Not Another Vampire Book (16 page)

Nestor
bellowed in pain.

Damien
didn’t blame him.

The
dragon still didn’t release Kara.  He doubled over, but he hung on.  “Listen,
you human bitch.  I’m here to save you from Damien!”  He gave her a shake, his
voice a furious hiss.  “I’ll take you back to Slade.”

“The
hell you will.”  Kara shot back.  The manuscript slammed upside Nelson’s
reptilian head.  “Damien, where are you?!”

No
one had ever called on him for help before.  “I’m here, Kara Lynn.”  He kept
his eyes on Nestor, as he stepped closer.  “She’d fight you the entire flight
back to Slade’s kingdom, you know.  As you can see, the woman doesn’t like the Vampire.” 
The satisfaction he felt about that made his eyes gleam, even as he waited for
an opening to snatch her back from Nelson’s grip.

The
dragon wasn’t an idiot.  He held Kara in front of him, preparing to take flight
and escape.  He couldn’t actually leave with Damien so close.  Dragons were
vulnerable for the first few seconds they were in the air.  Damien would stop
him from getting far and they both knew it.  “Try anything and I’ll kill her,
Damien.”  Black, razor sharp claws flexed against her skin.

Kara
froze.

“Unless
Slade will pay you for returning with a corpse, I’d rethink any murder plans,
if I were you.”  But, Damien slowed his advance.  “This
is
the Vampire’s
doing, correct?”  Might as well let Kara know her ‘hero’ was behind this.

“Slade’s
offering top dollar to anyone who can rescue her from you.  She’s his queen.”

“No,
I’m
not
.  And I don’t want to be rescued from Damien.”  Chocolate eyes
met his.  Under her angry struggle, Kara was scared.  “Please, don’t let him
take me.”

Damien
was careful not to react to the plea.  If Nestor saw how desperate he was to
have Kara back, the dragon would use it to his advantage.  “The woman’s useful
to me.”  Damien said, instead.  “I’ll pay you twice what Slade’s offering.”

That
was a lie.

Nestor
tried to steal his mate.  The scaly son-of-a-bitch wouldn’t leave here alive.

“Now,
sorcerer, you know we don’t work that way.  We’d never get any customers if we
made side deals like that.  Gotta think big picture.”  Nestor eyes darted
slightly, his talons tightening on Kara in anticipation.

The
final dragon was sneaking up behind Damien.

He
could feel it, even before he saw Kara open her mouth to warn him.  Damien
didn’t even turn around.  His gaze never left Nestor’s as he snapped the unseen
dragon’s legs with his powers, pulverizing the bones.  The man behind him
toppled over screaming.

Kara’s
lips parted.

Nestor
paled a bit.  “Damn, Damien.  I get that you want the woman for leverage on
Slade, but let’s be civilized about it.”

“When
has anyone ever accused me of being civilized?”  Damien wasn’t in the mood for
the dragon’s bullshit.  “Let her go and I’ll let
you
go.  Otherwise,
we’ll stand here until I kill you.”  He was concerned about targeting the
magicks with Nestor using Kara as a shield, otherwise the guy would already be
dead.  Damien had never had to worry about anyone else’s safety, before.  It
was distracting.

Nestor’s
crimson eyes narrowed.  “There’s one of you and hundreds of dragons who’ll
avenge me.  You want to start a war with us
and
the Vamps?”

“I’m
already at war with you, asshole.”  The guy had his claws at Kara’s throat. 
Did he think Damien was just going to shrug that aside?

“Over
a woman?!”  Nestor actually looked offended.  “Why would you go to war over a
woman?
 
The bitch is obviously a pain-in-the-ass and a
human
pain-in-the-ass, at
that.”

“I’ve
noticed that myself.”

“So,
I’ll get you another girl or –hell-- let’s both screw this one, right now, if
you need to get some revenge on Slade.  He’ll go ape shit, but he’ll still pay
me.  I’ll basically get paid twice and you can do whatever you want with her. 
Everybody wins.”  Nestor nodded like someone negotiating a successful business
transaction.  “What do you say?  Let’s cut a reasonable deal, so we can all go
home.  You can even have her first.”  He nodded to an unburned patch of
ground.  “There’s a good spot.

Damien
titled his head, considering.

“Damien!” 
Kara bit-off, like she was afraid he might really turn on her.

He
shrugged, ‘what can I say?’ style.

Nestor’s
forearm tightened over her neck, his clawed hand coming dangerously close to
the curve of her breast.  “Shut-up, human.  Damien’s not going to save you.” 
He chuckled, clearly believing that he’d reasoned with Damien.  Nestor ducked
his head to smell her hair, rubbing against her suggestively.  “Not that I
don’t see why he’d want to keep you around, but the sorcerer doesn’t give a
damn about anything by vengean…”

He
never got to finish the word.

The
second Nestor shifted his attention, Damien used his powers to rip the wings
right off the dragon’s back.

Using
his magicks on Nestor with Kara held between them proved challenging, at first,
until he realized the dragon’s back was wide open to attack.  Damien was plenty
underhanded enough to strike from behind.

The
magicks were still half the strength Damien normally would have used, just in
case Kara accidently shifted and was hit by part of the blast.  They severed
the dragon’s wings right from his back, with all the finesse of a Civil War
surgeon on the battlefield.

Damien
didn’t try real hard to make it neat and painless.  Rage continued to burn
through him.  He hadn’t climbed the supernatural popularity lists because of
his measured responses, but
this
… This was all about sending a big,
fucking message to every other dragon, bounty hunter and Vampire who’d come
looking for Kara.

The
attack didn’t kill Nestor.  It just made him wish he was dead.  Cutting off a
dragon’s wings castrated him.  Nestor screamed.  He fell backwards, dragging
Kara with him, rolling his body to touch the bloody stumps on his shoulders. 
His shrieks got louder and more frantic, when he saw the torn, detached wings
lying beside him.

Damien
twirled the sword in his hand and moved to stand over Nestor.  “I considered
the civilized option, but I’ve decided to go another way with our deal.”

Kara
lay there for a beat, gaping at the gory scene.  Then, she actually moved
towards Nestor’s wounds as if she could somehow stop the bleeding.

“No.” 
Damien leaned down to grab her arm, halting her.  “It’s like acid, woman.  Use
your head.”  Probably not the words golden-boy Slade would have used to comfort
her, but Damien was too pissed-off at Kara to even try for gentleness.  First,
she’d run away from him.  Then, she’d nearly been kidnapped back to Slade.  And
now she was going to touch dragon’s blood and burn the skin off her hands.

“Like
Alien
.”  Kara whispered.  She tugged against Damien’s hold, still trying
to help Nestor.

Damien
pulled her behind him; a quick drag across the ground as he stepped forward.  What
the hell was he supposed to do with a mate so naive she’d risked herself for
the monster who’d planned her gang rape?  Holding her prisoner forever was actually
a public service.  Kara was too softhearted to wander free in the world.  She
needed to be under Damien’s care.

“Let
me die!”  Nestor screeched.

“Gladly.” 
Damien actually felt like the villain as he leaned over the dragon, remembering
the green hands and viscous talons touching his fragile, human mate.  “Take
your time.  We can wait.”

 “
Bastard!
” 
Nestor lunged in blind fury.

Not
at Damien, but at Kara.

Nestor
tried to gouge her face with a wild swing of his claws.  She cringed backwards
to avoid his massive hand, but there was no need.  Damien slammed the sword
right into the dragon’s chest before Nestor even got close.  He stabbed him so
hard the weapon came out Nestor’s back and hit the ground.  The guy sunk back
with a gasp.  His body stilled as it slid slowly down the blade.

Damien
studied the sight impassively.  Once upon a time, he’d kept count of the people
he killed.  Remembered their faces and names.  Then, one day, he realized that
it just didn’t matter to him.  That he didn’t care anymore.  He had no idea why
he thought of that moment now, except he suddenly knew he’d found Kara much too
late.  If he’d still been that man who cared about taking lives, maybe he’d also
be a man capable of caring for her as she deserved.

Maybe
she’d stay with him willingly.

Karalynn
sat there breathing hard.

Damien
looked over at her, again.  He’d traumatized his mate.  The woman was innocent
on some level Damien couldn’t even comprehend and he’d just slaughtered three
and a half men right in front of her.  He hadn’t even done it fairly.  Not the
way Slade would have pretended to, with honor and nobility.  No.  Damien had
cheated, struck from behind and use magicks.

And
he didn’t regret any part of it, except that Kara had witnessed the fight.

 “Kara
Lynn?”  Damien crouched down next to her.  “Are you injured?”

“I
think a dragon just tried to kidnap me.”  She said in an eerily calm voice.

“Yes,
I know.  You seem to attract trouble.”  His hand touched neck, where Nestor had
scratched her delicate skin.  He healed the injury, pulling the small pain into
himself.  “Are you hurt?”

She
shook her head, emphatically.  “No, I…uh…”  She pressed her lips together, like
she was trying to calm herself, and then gave a chocked sob.  “Oh God.  Thank
you, Damien.”  She blindly reached for him, shifting onto his lap and holding
his neck.  “Thank you for not letting that guy take me.”  She clutched tight,
curling against his body like she was trying to crawl inside him.  “Thank you
for helping me.”

In
all his years of fighting, no one had ever thanked him.  Ever clung to him for safety. 
Damien blinked, his arms awkwardly going around her.

She
kissed his jaw.

The
woman dangerous.

She’d
derailed his entire life.  If he had a brain in his head, he would have let
Nestor return her to Slade.  She’d destroy Damien.  He knew it.  And yet all he
could do was sigh in relief, because she was back in his arms.  His palm
hesitantly touched her curls, soaking in the soft texture.  “You’re welcome. 
But, truly, it was only a small fight.”

Damien
was uncomfortable with Kara looking at him like he’d done something amazing.  Possibly
even more uncomfortable than if she’d been blaming him for unethical, immoral
conduct.  At least, that would have been accurate.  It was bizarre, but he
liked
that she saw him as a protector.  Liked that she felt safe with him.

And
that just created the perverse desire to rip away the veil she saw him through
and make her face the truth.

Sooner
or later, she’d want to forsake him for the Vampire.  When Damien stopped her
from leaving –And he
would
-- she’d hate him.  He knew it as surely as
the dawn.  Karalynn would grow to hate him, just as everyone else had.

He
abruptly wanted it over with.  It would be far easier in the long run.  Except
he couldn’t bear to let go of her small form.  “It was nothing.”  He reiterated
and breathed in the scent of her hair.  “I’m sorry.”

“Are
you kidding me?  It was like a scene from some stupid action movie.  The whole
thing.  Except bloodier.  And
I
am sorry.  Really. 
So
sorry.”

“Sorry
for what?”

 “I’m
sorry I got you into this.  It was my fault they attacked.  None of this was in
the original book.  I swear.  Me being here changed it.”  Her words were coming
too fast.  “I’ve been thinking.  ‘Oh, it’s just a romance novel.’  ‘I’ll get
through it.’  ‘It’s all fake.’  But, it’s
not
.”  Her voice broke.

“I
told you it wasn’t a book.” 
Many times.
  Maybe she was coming to her
senses.

“No,
it
is
a book.  But, it’s a
real
book.  That guy
really
would
have killed me.  For real.”

Damien’s
jaw tightened at the horror in her tone.  “No.  He wouldn’t have.  I was right
there and I wouldn’t have allowed it.”  Wherever Kara came from, she’d led a
sheltered life.  Damien hadn’t.  What the hell could he say to reassure her,
that wouldn’t be a lie or completely useless?  “From the second Nestor first
touched you, he was dead.  Anyone who touches you, I will kill.  Brutally.”

Her
hand slipped down to grip the fabric of his shirt, holding tight.  “Everything
happening here is
really
happening.  As stupid as it is, it can really
hurt us.”

“No
one will hurt you, Kara Lynn.”

“You
could have been hurt, too.”   She lifted her head to meet his gaze.  “Now’s
where I should say something like, ‘I don’t want you fighting because of me.’ Or
‘Save yourself, Damien.’  I mean, it’s dangerous for you to even me be
near
me, when I’m rewriting this whole damn book just by being in it, but...”  She
gave his shirtfront a quick, forceful shake.  “Don’t leave me.  I mean it. 
Don’t leave me in here alone or I will track you down.”