The Lost Elixir

Chapter Twenty-Six

"Ah hell," Jarrah breathed out, as a pair of abnormally large vampires caught sight of the two of them the moment their feet passed the threshold of the room.

Rayne growled under her breath. Not only were they over half of her size, but she knew they'd be well trained enough to battle anyone to the death, which made their mission just that much more complicated.

She couldn't see much of the room in the two seconds she had to scan it, but she was able to briefly make out a large, opaque box that stretched almost six feet across in length on top of a stone. The guards stood directly in front of it, their eyes glowing red with the challenge set before them. Before she could take a step forward to get a better look at the box, the men reacted.

In a barreling blur, they launched themselves forward. Jarrah tried to push her back behind his tense body, but she shook off his arms and went for the opportunity to strike.

Whether he wanted to admit it or not, he needed her. He was powerful, but not powerful enough to take on two big vampires. Rayne didn't spend hours of training to give up now.

Jarrah shouted out behind Rayne's back as she headed straight for the closest charger, her claws extended in her partial form. She slid low to the ground just when he reached her and swiped at his legs, knocking him off his feet with the slash. The vampire hissed through his teeth and swooped back onto stable legs as he threw a kick in her direction. She dodged the motion easily, but wasn't so fast to avoid the punch aimed at her stomach.

Rayne grunted and swung an arm out, despite being winded, and scratched the front of his chest with a satisfying drag, ripping his shirt and leaving streaks of crimson to pool at the surface of pale skin. Her vampire's red eyes filled with deep rage and he lunged for her neck that time, his glittering teeth extended to pierce her exposed neck. He was met with air and a smug smile, her eyes burning yellow with the partial change she knew swirled within them. Swinging her fist out, her knuckles landed a solid punch to his jaw.

The smugness didn't last long.

The vampire was quick to recoup from his brief daze, and he grabbed her arm before she could finish her second swing and twisted it hard behind her back. His grip was tight enough to pop it off if he wanted to, and when she went to swing her other arm back, he caught that one as well. He was toying with her now, and held her tight enough for a snarl to break free from her curled lips. Jarrah's glowing alabaster eyes snapped to her; his own vampire struggling to remove himself from his arms as he pressed a glowing hand to his temple. His vampire dug his nails down his arm and though Jarrah swore, he didn't release him.

Rayne didn't know what Jarrah was doing to the howling blood drinker, but whatever it was, it led to temporarily paralyzing his daze-eyed vampire. Which meant Jarrah couldn't help her; not until he finished putting his own down with the spell.

But no matter how hard Rayne tried to twist away from the vampire's hold, she couldn't budge free. He only tugged her arm up harder; nearly snapping it as she bit her tongue to keep from crying out.

Hold on, Jarrah's eyes pleaded to her as her vampire slid a free hand around Rayne's distracted throat from behind. She thrashed against his steel hold again, and Jarrah's ghostly eyes bulged in panic, but her vampire had the upper hand. She'd need to wait for an opening, or figure out how to distract him long enough for Jarrah's vampire to pass out so he could help her.

"How sweet," the blood drinker drawled, his voice colder than a corpse. His breath slid icicles down her spine. She needed to outsmart him. And quick. "A dog and a fairy."

"Fuck you," Rayne choked out, her claws extending to try and pierce any part of him she could reach. He gripped her neck tighter, cutting off all oxygen.