Vampire Girl (Vampire Girl #1)(34)

I have no weapon, so I pull a branch off the tree and swing it at him, hitting him in the head.

His teeth are no longer at my neck, but his grip tightens around my arm. He looks much angrier than he did before. A bear riled from his sleep.

So I do what I've always been taught to do when under attack by a stranger. I scream. I scream so loud the man looks shocked. He squeezes my neck hard and slams my head against the tree. I hit with a painful thud, tripping over a branch, falling towards the water.

The man has a choice. Hold onto my neck and join me in the water, or let go. He lets go, but looks ready to follow, when a wolf growls from the top of a boulder behind him.

Baron jumps onto my attacker.

He bites him in the shoulder.

I scramble away, splashing out of the water, my heart pounding, my hands shaking. Baron pins the man down, his wolf teeth at the man's throat. I stand in the mud. "Doesn't feel so good having a predator at your throat, does it?" I ask.

Fen arrives a moment later and quickly takes in the scene. "What is going on here?" He's not asking me, he's asking the man pinned by Baron. "What did you do to the Princess?"

"I didn't do nothing! I swear!" The man is a mix of anger and panic. "Was just having a nice chat with the Princess when this beast attacked me for no reason."

Fen places a foot on the man's arm and presses in. Bones snap. A scream fills the air.

"Let's try this again," Fen says. "What did you do, Rodrigo?"

"She just smelled so good. You don't let us feed neither. Not proper-like. And I was thirsty!"

Baron growls again and Fen looks like he's about to lose his shit. This time I don't intervene or play nice. This time I want blood. Justice. Maybe vengeance. Something. I'm sick of men acting like they are entitled to the bodies of women just because they want them. I'm sick of this mentality, regardless of which world it's on. So I don't try to temper Fen's rage. Not with Rodrigo. I want the prince to unleash his own brand of wrath.

Fen lifts Rodrigo by his neck and Baron jumps off the man's chest, snapping at him just in case he forgets who's in charge. Then Fen drags Rodrigo through the woods, back to the center of the clearing where the other men wait. I follow, watching as my attacker attempts to get away from Fen, who doesn't seem to even break a sweat keeping hold of the bulky demon.

When we arrive, I see the cutter is working again, diligently chopping logs into smaller and smaller piles.

Fen throws the man into the center of the field. "Rodrigo seems to believe you are not being cared for properly. That my laws about feeding are too strict, that he is entitled to drink from the Princess against her will. Are any of you in agreement?"

All the men take a step back and look down at their feet, even the two who had stood by Rodrigo's side earlier.

"Very well, then we have just one traitor to deal with. Normally, I would sentence him to immediate execution for such an act against royalty. But I'm feeling generous today. So instead, I make his punishment a duel. To the death. Whichever one of us is left standing at the end, wins."

What? No, this isn't what I wanted. I tug at Fen's arm to get his attention. "Can I talk to you privately?"

He nods, then turns to the group. "Don't let him leave, or it'll be your head."

We walk far enough away that I hope others can't hear us. "You can't fight him to the death!" I say.

He chuckles. "Why not?"

"What if you get hurt?"

Now he laughs. "You think he has any chance against me? That's sweet, but you've clearly never seen me fight."

"I've seen you fight a few times actually. Things can go wrong."

He brushes a strand of hair from my face and smiles. "You've seen me spar. You've seen me battle while you were drugged and nearly unconscious. You've never seen me fight. I'll be fine. No one touches you like that and walks away." He heads back to the waiting men, and I follow him, my heart hammering in my chest.

Baron stands by my side, his head under my hand, as the two men take up their swords and face each other.

"My father will hear about this," Rodrigo says as they circle each other.

"Your father owes more than his weight in gambling debts. And I own the note on those. He will not raise so much as an eyebrow at me. Now fight."

Rodrigo lunges. Fen counters. The whole thing is over so fast I almost think I lost time. It was no fight at all, but a slaughter. Rodrigo's body lies on the ground, his blood seeping into the dirt, his head a few feet from his torso, staring blindly into space.

In one move, Fen beheaded the man with no effort.

***

I'm quiet on the ride back to the castle and excuse myself to my room once we return. I wanted blood and I got it, but it didn't make me feel better. Instead, I feel sick. Sick of the violence and the attempts on my life. Sick of the games. I just need a break.

In truth, I want to go home. I want to check on my mom and sit on my old couch and see my best friends. I want to have a coffee and check my email and text and watch cat videos on Facebook. This world is so archaic. I feel lost. Alone.

When I get to my room, Julian and Kara are already there, cleaning and checking the fire. They both curtsy when I come in.

"We didn't think you'd be back yet," Julian says, by way of apology. "We will come back later." She drops her eyes and waits. She acts demure. Subservient. But I sense more within her. She's a petite girl with green eyes like mine and bright red hair. She reminds me of my mother in some ways.