmountable and resolute. I tried to knee him, to kick him, to scratch out his eyes. But he caught my wrists and forced them over my head, his lower body landing against mine.
And in the next moment, he disappeared.
A roar came from nearby, followed by my perpetrator’s head landing on the floor beside me.
I gaped at it, then looked up to find Ryder standing above me in his immaculate suit.
He holstered his gun against his belt—a wardrobe attribute I’d missed in my earlier perusal of his outfit—and then he held out his hand for me.
I pressed my palm to his, my mind lost to a series of questions. My world shifted as he pulled me upward. His lips brushed my forehead before he tucked me behind him in a protective gesture.
I clung to his jacket, confused and overwhelmed. My lungs ached, demanding more air. I inhaled Ryder’s minty scent, his presence immediately calming my nerves. It was wrong, and frightening, but I needed it right then, and so I allowed it. I’d evaluate the reasons behind the comfort later.
As my pulse began to slow, I made the mistake of looking around the room.
My heart promptly jumped back into a chaotic rhythm, but for an entirely different reason.
Headless bodies decorated the tables, and blood dotted the clothes, chairs, and floors.
He massacred them… But how? He only held a gun.
The answer lurked in Damien’s hand as he sauntered toward us. “Done” was all he said as he set a wicked dagger on a nearby table.
I peeked out from behind Ryder to find a handful of vampires standing in the corner of the room, the majority of them gaping at the scene. Two, however, wore smiles of approval.
Rather than drop my gaze the way I should, I studied them and the scene, both mortified and enthralled by everything at the same time.
It was so thorough and efficient—two adjectives I associated with Ryder. Powerful, too, which was evidenced by the blue-eyed vampire’s headless body a few feet away from me. Another blade stuck out of his chest. That one must have belonged to Ryder.
Had the knives been in the bag of heads? They were too big for him to have concealed beneath his jacket. However he’d done it, I was impressed. Not only had he taken down over a dozen vampires in the blink of an eye, but he’d done so without getting a speck of blood on his suit. Even his hands were clean.
Ryder redefined the term monster. And rather than terrify me, I felt… hot.
He’d just slain an entire room of evil in a way I could only dream of accomplishing.
Who are you? I marveled, studying his broad shoulders.
His claims to be a royal were real, but he was unlike any I’d ever studied. He was ruthless and harsh, two traits known for his kind, yet he’d acted out against his fellow vampires, not the humans. That alone made him unique. The events of tonight, coupled with everything else, and I just didn’t know where to even begin with him.
“Consider yourselves warned,” Ryder said, addressing the huddled group in the corner of the room. “I will not tolerate disobedience. I will not tolerate assassination attempts. And I will