Ripper (Hunter #1)(118)

Castle was enjoying his fans. He kicked me a couple of times, but I hurt too much to even grunt. I’ve heard that when pain gets to be too much, the body shuts down and a blissful numbness takes over. I didn’t get that. I got misery that seemed to never end.

Finally, he kneeled down and lifted my head up by the hair. From my angle, I could make out the queen weeping openly and pleading with her husband. Donovan looked like a man who wished he’d never put a freaking crown on. Zack and Jamie were moving toward the front of the crowd.

Castle leaned down. “I think I’m going to like killing you most of all, little girl. Do you know what I’m going to do when you’re dead? I’ll give it a month or so, but I’ll kill every single bitch who works in those clubs and I’ll pin it on a vamp. I’ll have my war, you understand? You changed nothing.”

He dropped my head and reared back to change. He would kill me in his wolf form. It was traditional. He took his wolf form and howled before he pounced, his teeth going for my throat.

I used every bit of energy I had left to flip my body over, ball my good hand into a fist and shove my right hand up. I saw the look on Castle’s face when he realized what was going to happen. There was nothing he could do. He couldn’t change course and his own heavy weight helped me. My claws sunk deeply into his chest. I fought to shove them in further even as his big body fell onto me, forcing my arm to go into an odd angle. He landed on top of me and he snarled as my claw found his heart. Even as the light went out in his face, he growled at me.

The arena hushed. Our final moments had been a close battle. I wondered if anyone really knew what had happened. The wolf lay on top of me, his snout in my neck, my hand in his chest. The crowd seemed to be waiting to see who got up.

“Very good, cara mia,” Marcus whispered in my brain. He knew what had happened. He would have felt me die. “You’ve done well, but you must finish. Listen carefully. I want you to…”

He gave me the words to use. I had to follow both wolf and vampire traditions. Marcus talked me through everything. He let me know he would be with me after I finished, but I had to get through this part by myself. I rolled the wolf off of me, shoving his body to the sand with as much strength as I could muster.

There were shocked cries as the alpha of the Dallas pack slumped over in the sand and I struggled to get to my knees. I didn’t feel that overwhelming urge to continue my kill the way I had before. Marcus gave me the strength to force my wolf to calm down. She gave me the strength to stay on my feet and do what I needed to do, but I was in control.

Some of the wolves began crying, but I saw many seemed relieved. I leaned exhausted over the carcass to fulfill the last of my duties. Donovan was on his feet, looking down on me with satisfied relief and something like respect. He nodded as I reared my good hand back and punched through Joseph Castle’s chest. I had to work at it and it wasn’t pretty, but I claimed the heart and managed to get to my feet. My left hand dangled. I couldn’t see out of one eye. I saw the horror in Liv’s eyes as I walked past her on my way to the king. I knew I must be really f*cked up to get that look.

Donovan walked down the steps to the edge of the railing. He stared across the arena to where McKenzie sat. “The battle is done. I declare the killing of these wolves to be righteous. I need to know this is done, John.”

McKenzie’s low voice carried across the arena. “The Packs are satisfied that justice has been done. I will select another alpha after I speak to the pack. I’ll choose carefully, Your Highness.”

“And I will trust your judgment,” Donovan promised and then turned his attention back to me.

I held the heart out to him and he took it with no hesitation. Daniel Donovan wasn’t afraid of a little blood. I braced myself because it wasn’t easy to stay upright. I gave him the ancient words between a king and his death machine. “Your Highness is satisfied with his Nex Apparatus?”

Donovan’s face fell and then hardened. His words ground out of his mouth. “I am. You’re dismissed.”

Suddenly the queen was by his side and Quinn was close behind her. Their faces registered shock.

“Daniel,” the queen said, putting a perfectly manicured hand on his arm. “You have to heal her.”

Quinn shook his head. “She won’t let him.”

He was a good judge of character. I wasn’t letting that vampire anywhere near me.

I began to turn to leave the arena when a small face caught my eye. He was trying to hide behind a pillar at the top of the arena, but when he saw me looking, he stepped out. Lee Donovan Quinn had avoided his bed again. He was dressed in pajama pants and a T-shirt. He looked down on me and smiled, holding his small hand up in greeting. I tried to smile back, but before I could he was gone again. The kid was fast.

Marcus’s hand was on my elbow. “Brace yourself, Kelsey.”

He held me tightly and shoved my shoulder back into place. I screamed as the pain threatened to take me under again. I could move my left arm, but I didn’t particularly want to. Every muscle in my body ached, but I was going to walk out of that arena. Marcus seemed to sense it and took a step back.

“Marcus,” Donovan shouted as I started to stagger out. “I’ll send a doctor to her room.”

He’d probably send Sharpe. It would be just like that bastard to send Jack the f*cking Ripper in to examine me. I held up my good hand as I walked out of the arena and managed to give the king my happy middle finger.