Evil's Unlikely Assassin_An Alexis Black Novel

by Jenn Windrow

  The life left his eyes and he fell to the ground. Nathan waited at the entrance. “Very impressive.”

  “Reaper?” The word rushed past my lips.

  “Still alive.” He gestured toward his twigs and berries.”And intact. Terrance heard the commotion and started rallying the troops.”

  I dusted the dog hair off my clothes. “What’s waiting for me?”

  “At least fifteen vampires, three more wolves, and a very pissed off enemy.”

  I’m strong, old, and fast, but what was waiting for me on the other side of those doors was more than I could handle. Vlad however was older, stronger, and far more dangerous than anything that waited in that room.

  I might owe Caleb an apology after tonight.

  I loosened Eddie’s leash. Giving him more control, more freedom, more power over my physical being than I have ever done before. I had to hope for two things. One. That the father of all vampires could defeat the sadistic fuck in the warehouse. Two. That I could shove the genie back in the bottle when the battle was over.

  Not bothering to remove the blood of Terrance’s werewolf guards from my clothes, face, and hair, I stepped forward. Pushed through the doors and introduced Terrance to the vampire they called Evil’s Assassin.

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  I love to make an entrance and tonight was one of my best. Covered in werewolf remains, stake in one hand, Reva in the other, and one angry lip curl, showed Terrance that I meant business.

  By my estimation, fifteen vampires, three werewolves, and one sick twisted fuck stood between me and any chance I had of saving Reaper’s life.

  Reaper, Julia, and five other humans, all of the unclean variety hung from meat hooks over a conveyer belt. Bottles sat below their heads, a few held an ounce or two of blood, others still empty.

  I slashed the Reva in the air in front of me. “You ready to die, Terrance?”

  The vampires, arranged in a firing squad line-up, raised their weapons, aimed at my heart, fingers tugging slightly on the triggers, just waiting for a command to shoot. Terrance parted his troops and held up one finger. “Don’t kill her just yet.”

  “Big mistake. You should take the shot when you have it.”

  Terrance stepped next to Reaper, pulled out a knife and held it to my partner’s throat. “But then you would miss his death.”

  There were two ways I could play this. I just hoped I chose wisely. “What’s one human in the grand scheme of things?” Here’s to hoping my lie wasn’t too obvious.

  Terrance’s brow lifted when he smirked. “You expect me to believe you care nothing for this man?”

  “He’s a pain in my ass.” I shrugged. “Life would be way less complicated without him.”

  Maybe my lack of interest in Reaper would keep him safe, but Terrance was crazy and you could never be sure of a crazy person’s true intention. I was gambling with Reaper’s life and hopefully the vampire in front of me didn’t call my bluff.

  “I don’t believe you,” he pushed his blade deeper into the soft skin of Reaper’s throat. Reaper pulled air between his clenched teeth. The blade didn’t go deep, but a trickle of blood escaped, taking my confidence with it. But I started down this path, no backing down now.

  I walked forward, hand out, palm flat. “Here, let me.”

  Terrance smiled. A smile that made the Wicked Queen from Snow White seem sweet and demure. “Tricky, aren’t you?”

  I fluttered my eyelashes. “Don’t trust me?” My tone full of sarcasm.

  Relief warmed my insides when he walked away from Reaper and returned to stand in front of his guards.

  “How could anyone trust an abomination like you?”

  “Better an abomination than a psycho.”

  “There’s a purpose to my madness. A great purpose.”

  “To be the lackey of a ruined vampire. A vampire so bent on revenge he can’t see that his plan will fail?”

  “Delano is a great man, a great vampire. He will propel the vampire race to the dominant status it deserves.”

  “Didn’t they already try that?”

  Terrance shook his head. “No, they tried to coexist with the humans. This time vampires will control the humans.”

  One thing Nathan and I always discussed when we watched movies, is all bad guys suffered from too-much-information-syndrome. Instead of walking in and shooting their enemy, they talked and talked and talked. It always got them killed. But in this case, I needed Terrance and his diarrhea of the mouth.

  “This is Delano’s plan?” I motioned to the hanging bodies. “Wipe the humans off the planet so the food chain is gone?”

  “He’s not wiping them off the planet. He’s building an army. An army of undead. Once the army is built, the remaining humans will have no choice but to bow down and worship us.”

  “You mean the army I have spent the past few days turning to ash? How’s that working for you?”

  Terrance charged me, his blade high above his head, but stopped short, a hair’s breadth away from my face. His hand wrapped around my throat, cutting off my air.

  “A human-loving-whore like yourself would never understand.”

  “I’m a vampire too. This would be my society as well,” I reminded him.

  “You ceased being a vampire the day you let an angel manipulate you into turning your back on your race. The day you chose your love for the weak and pathetic humans over your own kind. The day you signed a contract to kill every vampire you came across.” His fingers squeezed tighter and tighter with every accusation he spoke.

  “Wrong.” I gripped his hand and pried it away from my flesh. “I ceased being a human when one of your kind killed everyone I loved, stole me away, and forced me into a lifestyle I never wanted.” I shoved him away and he stumbled into his back up. “I’m trying to get back the life I never wanted to give up. Killing assholes like you is the cherry on top.”

  “I don’t have time for you and your silly reasoning,” he said. “Release the wolves.”

  The vampires behind him separated and three large wolves took center stage. They stopped next to Terrance. He ran his fingers over the ears of the two closest wolves, and then settled his hands in their scruff. He bent close and smiled at me before he whispered just loud enough for me to hear. “She killed your friends. Avenge them.”

  The wolves rushed me. The vampires cocked their guns, bullets loaded in the chamber. Looked like I had my choice. Death by a hundred holes or mauling.

  I only had seconds to choose.

  Eddie chose for me and we ran toward the firing squad. When the first bullet left the gun, I was over their heads and on the ground behind them. There was only enough time to grab one head and twist before they all turned.

  I swung Reva and swiped at the four vampires in front of me. The blade slashed through their stomachs, spilling internal organs all over the floor. Still not enough to kill them, but it gave me a chance to stick a stake in their hearts and finish them off. But, I wasn’t ready to put them down. No, I wanted their writhing bodies to be a warning to the rest.

  Eddie let out a whoop I would be certain to tease him about when we walked out of here alive.

  Terrance screamed at the wolves to attack, but the werewolves were hidden behind the vampires, using them as an undead shield. I guess they didn’t want revenge as badly as they thought.

  Guns discharged, bullets flew, most missing their target, except for two bullets. One tore through my stomach, the other through my upper arm, sending Reva flying from my grasp. It fell between the line of vampires and my feet. One of the vampires lunged for it, but he wasn’t fast enough to avoid my size seven boot in his face. I scooped down, grabbed the hilt, and slashed the blade through his throat. Stake through his chest. Another one turned to ash.

  One brave wolf stepped through the crowd, he charged, but didn’t stand a chance because my stake ended up in his skull. The rest of the werewolves flattened their ears, turned tail and ran out through the doors I had entered ea
rlier.

  With the werewolves gone, that left ten vampires and Terrance.

  My hip hurt, my arm hurt, and I was sure Reaper was sick of hanging around. Time to move things along.

  “Shoot her. Damn you. Shoot her.” Terrance bellowed from his hiding place behind the conveyer belt.

  “You’ve got guns and a butt load of bullets, but you’ve already seen what I can do with my little dagger.” I pointed to the pile of stomachs and intestines on the floor.

  The remaining vamps exchanged glances with each other. They lowered their guns and held up their hands in surrender. Then they cleared the path that would lead to my target.

  Terrance pulled a shotgun out from under the conveyer belt. “If they’re too cowardly to pull the trigger, I’ll do it for them. For the vampire race.”

  Bam. Bam. The double barrels shot out tiny pellets across the room, I ducked, but a few still managed to embed themselves into my chest, lungs, and plenty of other vital organs. Had I been human the lead would have killed me.

  One thing that my supernatural ability gave me was super speed, not just fast, but blink of the eye fast, and I didn’t use it very often. Right about now seemed like the perfect time to show the world what this tiny pissed off vampire was made of.

  I ran as fast as I could at Terrance and grabbed him by the throat. My stake raised. Eager to plunge it into his Grinch-sized grizzly heart.

  Then the front door blew off its hinges and the largest coal black wolf I had ever seen stood in the center of the room. Its amber eyes practically glowed as he searched the room, and settled on me. It looked like the wolves ran off to get reinforcements. The wolf’s eyes didn’t leave mine, and I knew just by looking at him that he was going to be hard to kill.

  The black beast took off at a full run in my direction, his nails scraping on the floor, his lips pulled back in a snarl, and a vibrating growl coming from deep in his throat. I had a choice to make, protect my throat from the hairy bullet train, or continue ending Terrance’s life.

  I released my grip on Terrance, pushing him away, and braced for impact.

  The wolf changed its course and ran past me, snapping at the vampire on the floor, his teeth closed around his neck.

  “Julian, no.” Julia’s voice stopped time.

  I turned and looked at the wolf with the vampire chew toy. Julian was a big motherfucker.

  As much as I wanted to admire the beautiful specimen of wolf standing in the middle of the room gnawing on my enemy, I was slightly pissed off that he just ruined my chance of getting rid of Terrance once and for all.

  Damn men always had to go and complicate the situation.

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  The wolf version of Julian held Terrance down, his canine jaw snapping over and over again, trying to find a way to rip out the enemy’s throat.

  His twin sister cried and begged for her vampire lover’s life from next to Reaper. The poor girl was going to need a girl’s night out in a major way when this was all over.

  Eddie fought for the chance to step into the fight, upset he lost the chance to make the kill. For once I totally agreed with my soul intruder.

  Terrance growled, a menacing, deep growl and flipped Julian off his chest. Julian landed in a heap on the floor and scrambled to get back to his feet. But before he could right himself, Terrance took the upper hand and pinned the wolf to the ground. He wrapped his hand through Julian’s heavy coat and around his throat. Terrance lowered his fangs, a smile curling his lips. He moved fast, teeth parting Julian’s fur and finding his flesh.

  The wolf whined, his paws kicking trying to remove Terrance, head thrashing, looking for a way to dislodge the vampire feeding from him, but only causing Terrance to clamp down harder. Blood leaked out of Terrance’s mouth and soon Julian’s struggling eased.

  I stepped forward, dagger raised, hoping to save Julian from being drained completely. I snuck behind Terrance, swung my dagger over my head and braced for when it would slice through his neck.

  Terrance ducked and his hand shot out, hitting me in the calf, distracting me enough to miss the gun he pulled out of his pocket until the cool metal butted against my chest.

  “Drop the sword and back away or your furry lover will die.” He lifted Julian by the scruff and held his head, while the rest of his body lay limp on the floor.

  Blood matted Julian’s fur and his eyes drooped. Fear for his life was the only reason I followed Terrance’s directions. My hand shook when I dropped Reva at my feet and took two large steps back on equally shaky legs.

  Terrance walked closer, took the toe of his shoe and kicked Reva across the room, far out of my reach. He shook Julian, tearing a snarl from the nearly unconscious wolf. “It’s not a surprise that the two of you fell for one another. After all, you’re both traitors to your race. Too afraid to embrace the power you possess.” He threw Julian’s struggling body across the room. The wolf hit the wall with a bone-crunching thud, and slid to the floor, where he laid in a pile of fur, blood, and drool.

  I wanted to rush to Julian, to see that he was okay, but I needed to worry about the vampire in front of me, and not the unconscious werewolf behind me. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Nathan float over to Julian’s still body. He lowered his head to Julian’s chest and after what seemed like an eternity he nodded.

  Relief filled my bones.

  If I had been closer, Nathan could grab my foot and heal Julian right away, but I was stuck across the room being held at gunpoint by a maniac.

  Terrance stood with the gun still pointed at my chest. “Only one of us will be leaving this warehouse tonight.”

  Then he pulled the trigger until every last silver bullet left the chamber. Ten to be exact. Ten bullets that knocked me back into the nearest wall and burrowed their way through flesh and bone and heart, coming out the other side, but leaving a gaping hole in their wake. A hole the size of a soda can, leaving my heart exposed.

  My strength faltered and I slid to the ground. Flesh burning from the silver. Blood pumping from my chest in spurts. And I knew in my hole-filled-heart that without some divine intervention I was going to die.

  The tip of Terrance’s super polished dress shoes appeared in my line of sight. He knelt down, so I could see the triumph that danced in his eyes. The glee that lifted his lips. And my dagger that filled his hand.

  He turned Reva from side to side, the light catching the blade, reflecting small dots on the walls. “You’ve done a lot of damage with this little toy of yours. Killed many of our kind.” He gestured over to Julian with the tip of the blade. “Plenty of his kind too.”

  I attempted a witty comeback, but blood had puddled in my throat, and the words came out garbled.

  “I’ll keep your sword and collect your ash in a jar. Proof to the world that you really are dead and that I killed you.”

  That’s when I learned who started the rumors about my death. Only now he’d have his proof.

  He cocked his arm back and then drove Reva’s tip into my flesh, just below my collarbone and straight into the wall, pinning me like an insect he collected and placed on display.

  “Why?” One word is all I managed to push out.

  “Why what?”

  “Lie about killing me.” I coughed up some blood, clearing my throat for the rest of my question. “Before you actually did?”

  “Quite simple. Control. If I showed the vampire race I was strong enough to defeat the most feared vampire, then by default I become the most feared. Then they bow to me. Fear me. Follow my every order.”

  “Manipulation.”

  “Yes. Lies, manipulation, and deceit. In the end, however, death will come to you by my hand, but not until you’ve watched your partner join my army and your lover die.” He placed his hand on the hilt of the sword and used it to help him stand, the pressure forcing the blade farther down. A scream of fury tore from my mouth. From my soul.

  He stopped in front of Reaper. “Someone with his knowledge of the inner workin
gs of the VAU and years of working side-by-side with Evil’s Assassin should prove to be a very valuable asset.” He sank his fangs into Reaper’s neck and drew out large gulps of blood.

  Eddie raged inside my useless body, trying to force my immobile limbs to move, but my inner monster was as trapped by my wounds as I was.

  When Terrance finished, he wiped the blood from his chin and faced me. “I’ll start with your wolf.” Terrance walked over to Julia and knelt down to meet her eyes. “It’s time to watch your brother die.”

  Julia struggled against her bonds. “You can’t kill him, you still need the serum.”

  “I have everything I need from him. The serum has been analyzed by my own people and right now they are working to remove some of its less than desirable side effects.”

  Julia called Terrance the same names she had spat at for her own kin just an hour before.

  Terrance picked up the discarded shotgun, but instead of aiming it at Julian’s head he turned it on his still waiting soldiers, and pulled the trigger, taking out each and every vampire that had refused to do his bidding. They fell to the ground, still alive, but like me, completely useless until their wounds healed.

  He turned to face me. “I kill my kind for the greater good. Those who stand in my way once, will not live to stand in my way again.” Then he walked through the row of vampires, stake in hand, and started stabbing them to their final death.

  A door in the rear opened wide and a vampire stuck his head through the crack.

  “Sir, we have an issue that needs your attention.”

  Terrance turned, annoyance written all over his face. “Can’t it wait?”

  The vampire cleared his throat and tugged at his collar. “I’m afraid not. Someone has gotten into the storage room and dumped out every last bit of the serum. It’s gone.”

  “Mother fucker.” Terrance stormed across the room, stopping at my side. He bent down and caressed my cheek. “It seems you’ve all been given a ten-minute stay of execution while I attend to some business.” On the tail of his words he walked out of the room.