The Sharpest Kiss by Elizabeth Myles (the false prince .txt) 📕

Great, Kiefer thought. Now he would have to deal with this meddlesome kid, too, and erase his memory once the fighting was over. As if he didn’t already have enough to worry about? “Just stay out of the way,” he told the guard gruffly. “We’re handling it.”

Kiefer felt Theo’s large paw land on his shoulder, and he grabbed it and spun around, wrenching the goon’s arm behind his back. “Who said you could touch me?” he growled into his ear.

“Ow, ow, chill out, man!” Theo raised his free hand in supplication. “I told you, I just want to help you!”

Kiefer hesitated, glowering at Theo. The guy was free now, had been free for a while. The magical shield was meant to keep people out, not in, so he could have easily run through it and rejoined the rest of Dorian’s men. Or run away altogether. But he hadn’t. He was still here, insisting he wanted to help the right side. Something in Theo’s desperate expression tugged at Kiefer’s conscience, convincing him the guy was being honest, at least about this part. Trusting his gut instinct—which had usually served him well enough—Kiefer decided to let him go. For now. “Alright,” he snapped, shoving him away. “How can you help us?”

Theo swung out his arm, gesturing at the waves of vampires and goons Jason was now mostly fending off by himself, with a little backup from Aaron. Still, some of them were leaking through the defensive line, pitching themselves at the shield in a frothy, jaw-snapping frenzy. “Those guys out there,” he said, “the ones who aren’t vampires—”

“Vampires?!” Frankie’s eyes bugged.

Kiefer scowled at the guard and he shut up, crossing himself as he took a step backward. Kiefer turned back to Theo, silently urging him to go on.

“They’re minions,” the lackey finished.

“Yeah, you said that before. So?”

Theo shook his head in exasperation. “They’re not like me. I’m here because I was hired. I get paid. It’s been my choice to work for Dorian.”

“Am I supposed to be proud of you?” Kiefer glared at him.

“These guys,” Theo went on, pointing at the crowd again, “have been compelled to come here. They’re under Dorian’s sway.”

“Yeah, I can tell they’re under some sort of spell, but it’s not surprising. You said they were enchanted.”

Theo actually smiled, showing Kiefer a set of uneven teeth. “I also told you Dorian likes to use charms. Physical objects. Those guys out there have something on them, I guarantee you. You get rid of that, and the connection to Dorian will be broken. They’ll be so confused, they’ll likely give up the fighting, at least for a minute. Even if they do come at you again, they won’t have Dorian’s mojo backing them up anymore. You’ll be able to take them down.”

Kiefer said, “Jason and I’ve tried breaking the collars off those vampires. They don’t come loose. Why should these ‘charms’ be any different?”

“Because they aren’t the same as the collars. These guys probably have a gem embedded somewhere in their skin. I’ve seen it before, up here.” Theo patted his own chest. “It’s possible you could rip that out with a knife or your fingernails or whatever. It’d be worth a shot, anyway, right?”

A wave of optimistic relief swept over Kiefer, but he couldn’t help scowling at Theo one more time. “Why didn’t you tell me this earlier?”

“You didn’t ask. And then you wouldn’t listen when I said I could help you.”

Kiefer glowered, but only because he was angry at himself for not hearing the guy out earlier. With a brusque nod of acknowledgment, he jogged over to the edge of the shield.

He leapt through the dome and snatched at a minion who’d been busily flinging himself against it over and over again, like a moth battering against a lantern chimney. Ripping the guy’s shirt down the front, he saw a red gem winking from the flesh just below his collarbone. Kiefer jabbed his thumbnail under one edge of the stone and pried it loose, sending it tumbling to the pavestones. The minion howled in protest, but then slid bonelessly through Kiefer’s grasp, crumpling to his knees. His shook his head, and his eyes seemed to clear, like a veil had been lifted from his mind.

“Hey,” Kiefer snapped at him. “How you feelin’? Like yourself again, or what?”

The guy blinked up at him. “I-I don’t…Where am I? Who are you?”

Kiefer responded by punching him in the face, knocking him out cold. He felt a fresh surge of adrenaline wash through him as he watched the guy topple over. Sweet, he thought, shaking out his fist.That works.

He brought his boot down on the gem, and it shattered into a shower of glittery sparks. Kiefer raced over to tell the other guys what he’d just discovered.

◆◆◆

Now...

“Now!” Celia was still caterwauling, her face reddening as she balled her fists. “Stab him now, you stubborn nitwit! Do it RIGHT THIS INSTANT!”

Jessica, still looking up at Nathan, rolled her eyes. She turned her head and aimed her words at the hysterical master throwing a hissy fit at her back. “Well, gosh, Celia, you know, I would, but I just remembered—I’m immune to the vampire whammy for some reason, which means I really don’t have to do what you say. Instead—I can just tell you to eat me. So, eat me.” She grabbed Nathan’s hand and slapped the stake into it. “Go get her,” she growled.

“What?!” Fury and confusion amped Celia’s voice into a panicked screech, and Nathan felt the master’s psychic hold quivering around him. Dissolving. For a few precious seconds, she was completely discombobulated—and off her guard. But Nathan wasn’t.

Praying her stint underground had rendered her vulnerable enough for this gambit, he raced past Jessica at super-speed, grabbed Celia by the throat, and drove the table leg straight into her body. It took every ounce of Nathan’s vampiric strength to get the stake to even penetrate her rib cage, and for a second, he worried