Stake

Slowly, she went to the side of the sleeping D and placed her feet so they
straddled the depression. With both hands, she took a firm grip of the
branch—the gigantic stake she’d improvised—and the instant she was
about to swing it down from over her head ...

Leila’s scream of “Stop!” and her own strike were almost simultaneous, and
it was in the next instant that Caroline cried out “Mashira?! ”

The stake was caught in midair. By D’s left hand. By the palm of his left
hand, to be precise. And, as might be expected from Caroline’s puzzled cry,
what stopped the keen point was indeed the tiny mouth that appeared in the
palm of his hand. The stake had literally been stopped by the skin of those
teeth. Above the mouth, a pair of mischievous eyes laughed. And yet, his
jaws were so powerful that even Caroline with her superhuman strength
couldn’t make them budge in the least. Her beautiful visage distorted by
surprise and horror, the female dhampir leapt away.

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