We hit the sand.
I dodged a punch, hearing Coms shriek as the others ended them. I got a decent blow in against the Com’s ribs, feeling the crunch of his bones as they broke. My gaze flared brighter as he lifted a gun, his eyes crazy-wide. Jerking to the left, I shoved his ribs, his injured side, rolling on top of him to grab his arm just as he fired, and the shot went wide. The report didn’t hurt my ears — they were already ringing — but I reacted on instinct, moving the way Ezra had taught me. Using my powered strength, I struck with my elbow to his temple. It worked. With a sickening crunch, my elbow broke his skull and his head snapped back, his neck breaking.
He didn’t scream.
I wasn’t sure if that made it any better as I sat on top of the dead Com with his head half smashed in and his brain coming out of places it most definitely wasn’t supposed to.
“Damn,” Pearl muttered into the now strange quiet. I tore my gaze away from the gore and saw the other three standing a few feet away. Pearl’s nose crinkled. “That’s disgusting.”
Jack grunted, cocking his head, staring at the Com under me. “Yours was worse.”
“Nope.” She shook her head. “The fall did that to them, not my elbow.”
Ezra glared. “That was too close. He almost shot you.” Rough cursing. “I’m going to have to work you harder.”
Oh, thank you, master Vampire sensei.
Swallowing hard, I stared at the Com under me. The enemy was dead around us, spread over the sand like beached whales. If they weren’t quite dead yet, they were dying shortly the way their heartbeats were fluttering. I had killed my fair share here, but this was the only one I had done with my bare hands. I scarcely kept from ralphing all over his corpse.
Jack yanked me off the dead body, enfolding me in his warm arms, and rubbed my back as he held me tight, whispering, “Don’t puke. It’ll ruin our cool factor. Laugh a little. It’ll keep the stuff down.” He chuckled at the expression I gave him. “It works for me. Try it.”
I did. Ended up belching.
“Alright, bad idea.”
“What the hell did you think you were doing?” King Nelson shouted in Pearl’s ear.
King Fergus pointed a finger near Jack’s face. “What possessed you to do that?”
“So help me, Ezra!” King Venclaire yelled. “I don’t know what to do with you!”
“YOU. SHOULD. HAVE. RUN!” King Kincaid bellowed directly in my face.
The four of us stood in a straight line in King Nelson’s home for this specific rant.
“Technically, Ezra and I did run,” I muttered.
Ezra grunted next to me.
Jack and Pearl snickered on the other side of him.
Antonio’s lips twitched as he sat on the windowsill.
King Kincaid did not find it as charming. He had been walking away, but pivoted sharply, his wolf growling. Stalking back to me, I felt the pulse of his power unleash as his fury exploded. It rocked everyone in the room until he got control of it, a grunt escaping past my lips as he aimed it directly at me. I couldn’t breathe as he towered over my smaller frame.
He hissed, “I am still your King, young lady.” Another pulse of power, my chest squeezed. “Do not disrespect me!” A harsh, powered push and I physically stumbled while sweat began dripping down my face. “I love you like my own, but don’t you dare,” a wolf’s low growl and a throb of power, my eyes tearing, “disrespect me.” He stared me down, his black eyes glowing, the command blatant in their depths as he really let his power ripple.
A scream fell from my lips as I fought his magical push. My body arched as my mind, and my body, begged me to bow down before him in submission. Still, I battled it with all I had.
“Enough,” Antonio uttered quietly, all previous amusement gone. And when an Elder gives an order, a voice of knowledge and experience, those around listened, even Kings.
The King’s power pulled away, dying a slow and painful death.
I was still dizzy and disoriented, and I staggered, hitting the wall.
King Kincaid spun to face Antonio. “Elder Farrar, she’s going to be Queen. She’s no longer the little child you raised. She is so powerful she doesn’t even know she masks it.” Yes, I did, having finally mastered that goal. “She’s a tremendous asset to not only the Shifters, but to the Mystical community as a whole.” King Kincaid paused, and then really bellowed, “She could have been killed! She’s not ready for combat!”