Free A Shade of Vampire 13: A Turn of Tides by Bella Forrest Page B

second knife from beneath my thigh, holding both handles upside down, the blades flat against my wrists, as I caught sight of two ogres at the other end of the corridor.
    Anselm was almost twice my height and his legs were frighteningly powerful even after the injury he’d just sustained. I dared not look back, but it sounded like he was no more than a few feet away from me. On seeing Anselm and me, the two ogres stopped dead in their tracks and blocked the corridor entirely with their huge frames.
    I supposed they thought that I would slow down. I didn’t. I sped up. Slipping out the two knives at the last minute, I dug them into both of their guts before they could even register what had happened. Blood spilled down the blades, soaking my hands and arms. I pulled the blades out again as they keeled over, allowing me passage just as Anselm grabbed the strap of my dress. I swiped out with the knife, narrowly missing his wrist as he withdrew his hand.
    I didn’t know how long it would be before I came across more ogres in the passageway. Eventually, they’d catch me. I couldn’t keep running forever. And these knives would be no good against Anselm now that he knew my trick. He was too strong. He’d overpower me if I let him catch up with me, even if I was holding two knives.
    I’d thought I’d be able to make the chase last a bit longer, but as I turned the next corner, I walked right into a dead end. I whirled around, trying to make it out before Anselm closed in, but I wasn’t fast enough. Placing both hands against the walls, he breathed deeply as he staggered toward me, dark blood dripping from his wound and leaving a trail on the floor.
    I tried the doors closest to me, but they were locked. I backed up against the window at the end of the hallway, swallowing hard as I brandished the two knives.
    I steeled myself as he approached within three feet of me. I didn’t believe that I could win this fight, but I had to go down trying. I held my breath, expecting him to launch forward and begin trying to wrestle the knives from my hands, when he stopped suddenly and looked directly over my shoulder, out of the window. His breath hitched and his lips parted. His eyes widened. I was shocked as he stepped back away from me.
    What in the world?
    I didn’t even have time to turn around to see what on earth he was distracted by when there was a sudden blow against the side of the mountain. The ground shook, and glass shattered. I fell, ducking my head between my knees, trying to protect myself from the sudden shower of shards of glass. My back stung as several shards pierced through the sheer fabric of my dress.
    There was a deafening roar—that of no man or creature I’d ever witnessed before. It penetrated my eardrums and vibrated around my brain.
    “Dragons!” Anselm bellowed toward the opposite end of the corridor. “The castle is under attack!”
    Dragons?
    Before I could even look up to see what had just smashed through the window, heat engulfed me. I cowered closer to the window frame as a blaze of fire shot through the corridor. Through the blaze I could just about make out Anselm running for his life and disappearing at the other end. As the fire died, I clutched my mouth to stifle a scream. I backed up into a corner and folded myself as small as I could as a set of sleek-reddish brown scales slid into the hallway.
    I cast my eyes up and down the length of the gigantic creature. Its head was facing the hallway’s exit, so I couldn’t see it, but the rest of its body was formidable enough to make me tremble. It was perhaps five times the size of an ogre. Smooth bat-like wings grew from its back. Its legs were thick as tree trunks and each foot was equipped with four heavy claws. Its long tail was pointed and sharp, almost like a stingray’s.
    Since I was backed up into a shadowy corner, the beast hadn’t yet noticed me. I jumped as it roared again, its whole body heaving as more fire shot down the length of