Wicked Edge by Nina Bangs Read Free Book Online Page A

before she even had time to breathe his name. “Edge.”
    The virgin stared at the man behind Passion. She looked conflicted. Tough choice—vampire or hero. Passion knew which she’d pick.
    Guess it was time for her to say something. “Abandon hope, virgin, for Edge, the master of all the kingdom’s vampires, has arrived.” Fine, so Passion wasn’t great at improvising.
    “Ah, my lovely maiden, I can almost taste your sweet blood.”
    Edge’s voice was warm, intoxicating, and made Passion want to lick her lips. But honestly, they had to get a new scriptwriter for these fantasies, because everyone’s lines were way too hokey.
    “But before I dine, I’ll make sure Sir Bain never rescues another virgin. Then I’ll celebrate the night with my dark queen.” His soft laughter didn’t bode well for Sir Bain or Passion’s emotional stability.
    Shock over what her glowing fingertips had done warred with her sudden need to turn around and embrace all that dark promise. She never got to think through her tangled feelings.
    “You bastard.” Sir Bain flung his sword aside and leaped past Passion to land on Edge. The two men fell to the floor. “Did you think I wouldn’t recognize your death touch? Try to kill me, will you?”
    Then things really got crazy. Sir Bain became something else. Sure, he was still beautiful, but whatever she’d sensed crouching inside him made its appearance. He seemed to grow larger, his fingers curling into claws, his eyes glowing red. He peeled back his lips to snarl at Edge, and Passion would have sworn his teeth were pointed.
    But Edge had his own thing going on. Those amber eyes shone with hungry anticipation. “It was an accident, but if you want to settle it this way, let’s do it.”
    Passion didn’t get to see what happened next, because the small landing became a sound-and-light show that seemed to shake the whole building.
    She could hear faint screams coming from the great hall, but they were drowned out by the shrieks of the totally freaked virgin. Passion knew what she had to do. She couldn’t stop what the two men were doing to each other, but she could save the woman.
    “Come with me.” Passion reached for the woman’s hand.
    She yanked her hand away. “I’m not going with anyone from this crazy place.” Frantic, she whirled in a circle, looking for the stairs. Any stairs.
    But the flashes of light and booming explosions disoriented her. She stumbled into a wall and sat down hard.
    Oh, for heaven’s sake. Passion didn’t have time for this kind of crap. Reaching down, she hefted the woman over her shoulder and raced down the stairs toward the great hall and hopefully safety.
    The virgin beat a panicked tattoo on her back. “Put me down. Put me the hell down.”
    Passion was gasping for breath and her legs felt wobbly by the time she reached the last step. She dumped the woman none too gently on the stone floor. “I think we’re safe.”
    The virgin had no opinion on that. She simply sat there with a dazed expression on her face.
    Suddenly, a new player moved into the shocked silence that had fallen around the great hall. The quiet made the flashes of light and wall-shaking booms even more obvious. Passion had a fleeting impression of dark hair and blue eyes before the stranger turned to rally the forces.
    “I’m Dacian. I’m one of the good vampires in her majesty’s kingdom.” He smiled at everyone, exposing fangs that looked way too real. “As you can hear, Sir Bain and the evil vampire master are battling to the death above us.”
Boom. Crash.
“Meanwhile, the evil vampire’s mate is trying to kidnap our virgin so that she can drain the innocent’s blood.”
    There were a few weak boos from the audience. The “innocent” still looked a little wonky from her experience.
    “And while we await the outcome…” He cast a meaningful glance at Holgarth-the-snarky-wizard, who was already making his way toward the stairway. “I’ll capture the