HOVERING

His body trembled from pain and he could feel a few broken ribs. He got up shakily and the pain lacerated through him, even as his body started to slowly knit itself back together.

Still disoriented, he looked up just in time to see a fist flashing toward his face. The vampire’s bony knuckle connected solidly with King’s jaw and sent his head reeling backward.

The force of the blow caused a shock wave to spread out around King and the vampire. He went flying backward, crashing into the ground several times before he came to a stop several yards away.

He got up slowly and felt a hot, white pain in his jaw and knew that it had been shattered. He limped, his front legs faltering as his shoulder had not fully healed. The vampire floated toward him slowly as he felt his jaw. The vampire grinned at him and licked his lips with a pale tongue. “My turn.”

King had no idea how to escape the blows that rained down on him. He ducked as furiously as he could, but half the strikes connected, and he