Flashes of white, red and black speckled her vision. The world spun until it faded to black.
“Get the girl who looks like the picture and don’t get a scratch on her,” a commanding voice said behind her.
What?
She blinked and tried to lift her head but a pair of blinding white high beams sent a wave of sharp shooting pain through her skull.
Had she passed out?
She blinked gain. The light didn’t hurt so bad when she squinted. She lowered her lids and scrambled to move, but a dizzying surge kept her flat against the ground littered with safety glass.
The ground? How in the hell?
“Ger her out of the car,” he yelled.
What the hell was he talking about? She was already out of the car.
When a figure stood in front of the headlights, that thought dissolve. The car was surrounded. A ring of black armored trucks gridlocked them in, blocking the street. Two sets of strong high beams created a spotlight on them.
This was bad news. She needed to get the hell out of there. Lifting to her knees should’ve been easy. She’d done it a hundred times. This time, her body wouldn’t get up, like her limbs were superglued to the ground.
“Boss, looks like there’s life in the front seat. What are our orders?”
Alarm bells rang in her head.
Derrek. She looked up to the car. Derrek was hunched over the steering wheel unconscious. She needed to wake him up—to warn him that someone was coming—but it felt like her tongue had outgrown her mouth. Too thick to move.
“Take care of him, but do not disturb the street,” the first voice replied.
The silhouette a man shouldered his rifle before pulling off his gloves. A string of purple electricity shot from his fingertips. Oh God.
She tried to shout for Derrek again. When that didn’t work, she tried for her legs again. Her limbs remained stuck to the pavement like an invisible rope tethered her to the ground. Her stomach churned as she was forced her to watch the man’s magic travel up the car door, weave through the air bags, and tighten around Derrek.
He convulsed violently, body jerking against the front airbag like he was being suffocated by a boa constrictor. A matching sharp pain tightened around her and squeezed. The more it crushed Derrek, the worse it’d gotten for too.
Her vision blurred.
Oh God. He’s killing him. Killing us.
Stop, she tried to command the man’s magic away. It didn’t budge. It merely tightened around Derrek’s body and squeezed so hard, she felt the air being forced from her lungs.
Stop. Please stop.
She gasped trying to get her lungs to inflate again.
Why couldn’t she move? If she could just get to the man, she could make him stop. Beg him to have mercy.
She was going to pass out. No, she was going to die.
Lightheadedness set in; her lungs were no longer contracting. Her body remained too tight to do much besides stay tethered to the ground. It probably wouldn’t do her any good if she wasn’t pent against the gravel. If she were free, she would probably be flopping around like a fish struggling to breathe.
The pain became unbearable. Her eyes rolled into the back of her head, her shallow gasps brought her body none of the needed air.
This was it. She was going to die.
The pain burst. An invisible forcefield shattered around her. Derrek stopped jerking. Then, his body slumped.
No.
Her lungs released.
“Mmm,” the man purred as the electric current slithered from the car and back to him. “I love that feeling.”
How?
Her eyes flickered up to Derrek again. He was gone. Tears leaked from her eyes like he’d wrenched her heart from her chest and smashed it onto the pavement beside her then stomped on it.
Her body quaked. Her stomach flipflopped. A hole in her chest grew to the size of a softball. There was nothing to love about this feeling.
All magical beings felt their kin. Their presence was soothing like a warm hug from a loving grandparent.
Even on her tonic the sense had been dulled, but not deadened. That’s how she could feel the woman across the hall. But with Derrek, it was different. She’d always known he’d have her back. Felt it. It’d been her constant reassurance for the past seven years. Every time they’d gotten into the car to go to school. Whenever he’d taken her home to see her dad. When he took her to her soccer practice in high school. Throughout everything he’d been there.
Now, that security was gone. Her emotions scattered. She didn’t know what to feel first. Loss. Sadness. Regret. Pain. Derrek’s essence had been ripped away and with it, his protection.
She dry-heaved.
“What the hell? There’s two of them. You said take the girl who looks like the picture. Looks like that’s both of them.”
The man’s voice snapped her attention. They were in trouble.
After a short pause, another voice said “Yeah, I see that.”
“Then which one do we take?” replied someone else.
What did he mean, which one? Her thoughts jumped to Breanne.
Please don’t let him be talking about her.
She wouldn’t be able to take her loss too. She’d rather throw herself on a live wire. She wanted to look at him but her face wouldn’t budge.
“Splinters won’t care,” the mage standing next to Derrek said. “Either one should do. They look close enough. Let me have this one.”
Her insides quivered.
“No,” the first one said. “We need the right one for the auction.”
Auction? What did he mean auction? She tried to jerk her body up but it refused to move.
“Then what do we do?”
“We take them both.”
Read Chapter 3 on my blog
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Sabrina C Rose lives in the dry heat of Arizona, where she spends her days retreating from the sun and her nights cooking up fairy tales that include oodles of paranormal goodness.
When she’s not plotting against the vampire king, she’s kicking back and watching all the Netflix. Current line-up: Agents of Shield, the Originals, Sense8, and Stranger Things.
Ask her why Eric Northman is one of the greatest vampire boyfriends ever created and you may unearth the secrets to the universe (no promises, though).
Join her on her website: www.sabrinacrose.com
Join the fun on her newsletter: Reading Roses
Follow her on Social: Facebook | Instagram |
Table of Contents
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
Epilogue
LOVE GAME
FREE WEB SERIAL
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Table of Contents
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
Epilogue
LOVE GAME
FREE WEB SERIAL
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
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Love Bitten (Vampire Blood Royals Book 1) Page 23
