Immortals After Dark 09 - Pleasure of a Dark Prince

blurry, and the sight was so distant. But her mind vaguely comprehended that the biggest snake she had ever imagined had its rippling green coils wrapped around MacRieve, its face bobbing mere inches from his own.
    On its meaty body, black spots looked melted on, like scorched wax dripped over daubs of yellow. Boned ridges flared from its nose, past its slitted eyes, back over its skull.
    Anaconda.
    Panic jolted through her. MacRieve was in the grip of one of those
things
. It’d pinned his arms at his sides, squeezing the life from him. Every time he exhaled…
    No way for Lucia to climb the rocky rise to the levee in time. Not before the anaconda began…
feeding
.
    Without thought, she dove for her bow and quiver. Nocking two arrows, she aimed—
a mile away, into the breeze, have to pierce its eyes or it won’t make a dent in a creature that large.
    If she missed, she might hit MacRieve, putting him out, taking away any hope he had of fighting.
    She swallowed, pulled the string, and tried to slow her heart. Concentrate….
But this is MacRieve!
She blinked through tears.
    I’m so in love with him.
    His head slumped forward. Oh, gods, he wasn’t conscious.
Release the string, release it!
    When the snake began distending its lower jaw—to swallow its prey whole—her fingers relaxed; the bowstring sang. She exhaled in a rush, going weak with fear—
    The snake reared up, two arrows jutting from its eye sockets. Then the head collapsed to the ground.
    Lucia had… nailed it.
    Disbelief.
No time to succumb to her shock. With a cry, she sprinted for MacRieve, climbing up the terrain. As she ran, she inwardly chanted,
How, how, how? How did I do that?
    Once she reached him, she saw the dead creature was still squeezing! Heart racing with panic for MacRieve, she dropped her bow, trying to lift the snake away, but she couldn’t budge it. Tractor trailers with Regin were one thing—lifting a snake’s dead weight by herself was another.
    “MacRieve, wake up!” she cried. Nothing. Peeling offher backpack, she rushed to a young tree, then kicked it at the base, snapping it to the ground. Returning to the snake with it, she jabbed the wood in between its hefty coils, using it as a lever.
    She gritted her teeth with effort, hanging bodily from the tree. Again and again, she jabbed and levered. Finally, she heaved the last coil away with a
thunk.
    After dragging MacRieve far away from the creature, she sank down beside him, cradling his head in her lap. He was unconscious, rattling his breaths, a fine bloody mist spraying from his lips with each exhalation.
    “Please, wake up!” His torso was mottled with blood under his skin.
Internal injuries.
She lifted one of his eyelids. His eye was filled with burst vessels, as red as a vampire’s.
    But her Scot was an immortal. He’d live through this—he just needed to regenerate. She gingerly eased out from under him, making a pillow of leaves for him.
    Once he was resting more comfortably, she started a fire to keep other creatures away, gazing around warily. She was on edge. Yes, she had her bow to protect them— but she scarcely trusted her abilities. Maybe they were gradually
fading
?
    “I’ve got to know,” she muttered. She collected her pack, drawing out her sat-phone. Surprised it was still working, she dialed Nïx.
    The soothsayer answered right away. “Lucia! How’s your vacay?”
    “Eventful. Nïx, you know how you told me I’d haveto restrain myself? I… didn’t. MacRieve and I—”
    “You tagged him? You marked his teeth with your neck?”
    “Uh, yeah. But here’s the thing. I think I can still shoot.”
    Nïx said, “
Of course
you can. Are you fishing for compliments? Fine.” As if reciting, she said, “Lucia the Archer, you are the best. You are unmatched in skill, peerless in all of the world—”
    “Nïx! I had sex. Skathi vowed she’d revoke my powers.”
    The soothsayer made a dismissive sound. “Oh, that? She took them back weeks ago.”
    “What are you talking about?”
    “Didn’t I tell you? Yes, it seems Skathi wasn’t on board with your mission to unearth the god killer.”
    “You mean I’ve had… no ability
this entire time
?”
    “No mystical ability.”
    “That can’t be right. For the last two weeks, I’ve made incredible shots. Now I can still shoot as well as I ever could.”
    “Well, naturally.” Nïx sounded puzzled. “You practiced for over a millennium.”
    “Practice wouldn’t make me
peerless in