by Sofia Daniel
Eventually, the pickup truck parked outside the castle’s double doors. Wincing at the pinch of the bindings around my arms and hips, I sat up and glowered at ropes that not only encased my ankles but looped between them, making sure I couldn’t even hobble away.
If I ever got hold of that farmer, I’d kick him in his saggy balls.
Reality overtook anger, and despair wrung my insides dry. I squeezed my eyes shut and choked out a sob. There would be no vengeance against money-grubbing humans because the only ally I had left who wasn’t captured or incarcerated was the onion woman. Given her level of caution, she had probably packed up her things and disappeared.
From behind, a dark figure loomed over the edge of the truck bed, casting a cold shadow over my body. A tremor ran down my spine, and I stared straight ahead into the road that wound around the forest.
“You’ve been a very busy girl,” drawled the voice of Commander Shanks.
Another male voice chuckled, presumably his red-eyed colleague who had snatched me out of a bathroom stall. Tears trickled from the corner of my eyes. Despite everything, I was still in the same position as before.
No, it was worse.
Because when the vampires had first captured me, I was just a regular, unremarkable frumosi who could have kept her mouth shut and blended in with the other non-blood-drinkers. Now I was a person of interest to Vlad the fucking Impaler as well as the vampire who wished to mate with me so he could usurp his Lord.
I gulped. Those were the best of my chances. If Lady Mantis got hold of me first, there was no telling what she would do to me to exact vengeance against the boys.
“Up you get!”
The commander grabbed the ropes around my back and picked me up like a hold-all. A mix of gravity and his thick fingers pulled my bindings tight, squeezing all the air out of my lungs.
My view consisted of the gravel courtyard and then the stone entrance steps. I closed my eyes and pictured the vampires’ empty soul star chakras. Maybe if I burned them from the inside-out, I could make my escape.
I wriggled in my bindings, and a large hand gave me a hard spank on my rope-covered ass. Even with them turned to ash, I’d still be trapped.
“What do you think they’ll do to her?” asked the red-eyed vampire.
Commander Shanks stepped through the entrance, changing my vista from stone steps to a polished, marble floor. “That’s for his Lordship to decide.”
“Do you hear that?”
“What?” The commander paused a few steps past the door.
I listened out for sounds but could hear nothing.
“Are there any deliveries scheduled?” asked the red-eyed vampire. “I hear the engine of a heavy vehicle.”
“Lord Dracula?”
The tight fist of trepidation squeezed my chest and emptied my lungs.
“Have you ever known him to travel during the day?”
Commander Shanks snorted. “Good point.”
The doors closed. I twisted around my neck, searching for the panel I’d used to leave the castle with Zarah and the boys but found only solid wood. Someone had probably ordered the knockers to close that convenient exit.
“Should we take her to the headmaster’s quarters?” asked the red-eyed vampire.
“We’d better take her to the dining hall,” replied Commander Shanks. “Lady Mantis will want to see her, too.”
A whimper reverberated in the back of my throat.
“What’s that, little frumosi?” asked the commander.
“Why’s Lady Mantis still here?” I asked.
“They’re waiting for a representative of Stryx to arrive before the brothers’ trial.”
I squeezed my eyes shut and blew out a shuddering breath. Right now, I couldn’t begin to imagine how the boys were feeling.
Lady Mantis and her daughters had put Dante in a terrible position. If he had confessed to his father that he slept with one of his consorts, it would have meant death for Dante, but spying on Lord Stryx for Lady Mantis and kowtowing to Micalla’s every whim was also not an option.
The two guards deposited me face-down in front of the head table and left me tied up. A gong sounded, marking the approach of breakfast and the arrival of the older vampires. With each passing minute, my heart pounded harder to the point where my entire body reverberated with its frantic beats.
Multiple footsteps sounded around my ears, as did the whispering of students. Someone snickered, and another person jeered.
A mix of rage and humiliation burned through my veins. If those vampires knew what it felt like to spend a day ground down by those more powerful, they wouldn’t laugh at my predicament.
A small foot rolled me to my front. Juno, the last remaining member of the Coven of Bitches, stared down at me with a smirk. Amusement sparkled in her blue eyes, but when I scowled up at her, it faded into a frown.
“Why aren’t you still a knocker?” she asked. “I was having so much fun with you.”
“An excellent question.” Lady Mantis appeared in my field of vision. She placed the heel of her boot on my chest, threatening to add her weight. “Tell me, girl, how did you break the knocker enchantment?”
I jerked my head away.
Cool metal slid across my cheek. “Unless you wish to meet Lord Dracula a bleeding mess, you will answer my question. Now.”
Breathing hard, I clenched my teeth. She had to be bluffing.
A small hand threaded in my hair and jerked me up to sit. Lady Mantis’ silver eyes gleamed with malice, and her curved dagger pointed straight at my left eye.
My heart jumped into my throat and pounded even harder. “Alright.” I scrambled for a plausible excuse. “I’m allergic to—”
The doors slammed open, and about two-dozen warriors clad in burgundy armor burst through the doors.
“Hunters!” Captain Tanar shot out of his seat.
Lady Mantis vanished from my side.
Screams filled the dining room, and the younger vampires shot out of their seats and rushed to doors parallel to the head table, which the knockers used to transport food and sangria from the kitchens.
Not moving an inch toward or away from the hunters, I gaped between the vampires at the head table and the figures at the door. Right now, I couldn’t tell if their arrival was good news or bad.
“Battle formation!” Captain Tanar roared from his seat.
The older vampire students who had remained stood in three lines behind the head table. Behind them, knockers opened cupboards and handed out iron, barrel-shaped weapons that reminded me of hand-cannons.
I flopped down onto the marble floor and rolled under the nearest table.
The guards rushed forward with Commander Shanks at the lead, but the three hunters in the front raised their arms. Lady Mantis’ guards, who didn’t wear helmets, fell to their feet and screamed.
The academy guards ground to a halt and pulled out transparent shields.
I closed my eyes and watched thick streams of magic fill the guards’ empty soul star chakras and force a path down to their heart chakras. Giant balls of sunshine spun within their chests.
With a gasp, I turned around to look at the hunters. Instead of dark bodies embedded with chakras, magic filled every part of their bodies, and blinding white soul-star chakras perched on their heads as wide as sombreros.
One of Lady Mantis’ guards burst into ashes and scattered over his comrades.
The hunter in the middle strolled forward, flanked by the two at his sides. He stood about six feet four with a bulky, athletic frame that reminded me of an overdeveloped bodybuilder. The two hunters who walked with him stood about half a foot shorter with slender, curvaceous frames.
Behind them walked a much smaller hunter with her head raised. From the pride in her step, it looked like she might be someone’s daughter on their first vampire hunt.
“Red Sea!” snarled Captain Tanar.
The vampire guards parted, giving the captain a clear shot of the hunters
.
“Who are you, and how did you pass my wards?” Captain Tanar shouted. He pointed a hand cannon at the male hunter, and with an almighty bang, shot out a missile.
It pierced the hunter’s huge chest and exploded in a cloud of black dust. Several frumosi who had gathered around the edges of the dining room fell onto their knees, filling the room with screams. I lowered my nose into the collar of my knocker dress and took shallow breaths.
“Answer me!” Captain Tanar shot at the man again.
Without answering, the hunter pulled off his mask, revealing a ridiculously feminine face for a man, consisting of thick lashes, a slender nose, and full, pouting lips.
“S-sides!” shouted the captain.
The vampire guards retreated to the edges of the room, giving everyone at the head table a clear shot at all the hunters. My heartbeat accelerated. If the vampires had designed that gas to hurt hunters, what would it do to innocent frumosi?
“Fire!”
Blasts filled the air, and the hunter in the middle swept both arms upward, creating a ward around the head table. The missiles bounced back on the vampires, and the black smoke filled the enclosed space.
More screams filled the air, and more vampires streamed out through the back doors.
The abnormally pretty male hunter chuckled, his voice soft. “We’ll catch the others later. For now, the academy is ours.”
“Congratulations, My Lord!” said the two female hunters at his sides. The group of hunters at the door burst into a round of sycophantic applause.
I slumped down on the floor and breathed out a sigh of relief. But thoughts of the boys locked up in a cell tore at my heart. How would the hunters’ arrival affect them?
The small hunter ran ahead and hopped from foot to foot. “Did I please you, Lord Radu?”
A shudder ran down my spine. I should have guessed this was Dracula’s brother.
“Well done, Zarah.” He patted her on the head. “Well done, indeed. With your information, we have enough frumosi to bolster our ranks and enough vampires to nourish us for an eternity!”
END OF BOOK TWO
READ BOOK THREE
From Sofia Daniel
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Bully Romances By Sofia Daniel:
Kings of Mercia Academy
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