by J. K. Coi
Another vampire? Was that what she’d felt? Max couldn’t be sure. This felt different. Stronger. Colder.
Keeping one eye on Baron, who was still holding his own against Devon despite the vampire’s speed and despite the taunts and snarls thrown at him, Max searched the surrounding area, peering between the shadows, into the shadows.
Whatever it was came closer. Closer.
Although fear coalesced into a hard knot of ice in her chest, she clenched her fist tighter on the grip of her gun. She wanted to scream, but clamped her mouth closed and dared not call out, knowing that Baron couldn’t be distracted. All her senses went on high alert. She focused her fledgling psychic ability on the icy power that thickened the air. Strangling her. It was all around her now, driving away the humidity, creating a vacuum that left no room for anything but cold.
Him. He was here. Watching her. Watching Baron.
And waiting.
She felt him probing her mind and she growled, the sound a primitive vocal protest as she frantically put up mental walls to keep him out of her brain. Not again. Please, not again. But her resistance was like a butterfly’s wings brushing against a window and had no effect. His mental powers were strong, so strong that she knew she didn’t have a prayer in hell of stopping him from doing whatever it was he had come here to do.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Who are you?
Justice. The word whispered through her mind, and Max shuddered.
I am Justice.
Please. Her silent prayer was an entreaty that Baron be spared from whatever reckoning this creature believed should be meted out. Please.
As smoothly and easily as the cold presence had slid into her mind, it withdrew again, leaving her shivering and cold where she stood. Even as she felt relief, she knew that while he might not be completely in her head anymore, his fearsome power surrounded her. He wasn’t finished with them.
Max swung her head around, searching for some visual proof of the intruder’s physical presence, but there was nothing. He was still there, though. The cold was a palpable reminder of the new and powerful threat.
She set her teeth and tightened her grip on her weapon, feeling her claws stretching. She pushed aside the fear, determination setting her spine and giving her strength. She would not let Baron down—she would not allow this unseen danger to distract him from his battle.
A screech of pain drew her full attention back to the fight between Devon and Baron. Baron had scored another hit with his blade, a direct stab through the vampire’s chest. Devon lurched back, pulling himself off the length of steel, staggering against a tree. It wasn’t enough. Baron had to know it wasn’t going to be enough to kill him.
Max took aim. As she was about to fire the presence returned and her movements slowed. Her arm felt heavy, sluggish. She couldn’t do it. She couldn’t move at all.
Devon—who had been about to lunge for Baron once more—stopped cold. His eyes grew wide and fear showed clearly on his face. Max knew he was sensing the same force Max herself had already been made uncomfortably aware of.
She blinked and gazed down at the wounded vampire, the one she’d shot in the head. Had she really done that? He was struggling to get to his feet. Max was surprised to see the bleeding had already stopped. She realized that if he were to get away at this point, he would indeed heal and live to hunt for human blood another day. It was disconcerting to say the least.
As she watched, unable to move, she felt a rush of cold air from behind her, passing so close she thought it might very well leave the burn of frostbite along her arm. “Baron!” she cried in warning.
He paused, turning toward her, his blade poised in the air. The expression on his face hardened as he perceived the other threat, and his eyes narrowed, searching. He must have sensed the disturbance in the air, but like her, he wasn’t able to see anything tangible.
Their eyes met, and Max wanted to run to him, but he shook his head very slightly, a silent order to stay where she was—she didn’t bother to tell him that was something not actually within her control at the moment.
At a spot between Baron and Max and the now cowering Devon, they both watched as the air began to swirl, a mini twister that remained in one spot but grew larger and larger. Within the moving currents, Max could see the shape of a man forming as if from the air itself.
It all happened in less than the blink of an eye and Max gasped at her first look at Justice.
Holy crap, he was tall. Taller than Baron, probably about the same height as Alric…and just as gigantic. That in itself was enough to jack up Max’s anxiety levels, but what freaked her out the most was the utter lack of humanity. There was nothing in those eyes. They were two glowing orbs of pitch-black ice.
“Hey, nice trick. Wrecked any good trailer parks recently?” Baron’s blade remained trained on Devon. His arm didn’t waver in the slightest and his eyes looked as hard as their newly arrived opponent’s.
“Baron, shut up.” Damn him. Leave it to Baron to be his typical provoking, wise-cracking self at a time like this.
He shot her a guarded, warning look and she felt like stomping her feet in frustration, but since she still couldn’t move, Max settled for hoping that the horrified frown she threw back at him expressed succinctly what she thought of his silent orders and smartass mouth.
Max turned her attention back to the man…vampire…or whatever he was. The way he had planted himself right between them like a six-foot-eight wall of menace and muscle made her think that he wanted them divided, separated so they were less of a threat to him.
Yeah, that didn’t make any sense, Max thought. This guy radiated so much power, she doubted very much that he saw either of them—both of them or ten of them—as any kind of threat. It was more likely that he wanted Baron and Max separated so he could pick them off one at a time. Just for the fun of it.
Oh shit.
Power swirled in the air, seemingly caught on the dust still settling after the vampire’s splashy entrance.
Baron didn’t like the look of this situation one bit. He knew the new vampire was holding Devon frozen in place, and Max as well. It was only by the concentrated effort of his own power that he managed to neutralize those same effects on himself.
He wished to hell that he could get closer to Max. He felt an overwhelming urge to put his body in front of hers as a shield. But even though she was only a few short feet away, with that vamp between them throwing off waves of psychic energy, the distance between them seemed immense.
Oh yeah, he knew who this was.
Enforcer.
“So, you’re coming to the party just a little late, aren’t you, Enforcer? Shouldn’t it have been you cleaning up this mess?” Baron continued to taunt the chilly vamp, studiously avoiding Max’s eyes as he did, hoping to keep the Enforcer’s attention off her.
From what he’d been told, this guy only hunted rogues—vampires who broke the rules—but just who made up those rules? And what’s to say that Max hadn’t broken them simply by being turned in the first place? No, he wasn’t taking any chances with her. He had to find a way to get her out of here. Fast.
But he couldn’t leave without taking care of Devon. He had to know for certain this bastard was never going to be a threat to anyone else again.
“The vampires are mine, Immortal.” The voice was low and deep, with a distinct Scottish brogue curling around the R in “vampire” and “Immortal”. An accent women would probably swoon over, if not for the fact that it was devoid of any emotion whatsoever. The Enforcer was simply a vessel, an instrument of death. “You will leave them for me.”
The wounded vampire whimpered, its raw terror streaming in rivers of blood-tinged sweat from its pale skin. Baron saw Max flinch, as if she believed that she, too, was being lumped in with the others. Oh, fuck no. He wasn’t letting some heartless vampire bounty hunter get within a foot of her.
“I really don’t think I can do that,” he said. With a practiced move, an
d without taking his eyes from the glittering blue gaze of the Enforcer, Baron drew a long-handled dagger from his waist and sent it flying like a dart into Devon’s heart. It sank in with a loud thunk, just as Baron twisted and dropped to one knee, bringing the longer blade of his sword down to take the young, wounded vampire’s head.
The creature turned to ash. Devon screamed. Max jumped. And the Enforcer growled, his displeasure plain at having lost one vampire to Baron’s steel. He also looked pretty pissed that his nifty “Simon Says freeze” routine wasn’t working as well on Baron as it had on the others.
Baron quickly raised his blade against Devon, but before he could take that vampire’s head as well, Baron was blasted. A surge of power barreled into him like thousands upon thousands of bees attacking with stingers the size of harpoons.
He focused and managed a small shield of protection around his face, but not before his eyes started to burn—and even that meager barrier was bowing fast under the onslaught of power wielded by the Enforcer.
They stood locked in soundless, motionless combat. Then, out of the corner of his eye, Baron noticed Devon moving, slinking away. The Enforcer’s power over the lesser vampire was obviously weakening as he was forced to expend more energy against Baron. Before Baron could do anything to stop Devon from getting away, Max had leveled her gun at him and fired.
“You don’t go anywhere,” she said, her voice cold. He saw her flex her fingers around the weapon and roll her shoulders.
“Max, run.”
“Shut up, Baron.” The look she tossed him was angry and determined.
He concentrated on gathering more reserves of strength, converting some of the psychic energy coming from the vampires to his own advantage.
He pushed with one forceful flood of power and dove for Devon. “I have some business to take care of with this animal here,” he said, one hand in Devon’s hair and the other holding the point of his sword to the vampire’s neck. “And if I turn the dog over to you—granted, he’ll probably pee himself with terror, which would be fun to watch and all—I have no assurances that he’ll be taken care of to my satisfaction. You see my dilemma, don’t you?”
“This was not a choice you were given,” the Enforcer replied, his expression wavering not one bit. “This is not your business, and you will turn the vampire over to me. I decide how it is to be dealt with. It shall be in accordance with my law.”
“Your law?” Baron spat. “You’ll forgive me—or don’t, I don’t actually give a flying fuck—if I don’t hold much stock in your law. It was your law that allowed this monster to prey on innocents in the first place. Your law that allowed him to turn a human without her consent, and allowed him to torture my friends.” Baron twisted his fist tightly in Devon’s hair and dug the point of his sword into his neck, drawing a long line of blood.
The usually smug, cocky vampire had been awfully quiet through all of this, probably hoping to escape through the cracks when the conflict finally erupted between Enforcer and Immortal. The only thing that kept Baron from finishing the job right here and right now was the fact that Max was still in jeopardy. He wouldn’t toss away his only bargaining chip until he was sure she would get out safely.
As if reading his mind, the Enforcer turned his attention to Max.
Shit!
Her eyes went wide and her body tensed as she visibly fought against an invisible assault. But she wasn’t strong enough. The bastard was in her mind.
“You leave her the hell alone,” Baron shouted, immediately dropping the sword and pulling his Glock.
The Enforcer started to draw Max to him, seemingly unimpressed by Baron’s gun barrel pointing at his head. Max’s movements were slow and halting, obviously forced, but she took first one, then two steps.
Oh, hell no. Squeezing the trigger, he swore when the slug didn’t immediately take off the side of the supervamp’s head. Instead, it hung suspended in the air between them for half a second, then fell, harmless, to the ground.
Baron growled with frustration and fury. Turning his attempt inward, he gathered his ability, gathered Devon’s and Max’s abilities, and took more from the Enforcer. The power he held was massive, and as Baron grabbed onto it, he suffered a fleeting twinge of alarm.
What if it was too much for him and he couldn’t control it?
Fuck that. He felt the intense energy flowing through him. Taking a deep breath, he opened himself up to it. The world seemed to pulse with his every breath, and when he opened his eyes he and saw currents and shadows and energies all eddying in the hazy atmosphere.
He still held his gun, but Baron didn’t have to shoot the Enforcer. He simply used the vampire’s own power against him. Freezing him to the spot and forcing him to release Max. The vampire curled his lip in a rumbling, angry snarl, showing Baron a hint of gleaming white fang.
“Max,” he said calmly, his voice even. “Max, get over here with me. Hurry.”
Baron could feel the Enforcer pulling, struggling to take back control…and he was succeeding. Damn, the thing was strong. Just how old was this guy anyway?
Unfortunately, getting out of here was going to be tricky. Baron knew he couldn’t hold onto all this power for much longer, and as soon as he let go…
“Now that I have your attention, why don’t we make a deal you and me.” Baron hoped he was right and this Enforcer character was technically a good guy, because otherwise this situation was about to head right into goat-fuck territory.
Baron got a raised brow and a low growl from the vampire in response.
“Hey, drop the scare tactics, or I’m going to use this impressive array of abilities that you’ve so generously made available to me to do more than just keep you immobile,” he warned, tightening his psychic hold.
“Listen,” he continued. “I’m pretty sure we’re on the same side, so there’s no cause to go all caveman on my ass.”
The guy was practically chomping at the bit. No longer quite so unemotional, his eyes blazed with ice-cold fury. He was looking more and more like the bloodsucking vampire he really was underneath all that talk of law and order.
Baron tucked Max behind him and said, “How about you don’t touch the girl, and I’ll let you go.”
The vampire moved so fast, Baron didn’t think he even disturbed the air around him. All of a sudden he was just there, right in Baron’s face. Beside him, Max gasped and tried to step around him, but Baron grabbed her arm as the Enforcer’s fist wrapped like a band of steel around his throat.
“You ever try a stunt like that again, Immortal, and you die,” he growled into Baron’s face, his eyes glittering with intent. “The only reason either of you still live now is because I owe a debt to one of your kind…and because your little vampire girlfriend here remains free of the taint.”
“Wonderful,” Baron retorted with a choked sound, heavy on the sarcasm. “Then if we’re all going to keep breathing for at least a few more minutes, why don’t you back the hell off?”
The Enforcer smiled then, a cold, toothy smile that managed to make him look even more savage than he did naturally. “You know, I could almost like you,” he said, as he let Baron go and straightened to his full height. “You’ve got a great deal of power and a lot of balls for such a young Immortal. Not much brains…but yeah, a healthy set of stones.”
“Flatter me all you want, you’re still not my type.” Baron shrugged and reached for Max, needing to bring her close. Her return grip on his hand was a reassuring vice.
“What did you mean just now?” Max asked. “What is ‘the taint’?”
Baron wanted to knock the vampire’s teeth out when he turned to Max, his nostrils flaring as he looked down at her. It would have been an understatement to say Baron was uncomfortable with the fact that she’d drawn the attention of a man whose sole purpose was to eliminate vampires.
“The taint is the evil that starts to devour a vampire’s soul when he takes blood from those who have not offered it of their own free will,
” the Enforcer explained. “That blood is often defiled by fear and anger, which will corrupt the already precarious balance that a vampire must maintain to keep from slipping into darkness and damnation.”
“And it’s your job to find these tainted vampires, and…do what exactly?”
Baron squeezed her hand, hearing the anxiety in her words and wanting to reassure her that no matter what this guy intended, Baron was not going to let anything happen to her. She was not like Devon.
The Enforcer bared his teeth at her, long, sharp. He was obviously trying to intimidate Max, scare her, and Baron didn’t like it one bit. He growled a warning and stepped in front of her.
The Enforcer returned Baron’s stare with a long, deliberate look of his own. When he turned back to her, he smiled. “I hunt. I judge.”
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Maxine shared a long look with the Enforcer, and it was made very clear to her that she had already been judged.
She was still alive—for the moment anyway—so that was probably a good sign.
“Okay, we get it. Judge, jury, executioner. One nice tidy package.” Baron interrupted with impatience. “Now what about that piece of garbage?” He nodded in the direction Devon had gone. The coward had somehow managed to get a hundred or so yards away during their little rumble.
“That vampire is not your responsibility.”
“Look, Enforcer, I’m not having a jurisdiction discussion with you. Whether you want to share or not, I do have a responsibility here, and I will make sure that bloodsucking demon is taken care of. For good.” Max winced, convinced the Enforcer was going to smite them down from sheer annoyance over Baron’s dogged interference.
The Enforcer—was his name really Justice, or had that just been his vocation?—must have focused some of his not inconsiderable power toward Devon, because she heard a high-pitched, keening cry echo in the night.
Baron growled and started forward, lifting his sword.
Max turned and grabbed his arm, holding him back. “Please, Baron. Just let Justice do his job and—”
