What Rough Beast [Blood Oath 1] Read Online Free Page B

himself. His former partner had abandoned headhunting—abandoned him —when the temptation to turn had drawn perilously close. Garrick had said killing had become attractive to him. Too alluring. So he'd laid down his sword before he became what they fought to destroy—a monster.
    Lucien had understood.
    He'd tried.
    But he'd missed him, missed his mentor and friend.
    And God have mercy, he'd missed Garrick's blood.
    He couldn't break free, would savor the feast he'd yearned for. The anticipation of Kate strengthening, taking the undiluted power of elder blood from his veins, maddened him. "Drink, chere. Please."
    Her mouth flitted over the opening.
    Lucien yanked his from Garrick to sever the link, but his old partner shoved his wrist forward, forcing his blood into Lucien when Kate gently suckled. Lucien's back bowed, nearly unseating her, but Garrick clamped down on her shoulder to hold her to the wound and maintain the intimacy of the connection.
    Lucien shouted rage. He choked on hot blood forced past his gritted teeth. Garrick's presence speared through his mind, searching for Kate. Lucien cursed, marshaled his power to protect his ward while she took the sustenance she so desperately needed from him.
    Garrick's will battered his. Determined. Violent.
    Excruciating.
    Nausea coiled like vipers in the pit of his stomach. He clawed at Garrick's wrist, fighting to wrench it away.
    Garrick must not reach Kate.
    The son of a bitch would fry his brain before he'd allow the link with her.
    "Only a moment, Luc. Just to be sure..."
    "Get away from her!"
    When he launched his body forward, toward his mentor instead of away, Garrick stumbled. His wrist fell from Lucien's mouth. Kate slid from his chest. Once his fist connected with Garrick's jaw, Lucien's gaze darted to where she'd curled into a fetal ball on the stained linoleum.
    Cracked and crumbling plaster spilled to the floor when Garrick crashed into the wall. “Enough,” he shouted.
    Lucien scooped Kate from the floor and sprinted for newspaper-covered windows—their only chance for escape.
    Garrick lashed out his hand and shoved them toward the sofa. “No!"
    Lucien used his momentum to pivot, angled his body between Kate and the danger Garrick represented. His lips curled to a sneer. “I'll see you dead first."
    "Hold, Luc.” Garrick stepped back, hands raised. “Hold!” Blood slid in a vermillion trickle from his wrist. “Krystiyan is three blocks away. He'll slaughter us."
    "You won't take her.” Lucien let Kate tumble to the ratty cushions of the sofa and reached behind it to slide his sword free from its snug hiding place. “I'll have your head first."
    Garrick's blue eyes, blank, dead, studied him long minutes. He fell to his knees and clasped his hands at the base of his spine. He bent forward, dark hair fanning at the nape to expose his vulnerable neck. “If you want it, take it."
    Lucien tightened his grip on the hilt.
    His stance widened for the more powerful blow.
    Every instinct inside him screamed for the kill.
    That horrifying impulse made the sword bobble in his grasp.
    He shook his head, stunned.
    Kate was his ward. The responsibility fell to him to ease her transition to vampyr. She was his to care for, his to guide and protect.
    That and no more.
    Only dark masters forced females to remain with them. Or God forbid, forced a sick travesty of what mating should be. Images flashed through his mind—the masters he and Garrick had hunted together, the vampyr Lucien hunted still. David, who had taken Kate, tortured her...
    He dropped one hand from the hilt of his sword to reach for her. “Kate?"
    "The others, Luc. They will not be far behind.” Kneeling on the floor, Garrick peered at him through thick, dark lashes. “I won't take her from you, but they will. They'll kill you to take her."
    Lucien stooped until his fingers brushed her pale cheek.
    "Where will you run that I can't find you? That Krystiyan won't? Let me help. Kill me or let me