“I’m sure you guys, being European, heard all about Grendel.”
A few of the older ones went wide-eyed. The younger ones, unless they had English degrees or a fondness for epic poetry, were out of their depth.
“Do you know who killed him?”
Another vamp went to flee, but the big guy grabbed him by the back of the shirt and hurled him into the pit. Desmond must have made short order of him because the screaming didn’t last long.
“Thanks for the help.” I smiled. “But I don’t need it.”
“You don’t need help because you’re about to die, tiny one.”
I might have taken a chance to be flattered that he thought I was tiny. After all, it was nice to know a big guy thought you were dainty. But since I was about to filet this guy, his opinion on my figure didn’t factor much into my self-worth.
“Horizontal or vertical?” I asked.
“Huh?”
“Or would you like me to quarter you up like the old days?”
“You’re mad.”
“Mad crazy or mad pissed? I mean…let’s be honest, they’re both accurate.” I must have seemed out of my mind right then. I was handily outnumbered, and a guy twice my size was towering over me, ready to throttle me with his bare hands. To an outsider, this might not look great for me.
“I want to know how you’d like to be cut up. Think of it as your last request. If I was extra nice, I’d cut your head off first, then you wouldn’t feel the rest of it.”
He laughed, like this was the funniest offer he’d ever heard. “And what if I said I want you to be mean?”
I don’t think any of them saw the sword move, because there was a collective gasp when he pitched forward onto the floor, but his legs from the knee down stayed standing. He fell so heavily I could feel the vibration of it through my feet. He screamed, no longer trying to intimidate me.
Pretty hard to scare someone who had literally cut you off at the knees.
“That’s where’d I’d start if I was being mean.” Then I sliced through his neck like it was butter, and his head, eyes still wide, rolled across the floor and fell into the pit.
I hoped there were enough nerves left for him to get a good look at Desmond’s teeth before they bit into him.
“Who’s next?” I asked again.
The place where they’d parted to let the big vamp through was still open, and I stepped over his body, dodging the pieces of the girl I’d killed before him. “Go now. Go to your Tribunal and beg forgiveness. Take your penance. Get out of my sight.”
I should kill them all for the part they played. I should kill them because of what they now knew about me. But I had something else to attend to first, and it mattered more to me than keeping my secret.
I had to find Peyton.
Chapter Fifteen
As the remaining vamps and human lackeys ran for the hills, a thud brought my attention back to the pit. The harrowing form of wolf-Desmond was scrambling over the edge, his claws digging into the stone, and he cleared the lip and got onto solid footing.
“How the…?”
I thought of the vamps who’d been tossed into the pit. Desmond must have used their bodies as a platform to get a better jump out.
Smart wolf.
He chuffed at me, shaking blood from his fur. I wasn’t afraid of him anymore
, at least not afraid he would attack me. But seeing him like this did tickle at the fear center of my brain, making goose bumps rise on my arms. I never thought of Desmond as a killer, or capable of killing, because he was just my sweet, kind boyfriend. But this Desmond had shredded a couple vampires like they were deli meat, and if I hadn’t soothed his savage beast with my own…
No, he wouldn’t have hurt me.