NocC 026 - Lauren Hawkeye - The Darkling's Desire - Harlequin 2012-11 by Nocturne Read Free Book Online

wouldn’t drink from
Petra. His stubbornness, his will, wouldn’t let him. If the bloodlust overtook
him, that only left her.
    Though Anastasia would have given her blood willingly to remove
the pain that she saw distorting his features, that would be playing right into
Petra’s hands.
    Anastasia couldn’t allow her instincts to take over
completely—this was too delicate of a situation.
    What could she do?
    Jasper shook his head, narrowed his eyes. Anastasia watched as
he shifted his stare from the cool blond of his past to her own features, and
knew that she wasn’t alone.
    They locked eyes, gray staring into green. Anastasia wished
with all of her might that mind reading was in her repertoire of purported
powers. She knew that Jasper was plotting something—he was not the kind of man
to stand idly by in a dangerous situation. She was not the kind of woman to do
so, either—but what if whatever she did interfered dangerously?
    Anastasia snuck a quick glance at Petra, who was smirking at
the pain that was creeping over him. Her attention was focused entirely on him.
Rage burned through Anastasia’s veins.
    She would have to take Petra down. Jasper was slowly losing
control.
    Dread formed into a heavy ball in the pit of her stomach.
    “Wouldn’t you just die for a taste?” Petra extended her hand,
dripping with blood, and even as Anastasia narrowed her eyes, planning to grab
the knife Jasper lunged. He sprang at Petra with his fangs gnashing, aiming for
her throat. There was not as much force behind his movement as there would have
been if he had recently fed, but it was still enough to knock her off
balance.
    Anastasia leaped onto Petra as soon as Jasper sprang into
motion, understanding instantly that their only chance lay in their combined
strength. Petra screeched, an otherworldly noise that reverberated through the
clearing. Blood from her hand smeared across Jasper’s face, and Anastasia sensed
more than saw his attention waver.
    Petra managed to connect with the base of his skull with her
spiked heel, and he reeled. Anastasia made the emotional mistake of reaching for
him as he fell, and Petra flipped her onto the ground, then had her back up and
in a choke hold before she could blink.
    Clutching a hand to the side of his head, Jasper rolled, sprang
to his feet, shaking his head as if to clear it. It was too late. Anastasia’s
world was beginning to gray from lack of air, and only fury kept her from
passing out.
    This woman had used Anastasia her entire life as a pawn in her
sick game. She had no doubt that Petra would kill Jasper as soon as he had
bitten Anastasia. She didn’t know what, exactly, they had together yet, but
she’d be damned if Petra would take it away, too.
    Jasper could not make a move toward his former lover without
risking that the older Amazon would snap Anastasia’s neck.
    “Glamour her.” She choked the words out, could not understand
why Petra laughed.
    “That doesn’t work so well on me, does it, love?” Petra stroked
a hand through Anastasia’s hair, and Jasper growled.
    “She’s right.” Each word was bitten off, full of rage. “She
can’t be glamoured.”
    Anastasia knew then that this was all on her. And despite her
former misgivings about facing off against her mentor, she was ready to kill if
she had to.
    Reacting purely on instinct, Anastasia kicked Petra’s ankle
with her solidly booted foot. The slim joint revealed by the ridiculously high
heels snapped and Petra fell to one knee, hissing. She still clutched the knife
tightly in her palm, and swung it wildly while trying to regain her footing, her
face contorted in pain.
    With an extra burst of her slightly more than human speed,
Anastasia landed a blow in Petra’s gut, gaining a shallow slice across her
forearm in return. As Petra doubled over, Anastasia caught the silver blade in
her own palm, wresting it away from her mentor and slicing through the flesh of
her palm like butter.
    The pain was bright,