Harem of Fangs

by Emma Dawn

  Malcom slid out of his coat, and shed his shirt. “If we are doing this, then we are doing it now.”

  It was only then I realized he didn’t want to do this, he didn’t want to be with me despite the pull between us.

  I took a step back. “I won’t force you, Malcom. That is not my way.”

  He closed his eyes and a sigh slid out of him. “Damn you. That is not how this works. It just is this way, and we are fucking.”

  I took another step back and he lunged for me, snagging me around the thighs and pulling me down so my body was under his, flat on the floor. The scene from the training room flooded me and Preacher was there in a flash at my side, one hand on my shoulder, the other on Malcom’s.

  “Easy, Malcom. Easy. Her memories of you are not pleasant no matter how strong the call to your flesh is for her.”

  Malcom held still and I got my heartbeat back under control. I looked up at Preacher.

  “Thank you. I’m...I’m okay now.”

  Malcom bent his head and then moved so his lips were away from mine. He shook his head. “My kiss and bite are poison. Vampires like me are not supposed to have bonds like this. We are born to be loners.”

  Those words held a great deal of pain, and for a moment I thought I saw a flicker of his past in his eyes. Treated badly, tortured, made to do things he didn’t want. This man was not the shithead I’d thought.

  He’d been acting on orders he couldn’t deny.

  I snorted. “Look, it isn’t like I want a repeat of the bite, but you are here, and you are part of our...” I paused, uncertain of what to truly call what this was. More than a harem of men, that was for sure. Family...that was the word, but it was strange sounding when there was just little old me with six men at my beck and call.

  Preacher laughed softly. “Family is as good a word as any, Allianna. Far better than consorts or harem.”

  Malcom was staring at me with those summer-blue eyes of his. “You consider this family?”

  I lifted a shoulder. “I don’t know what else to call it. Family is more than love. It is loyalty, it is laughter, it is light and dark, forgiveness and hope for the future.” I dared to touch his face, cupping it with the palm of my hand. “It is being open to possibilities and taking them for what they are.”

  He frowned, closed his eyes and swallowed hard enough that it was audible. “And what is this then?”

  “Fate. You found me, and you brought me here, which means from the beginning you’ve been a part of my journey into this world. A world I am willing to fight for now.” The words seemed to pour out of me, filling the space between us and softening the antagonism there from the beginning.

  “I didn’t want...to hurt you on the field.” He leaned his head against my shoulder. “Preacher, am I being honest?”

  Preacher answered him. “You are. Terra controlled you. She can’t now, your bond is to Allianna.”

  Malcom shuddered.

  I gave him a gentle tap on the shoulder. “When this is done, when I am queen, I will make you an offer.”

  His eyes swept to mine. “What kind of offer?”

  “I will give you a choice. You can stay with me, bound to me, or you can go, and live your life however you want.”

  “Not possible,” Preacher said.

  I didn’t look at him. “Anything is possible when you stop believing it isn’t.”

  The other men didn’t argue with me, and I wasn’t sure if they were just humoring me or making it so Malcom would help.

  Malcom nodded. “A choice, something I have not had in all my years.”

  “You going to fuck her?” Celt barked out. “Because if not, then we need to get going.”

  I locked eyes with Malcom. “Up to you.”

  He shook his head. “I want all my energy for the fight. I want to win, not have my head handed to me and shoved into the sunlight.”

  I smiled, leaned forward and kissed his cheek. “Good. So, do I.”

  He raised himself off me and offered his hand. I took it and he helped me to stand. The coursing lust for his skin was still there, but it had tempered, and obviously, he’d managed to master it as well.

  “To war we go.” I looked around the room at the men with me. I would choose them all if I could. As it was...my choice had been made for me. For all of us.

  I rested my eyes on Malcom.

  He nodded and straightened his shoulders. “To battle, to hope for the future.”

  I lifted a hand, fisted to him, and he knocked his fisted hand on mine. “Boom goes the new queen.”

  Chapter Nineteen

  King helped me dress while Celt and Wick argued over what I should wear.

  “The black catsuit, I think that is fitting,” I pointed out. “And it’s easy to move about in.”

  King agreed quietly. His hands shook as he laced up a black corset over the suit. “This will give you some extra protection from the blows.”

  I drew a breath in, held it and slowly let it out, doing what I could to calm my nerves. It was only in that moment of quiet that I remembered the tiny container that Ralph had given me. “Spartan, would you check the red dress for a flask? It’s not very big, but I think I dropped it when we came in here.”

  Wick snickered. “Had other things on your mind, did you?”

  I grinned and winked at him. “You bet.”

  Spartan rummaged through the voluminous skirts. “Are you sure?”

  My mouth went dry. That flask could be the difference between surviving and finding myself drained completely. “Shit.”

  Our walk from the Windrun pack had been anything but comfortable. I’d been furious. Could I have dropped the flask? I’d not even thought of it until just now.

  “What was it?” Malcom asked. “A nip of whiskey I can get you if that’s all it was.”

  I shook my head. “Essence of Lillianna.”

  All six heads swiveled toward me. “What did you say?” Celt was the first to break the silence.

  “Ralph gave it to me. He said that it would help me channel Lillianna, that she’d been a great fighter and that she’d only lost to Terra because of trickery.” I looked into their faces, hoping Ralph had not been lying to me. Spartan was the one who answered my unspoken questions.

  “It is possible. I didn’t think Ralph and Lily were that close. I’ll check the stairs, and start back tracking through the forest. Hold off as long as you can.” He darted close to me, planted his lips on mine, the prick of his fangs as he pressed them tightly to my lips. He whispered against them, “I love you, Ally.”

  Then he was gone in a blur. I stood in the middle of the room, feeling the minutes tick by on my skin, a tightening sensation I couldn’t escape.

  “How long?” I asked.

  “Fifteen minutes,” King said.

  The amount of energy flowing through me did not want to be contained. I needed to move, run, something, anything.

  In my mind, I could see the fight play out, as if I were writing a scene in a book. I would face Terra with Preacher at my side. As the oldest, he was the most reasonable one for me to have chosen. The other men would hang back, far enough that if I failed, they would have a chance to get away before they were taken to slaughter.

  I knew they wouldn’t, though, and that thought gutted me. If I failed and lost to Terra, I knew the others would rush to my side. I knew they would go down with me. I clenched my hands into fists, then spread my fingers wide over and over. Malcom touched my arm.

  “Two minutes.”

  I bit my lower lip and nodded. Though I had to force myself, I ran through the few moves Spartan had taught me. But I was slow, human slow, and I fumbled even those simple moves, with my nerves getting the better of me.

  I was so afraid that without Lillianna’s essence, I would be sunk. I pressed the heels of my hands into my eyes and counted down the last sixty seconds in my head.

  They ticked by incredibly fast and before I knew it I was at ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, fou
r, three, two, “One,” I whispered.

  No more delaying this, no more thinking about how to win this fight. I squared my shoulders and started toward the door, Preacher at my side. The other three fell in behind us. I found Preacher’s hand as we walked the narrow hallway. My hand was clammy, damp with nerves and the clear understanding I was walking to my death.

  Try and get them out, when I lose to her, please try and get you and the others out. I can’t bear to think of all of you dying because I am not strong enough. My thoughts were clear, directed at Preacher to make sure he heard them.

  His hand tightened on mine. I hoped he did as I asked.

  The narrow hallways opened as we moved past the hospital rooms, past the training room and to a place I’d not been before.

  “This is the arena,” Preacher said. “It is only used when a queen is challenged for her throne.”

  “Sounds peachy keen,” I muttered. “The blood of the losers saturates the ground, and their souls cry out for revenge.”

  Malcom snorted. “Waxing poetic, are we?”

  “Writer brain.” I tapped the side of my head. “Can’t help it sometimes.”

  As Preacher and I stepped into the arena, I got a good look at the place. Not so unlike the training field, it was smaller in size, only about as big around as an ice rink.

  Unlike the training ground, though, the footing was not smooth turf, but shattered and broken as though bombs had been dropped and huge craters had developed as a result. Some of the craters held pools of dark water.

  I wrinkled up my nose at the thought of the water stagnant for a thousand years.

  “Not quite that long,” Preacher said, “but close. I wouldn’t get into it if you don’t have to. The stink is damn hard to get off. Hawk threw me in once, I stunk for three weeks.”

  I knew what he was doing, distracting me, and I appreciated it, but also understood we had to focus.

  Malcom was an unknown, and I was placing my life, and the lives of the men I loved, in his hands. Terrifying as that was, I had to face Terra and her consort, Amos.

  “Amos, what can you tell me about him?” I queried softly. I cursed myself. I should have asked sooner.

  “He’s one of the few vampires able to truly change shape. His preference is for a large snouted lizard that walks on two legs.”

  My lips twitched and a nervous giggle escaped me. “You mean like Godzilla?”

  Preacher grinned as he shook his head. “Not as big, but yes, similar enough.”

  I laughed, I couldn’t help it. It was too fucking funny. “No wonder she keeps winning.”

  Again, he smiled at me. “Even now, you find joy, Allianna. That is why you must win. You will change our world for the better.”

  I went to my tiptoes and kissed him, not caring others were watching, not caring that the arena was surrounded by those who would try and kill my lovers if I won, and would try to kill me if I lost.

  “Ahh, how sweet, they’re in love,” Terra the Twat called out, giving us an exaggerated clap of her hands. “Wonderful, now let’s get on with this. I have a dinner waiting for me.” She snapped her fingers and from behind her was dragged a figure I knew all too well.

  I stared at the dark hair and flashing green eyes of my best friend. I took a step before I could catch myself. “Cassie!”

  Cassie tried to lift her head but it was forced back down by the vampire holding her. I shook my head. “You twinky bitch, you think that will help your cause? You think that—”

  “And dessert.” Terra snapped her fingers and my heart plummeted. Literally dropped out of my chest as Dominique was shoved into the light. Her blue-green eyes stared at me, but there was not one tear. Her face was a hard sight, and within seconds I knew that mine reflected the anger and fury in my little sister’s.

  One did not mess with the Swift sisters and get away with it.

  “Wrong. Fucking. Move. Bitch.” I didn’t wait for anyone to tell me it was time. I didn’t wait for someone to ring a bell. I rushed Terra, tapping into everything that made me who I was. Joy. Rage. Laughter. Loyalty.

  Terra’s eyes widened as I bodily slammed into her. I didn’t go for finesse. I had none. I tackled her as if we were out playing football. We slammed onto the ground while the crowd around us roared their approval.

  She let out a screech and swung a fist at my face. I ducked down close, and her fist sailed over my head. There was a roar of a beast, and I knew Amos was coming. I had a very short time to make this my stand, and to make it count.

  Fast, I had to end this before it truly started.

  I wrapped my hands around Terra’s neck and dug my fingers in, squeezing for all I was worth. I didn’t dare take my eyes off her face.

  She dug her hands into my arms scratching and clawing at me, drawing blood in long rakes that made me hiss. But I was not letting go. She’d stolen my sister, and the bitch queen was going to die. I was saving my men. I was saving Cassie.

  I was saving my sister. A burst of energy ripped through me and I redoubled my hold on her.

  “Ally, look out!” Malcom gave me the warning, a split second too late.

  There was a glimmer of thick dark-scaled skin and then it was like I’d been hit by a Mack truck. Terra’s consort rammed into me, throwing me off the twat and sending me sailing through the air, ass over teakettle.

  Before I even slowed my rolling, I scrambled to get to my feet. My mind was in a haze of rage I’d never experienced, and I could no longer control myself. Amos indeed looked like Godzilla, though on a seven-foot scale rather than seventy. I ran toward him. “Come on, mofo, let’s do this.”

  It was like every fight scene I’d ever written had come back to me, every battle, every time my heroines had to take a stand. I channeled my characters into my movement, letting it guide me.

  At the last second of my run, as his meaty big clawed fists swept toward me, I dropped to the ground and slid between his legs. As I passed his rather large and wrinkled ball sack, I shot a hand up and grabbed it for all I was worth.

  His roar turned into a screech of agony that scaled from a low C to a high A in rapid pace. I stood behind him, his balls crushed in my hands as I looked around for the queen.

  She stood facing Preacher, a sword in her hands, the tip pressed against his chest. “Let him go, or your mate dies.”

  Behind her, Malcom crept closer, his fangs exposed. How long before someone in the crowd shouted out? Did we have time?

  “Did you hear me?” Terra sneered, her young-looking face twisted with...fear.

  I raised myself upright but did not loosen my hold on the consort. He was bent over at the waist now, struggling to breathe. “Can’t do much fucking if I rip his balls and dick off.”

  Her eyes narrowed and Amos whimpered, “Please, Terra, let her win. We will leave, we still have each other.”

  “Rip them off for all I care,” she snapped. “He was never any good at fucking anyway.”

  Amos roared, “You traitorous whore!”

  She grinned at me. “See? He’s only good for fighting. It’s why I chose him. You...I’m surprised you didn’t choose Spartan. He at least could have put up a good fight. Preacher here, he’s the oldest, but he was never the fighter of the group.”

  I let Amos’s balls go. “You can kill her if you like. Won’t bother any of us none.”

  He shifted as he fell away from me, down to his knees. I didn’t turn my back on him, but turned so I could keep them both in my sight.

  Malcom was almost to her. Almost.

  His eyes shot to mine and I nodded. Terra saw it, spun and swept the sword up. Preacher caught her arms and pinned them to her sides, but not fast enough.

  Malcom caught the blade across his belly, opening him up like a can of spaghetti 0’s.

  He went down. I was running, Spartan was yelling something from the distance.

  I didn’t slow, but ran harder, knowing there wasn’t much time with an injury like that. “Hold her, Preacher!”
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  “I’ve got her. She cannot sway me,” Preacher said. I was on my knees in a flash, doing what I could to help Malcom hold his intestines in place.

  “What can I do?”

  “You can’t do anything.” His breathing was ragged. “It’s not like the movies, we die just like you die.”

  I looked back to Preacher. “Will blood help?”

  “It will, but his bite would wound you again, and I don’t know that we could get you to the pack in time.” Preacher shook his head. “You cannot chance it, my queen.”

  Terra screamed. “I am not beaten!”

  I took the sword from the ground and drove it into her belly, stopping before it pierced her back. “You are now, twat.”

  Preacher let her go and she slumped forward. I grabbed her by the hair and dragged her to Malcom. “I know she’s a shit quality of blood, but will it help?”

  He took her by the face and yanked her to his mouth, burying his fangs into her neck. She screamed, but the scream faded and then was gone as he drew the blood from her. I watched as his stomach healed before my eyes, until the wound was gone and his flesh smooth once more if still covered in blood.

  I smiled at him even though the edges of it wobbled. “We did it.”

  The vampires around us shifted, like the motion of a wave rolling out into the ocean so it could pick up speed and send a tsunami into shore. I didn’t like how this was feeling.

  I stood and did a slow circle as a dozen vampires began to close ranks around us. They wore armor and had swords like Terra’s. I swallowed hard.

  Every sword was pointed at us. Or more specifically...

  Me.

  Chapter Twenty

  All my men, including Malcom, circled around me, facing outward to the attackers. Bare-handed. I knew there would be massive wounds, and not enough blood donors to heal them all.

  “NO!” I shouted the word and there was...a click inside my head like a puzzle piece falling into the final missing spot.

  “To your knees!” Again, the command was shouted, but more than that, it came with a power that welled from my belly upward.