Two Weeks Later
I flew through the forest, chasing the rogue in front of me, my feet light on the ground as I moved. A dagger in one hand, my sword in the other, I looked like the avenging princess that I was. My team was scattered behind me, on the hunt for his buddies, but I had no doubt they would find them. We’d trained together for so long now, we knew exactly what to do. We’d been hunting rogues and eliminating them one-by-one, and I made it no secret as to who I was. I wanted my uncle to know who was coming for him. Soon.
It didn’t take me long to catch up with the rogue vamp, and then I was doing what I did best. My sword sliced through the air, ridding the world of the demon before me, and I laughed. I couldn’t help it. “I’m coming for you, Uncle Aldric,” I whispered, knowing my eyes were glowing brightly.
Wiping the vamp’s blood from my sword, I slipped it into the scabbard at my back, returning the dagger to its sheath at my waist. My hands went to my hips as I slowly looked around the area. My team was cleaning up now, I could sense them near. It had been a good night, and I was proud of them. It was always Trey, Skye, Ethan, and the siblings who went hunting with me. My dad stayed back with the king and prince, pouring over specs of the castle and coming up with ideas to infiltrate and take the crown back. The problem was, half of the royal guard was on our side, the other half on Aldric’s. Not to mention all the rogues who would stand with my uncle. It was going to be a messy fight. An all out war.
Suddenly, the mark on my arm began to burn brighter and hotter, and I grinned, knowing another rogue was near. My smile grew wider when I connected with him and realized who it was. Nicholas, a vamp we’d been chasing for the past week. I’d almost caught him a couple of nights ago, but somehow he’d managed to escape. Not this time.
I switched directions, jumping over a fallen tree as I streaked through the forest, sending a message to my team. Nicholas is near! I’m hunting him now.
Get him, cuz!
Heck yeah, I was going to get him. This time he wasn’t getting away from me. He didn’t even realize it, but he was running straight for me, with someone else hot on his heels. I spared a moment to wonder who, but then focused my mind only on him.
Just a few seconds later, he was directly in my path. He stopped, staring at me in shock, his eyes going to the crown that I never took off anymore.
“Princess,” he gasped, and I felt the fear flowing from him.
“You haven’t been playing by the rules, Nicholas,” I said, grasping the hilt of my sword and removing it from the scabbard, a wide grin crossing my face. I had him! “You’ve been feeding on others and killing them for fun. You know I don’t allow that.” Not bothering to wait for a response, I let my sword fly, slicing through the rogue’s neck, watching as his body slowly dropped to the forest floor. Laughing, I wiped the blade free of blood, and slid it back into its scabbard at my back. Then, I looked at the girl who’d been chasing him, my eyes widening in surprise as I found myself staring into swirling green and blue eyes, eyes exactly like my own.
I was aware of my team coming up behind me, flanking me as if to protect me from any threat as others started emerging from the trees, going to the girl in front of me. I couldn’t take my gaze from hers. I heard her breathe my name at the same time I did hers. “Blayke.”