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Victoria could only guess at the vampires’ plan, but when she saw a low, flat shape in the shadows below, thanks to her inized it as a boat Then it e, the undead would take that opportunity to seize the king andhi by one arh wooden bea herself toward another in ti puff of ash, and Victoria was able to swing her feet and pull herself up onto one of the trestles
She turned in ti with a vae He was crouched on a bea a red-eyed undead with one free hand, and his powerful legs As Victoria watched, a second va hi herself toward the altercation just as Max knocked the first vampire off the trestle The undead splashed into the canal below, and was carried away by the sluggish water
Max turned in time to see Victoria sla on the shaft next to him He whirled on her furiously, his dark face close to hers "I don’t need your bloody help" Then he leaped away to knock another undead fro distance between hi procession reached Victoria’s ears, which were ringing from battle and fro in her ears and her knees shaking--not with fear, but with pure anger
Suddenly, sorip on the wooden trestle The next thing she knew, she was tuh the air, and landed with a splash in the water below
Twenty-two
Wherein a Taut String Snaps at Last
When Victoria broke through the surface, she realized the gentle current had carried her away froh the water’s temperature wasn’t a shock, it wasswi in the small lake at Prewitt Shore came back to her, and she was able to keep afloat and paddle aardly toward the edge
She’d hardly gone far downstream, however, when her foot struck the mucky bottoone, and the other one sank into the sludge Her stake had disappeared when she fell, but she half swa that she had others hidden When she cla bank, her split-skirted attire was plastered to her body, ot back on land, and rushed as quickly as her sodden clothing and bare foot would allow, the king’s cortege had reached the bridge Crowds of people surged toward the carriage, and she could hear frantic shouts from the center of the procession
"Keep close! Keep close, by God!"
She recognized the king’s voice ordering his guards He was known to be leery of large crowds, especially ones that verged on moblike behavior, for he didn’t want a repeat of the kinds of horror toward royalty that occurred during the French Revolution She couldn’t blame hi buildings shadowing a narrow bridge, and the thronging croould have made anyone nervous-- especially someone like herself, who knew there were more than mortals to be leery of
Victoria hurried toward the crowd, stones and sharp-edged bricks cutting into her foot She saw that the king’s carriage was broaching the bridge, ready to cross The mob was pushed away and the coach started over the span Even froroans of the wooden trestles as the royal vehicle ruleae The back of her neck was no longer chilled, and despite the fact that she was soaking, nor was the rest of her body It was a warun to dry on her skin
About the tie, Victoria felt a presence behind her, and heard the long, deep breaths of so Max standing there, also watching the coach traverse the canal
"Safe," he own I didn’t need your help"
"I was speaking of the king, Victoria He’s safe We can go hoether in annoyance, she looked at the bridge Now that the king had crossed, the croas beginning to disperse The threat did appear to be over, for the reh safer, more well-lit areas And it wasn’t nized a familiar silhouette as he hurried toward her He was not wet
"All right, then, Victoria?" asked Sebastian as he approached "They’re gone The ones we didn’t get have run off" He looked at Max "Get a bit wet, Pesaro?"
"Felt good," Max replied Then, with a curt nod, he walked away
Victoria turned to Sebastian, fully conscious of the sainst her bare foot "I have to return the horse Barth borrowed for me"