by Karen Lynch
“Seth, what the fuck man!” Derek yelled as horror settled on his face. “What’s wrong with you?”
“Wrong?” Chilling laughter burst from Seth. “I’ve never felt so great in my life, buddy, and it’s about to get a whole lot better.”
The moment Seth moved, Jordan threw Derek behind us so hard he hit the wall and crumpled to the floor. She and I took up fighting stances against the vampire who used to be Derek’s friend. Jesus, what were the odds of going to a party where the host’s best friend returned from vacation as a vampire? And this close to a Mohiri stronghold? I really was a disaster magnet.
“How cute. The little girls think they can take me.” Seth rolled his shoulders. “I know all about you Mohiri children and how there is nothing sweeter than your blood.” His eyes narrowed, and he swallowed like an alcoholic looking at a glass of whiskey.
“We know about you, too,” I said with a lot more bravado than I felt. “You’re a baby vamp, less than a week old, which means you’re not as good as you think you are. And my friend Jordan here is the best warrior you’ll ever meet. In fact, she’s the last warrior you’ll ever meet.”
Jordan recovered from the shock of meeting her first vampire and shot me her signature smirk before deftly twirling the knife in her right hand. Seth’s eyes followed the weapon, and I caught the hesitation in his eyes. The fact that he was a new vampire was the one thing we had going for us. That, and Jordan really was as good as I’d said she was.
“Are you going eat us or what?” Jordan taunted, and I saw Seth’s nostrils flare. New vampires are also rash and quick to temper, and if anyone could piss one off, it was Jordan. “I’m thirsty and I could be having a beer instead of wasting time with you.”
If we hadn’t been in mortal danger at that moment, I would have laughed at her sheer brass.
Seth did not find it as funny. “If anyone will drink here, it will be me,” he spat, leaping forward. He was faster than I’d expected, but he did not have the blurring speed of the other vampires I’d seen. Jordan met him halfway and delivered a blow to his chest that just missed his heart. He spun away with a shriek of pain and wisps of smoke rose from his chest when he turned for a second attack. “You’ll die for that, bitch.”
“Yeah, yeah, you’re the big bad sucker. Shut up and kill me already.”
When this was over, Jordan and I had to have a talk about how not to talk to a vampire.
Seth made a sound somewhere between a growl and a scream and went for Jordan again. I guess he thought I was less of a threat than the girl with two knives so he’d take her out first. For an architect, he was pretty stupid. His claws went for Jordan’s throat when he should have been paying attention to the two silver blades she wielded with deadly ease. One blade slashed across his midsection, opening a deep smoking gash there, and as soon as he dropped his hands to keep his guts from spilling out, the second blade found its mark. The vampire’s eyes flew wide with shock as Jordan pulled her knife free. Then he crumpled to the floor with a heavy thud.
“God I love this job!” Jordan crowed as she bent to wipe her bloody blades on the dead vampire’s sleeve. When she stood, I saw that she didn’t have a speck of blood on her. How was that even possible?
“We should get back to – ” Cold blossomed in my chest again and dread filled me as it finally dawned on me what was happening to me. I whirled to the ladder as a female vampire about my height with long dark hair flew through the hole. Her appearance did not shock me nearly as much as the revelation that my episodes were not random bursts of elemental power.
I had developed my very own vampire radar.
“Seth!” the female vampire shrieked when she saw him on the floor, and I knew she was his girlfriend, Dana, whom Derek had mentioned.
I realized how quiet Derek was, and I glanced behind me to see him out cold against the wall. Damn, Jordan didn’t know her own strength. I hoped he wasn’t hurt too bad, but there was no time to check on him now. We had Dana to deal with, and if Seth had been telling the truth, there was a third vampire here somewhere. All I could do was hope he was as new as these two.
“What have you done with Seth?” Dana screamed, advancing on us.
Jordan smiled and raised her weapons again. “Seth’s gone to hell, but don’t worry, you’ll see him again very soon.”
“Brent!” Dana screeched and bared her fangs at Jordan. “I am going to kill you slowly, bitch.”
I almost groaned when Jordan replied, “You go ahead and take your time, but just so you know, I plan to kill you quickly.”
Up until that moment, I thought we had a chance to get out of here alive. But when a second male vampire appeared at the top of the ladder, I knew we were in trouble. Jordan could probably take one of them, but I wasn’t a fighter. My only strength was my elemental power, and it wasn’t reliable. I had a feeling these vampires weren’t going to stand still while I tried to summon it.
My Mori stirred at the approaching threat, and I felt a spark of hope. I wasn’t as strong or as fast as Jordan, but I wasn’t completely helpless either. Fear for my life overshadowed the fear of my demon, and I dropped the wall between us. Help me.
I suppressed a shudder as the Mori’s consciousness touched mine, and I felt its power rush through my body a second later. When Brent flew at me, I shocked us both by sidestepping his attack so fast it would have made Callum proud. The vampire recovered quickly and came at me again, his fangs and claws bared. There was no time to think or to worry about how Jordan was faring in her own fight. My demon’s instinct took over and I swung the dagger in an upward arc, ripping it across Brent’s hands. He screamed, and I gagged as a clawed pinky bounced off my boot.
Enraged, Brent lunged at me again, and this time he hit me so hard I flew into the wall. My dagger went skidding across the floor, but not before I landed a good blow to his neck. He stepped back to put his hands over the gushing wound, giving me time to get to my feet again. My demon strength was already fading. It had saved me from his first attack, but I couldn’t take another blow like that, and I had lost my weapon.
I flexed my fingers in frustration. Where was all the power that had flared up around the other demons? Vampires are demons too – or at least they have a demon inside them – so there was no reason I couldn’t call on my power like I had with Nikolas. Vamhir demons are a lot closer to the surface than Mori demons. My power should be freaking out already being this close to two vampires. Maybe it just needed a little push.
My eyes did not leave the vampire as I pushed my Mori back and threw up a wall to protect it before I opened my power. The comforting heat flowed through me and I reached for it, trying to shape it into the weapon I had used on Nikolas and the demons. Nothing. What was I doing wrong?
There was a shout to my right, and Brent turned to see Jordan deliver a killing blow to his female friend. His eyes widened in fear at the sight of the other vampire falling. It was the opening I needed. Using the last of my borrowed strength, I launched myself at his back and wrapped my hands around his neck and face. All I had to do was hold him long enough for Jordan to finish with the female.
As soon as my bare skin made contact with his, a surge of electricity ripped through me, making all the hair on my body stand on end. Static crackled up my arms and sparks flew from my fingertips. The vampire jerked and stiffened like he’d been electrocuted and dropped to the floor.
I lay on top of him in shock as the sickly smell of burnt flesh filled my nose. Was he dead? I got my answer when he moaned and tried to push himself up before collapsing back to the floor. Whatever I’d done to him, he was down for now, but vampires healed quickly. I looked around for my dagger and saw it on the other side of the loft.
“Here.” Jordan held out one of her blades. I didn’t hesitate; I took the knife and plunged it into the vampire’s heart.
Chapter 15
THE VAMPIRE SHUDDERED violently and went still. For several seconds, I sat still and stared at the grisly scene around m
e.
“Holy fuck!”
Jordan’s voice snapped me out of my trance, and I realized I was sitting atop a dead vampire. I rolled off the body and onto my hands and knees, panting and trying not to vomit.
“You okay?” she asked, and I nodded slowly. To prove it, I got unsteadily to my feet.
Jordan stared at me. “What did you do to him?”
I glanced at the corpse lying face down on the floor, the burns on his face hidden from view. “I – ”
“Sara? Jordan?”
Trembling, I went to the window and saw at least half a dozen people below. “Tristan?”
“Is Jordan with you? Are you girls okay?”
I looked behind me at Jordan, the three dead vampires, and Derek who was still out cold. “We’re fine, but we could use some help. We had a, um, situation, and there’s an unconscious man up here who probably needs a doctor.”
“We’re coming up,” he called back.
“Just don’t freak out, okay?” I said as he started up the ladder. I stood back and took in the bloody scene again, and my only thought was thank God Nikolas wasn’t here to see this.
Great, we take down three vampires and the first thing I think about is him.
Tristan was the first one through the hatch, followed by Chris and Callum. The three men stared at the carnage in shocked silence.
“You two killed three vampires by yourselves?” Tristan asked, looking at me. I felt an absurd rush of pleasure that he didn’t assume Jordan had done all the work.
“Baby vampires.” I knelt to check on Derek and heaved a sigh when I found a strong pulse. “He’s alive,” I told Jordan.
Callum joined me and did a quick exam of Derek’s head. He pulled out some gunna paste and winked at me as he put some in the unconscious man’s mouth. “He likely has a concussion, but the gunna paste will take care of that. He’ll still need medical attention.”
“Young vampires?” Tristan murmured.
“He knew them.” I pointed to Derek’s dead friends. “They’re from town. Their names are Seth and Dana, and according to Derek they were supposed to be on vacation in Vegas. I don’t know who the other guy was. She called him Brent.”
The three men exchanged grim looks, and I could tell they knew more than they were saying. “What are you not telling us?”
Tristan shifted as if he was carrying a great weight. “We’ve had reports of an increase in missing persons in certain areas the last month. Las Vegas has been the worst.”
I didn’t say that I had also heard about the missing people. “Vampires.”
He nodded silently.
“Young vampires are still strong. How did you girls manage to take out three at once?” The look Callum gave me said he still didn’t think much of my fighting skills even though my training was going better.
I let Jordan tell the story, and her narration was a lot more colorful than mine would have been. She was pretty psyched about her first vampire kills. When she got to mine, she paused like she didn’t know how to continue, and I took it from there.
“He came at me and I got him good in the throat, but I lost my knife. He had to cover his throat because blood was going everywhere.” I waved a hand at my blood-splattered clothes for emphasis. “I jumped on his back and knocked him down, and then Jordan gave me her knife to finish him off.”
My explanation sounded normal and straight forward even to my ears, but out of the corner of my eye I saw Jordan give me a puzzled look. I hoped she was not going to question my story, because I couldn’t tell her the truth. Not yet anyway.
“How did you guys know we were in trouble anyway?” I asked to change the subject.
“We monitor the police bands in town, and we heard a call about a residential homicide,” Tristan told us. “Chris came to check it out, and he said a neighbor told the police he saw the victim’s son enter the house several hours ago. The neighbor thought it was strange because the son was supposed to be in Las Vegas. With all the reports out of Vegas, I didn’t want to take any chances.”
“How did you know where we were?”
Chris showed his dimples. “You of all people should know that we have GPS trackers on all our vehicles. We went to the house, and Terrence said you girls had gone outside with his friend, Derek.”
I made a face at him. “Well you missed all the fun.”
“Are you girls sure you aren’t hurt?” Tristan asked again. “You’re covered in blood.”
Jordan looked down and noticed her blood splattered legs for the first time. Her two kills were clean so there was no doubt where the blood had come from. “Damn it, Sara, I just bought these jeans.”
I let out a strangled laugh. “Sorry.”
Chris shook his head. “The two of them sound okay to me.”
I looked down at my shirt, which was now more red than white, and grimaced. “I hate to tell you this, Jordan, but I don’t think your shirt is going to make it.”
Tristan started issuing orders. “Callum, you carry the young man down. Chris, call for a cleanup crew. We need to keep everyone at the party away from the barn.” He looked at me. “Now, let’s get you girls out of here.”
We waited for Callum to descend the ladder with Derek over his shoulder before Jordan and I climbed down. As soon as my feet hit the floor, my legs wobbled a little, but Tristan was right behind me to keep me steady. “I’m just a little tired,” I assured him when he looked worried.
Tristan kept his arm around me as we walked to the barn entrance. “Can you walk to the SUV? I can carry you.”
“Thanks, but I can make it on my own.” There was no way I wasn’t walking out of here under my own steam.
“All right, let’s – ” Tristan looked at something outside the barn and froze, his hand tightening on my arm.
What now? I peered around him, not sure what I’d find. I saw Terrence, Josh, Seamus, and Niall standing to one side and Olivia, Mark, Callum, and Jordan to the other. Between them stood Nikolas. My stomach fluttered wildly at seeing him for the first time since the kiss. It was impossible to see his expression, so I had no idea what he was thinking or how he felt about seeing me.
Does it matter? He made his feelings perfectly clear.
I pulled away from Tristan and walked away from the barn, intending to go around Nikolas. He was the last person I wanted to talk to right now. I was done with his whole hot-and-cold attitude, and I was not in the mood to be yelled at for what had happened here. He could go find someone else to be his emotional punching bag.
Nikolas made a sound deep in his chest, and everyone but Tristan and I took a step back. I came up short and narrowed my eyes at him. “Did you just growl at me?”
“Nikolas, she is okay,” Tristan said behind me in a calm voice. Too calm.
I took a closer look at Nikolas and saw that he was standing rigidly with his hands clenched into fists at his sides. His eyes were so dark they looked black, and his face could have been chiseled out of stone. I had seen him furious before, but never like this. He looked like he was about to explode.
And he was staring right at me.
“Sara, listen to me,” Tristan said slowly. “You need to walk toward him, talk to him, and let him know you are okay.”
“I don’t understand,” I said without taking my eyes off Nikolas.
Tristan’s exhale was loud in the silence. “I know and I will explain it to you later. Right now, you need to do what I tell you. Nikolas’s Mori is upset, and the only thing that will calm him is to see that you are unhurt.”
Nikolas was about to lose it and Tristan wanted me to go to him? Was he nuts? “Can’t he see that from here?”
“No. You need to get a lot closer. He won’t hurt you. If there is anyone here who is safe from him, it is you.”
My breath caught. What the hell did that mean? Was Nikolas going to hurt the others if he lost control? Why was I the only safe one? I darted a glance at Terrence and Josh who looked like they were too terrified to mo
ve. Ah hell. I really hoped Tristan knew what he was doing.
I took a gulp of air and approached Nikolas. A few feet from him I could feel hot waves of fury rolling off his body. “Look, Nikolas, I’m perfectly fine, see? Okay, I’ve looked better, but that’s beside the point.”
He didn’t respond or move, and I could see something feral, something savage behind his eyes as they locked with mine. Cold fingers tickled the back of my neck, and my Mori stirred restlessly. What am I supposed to do now?
“Touch him,” Tristan called softly, and I had to stop myself from spinning around to gape at him.
“What?”
“Take his hand. Trust me.”
My stomach twisted nervously as I moved until no more than a foot separated us. Without taking my eyes from Nikolas’s, I reached out and placed my hand inside his. The instant we touched, my fingers twitched as a warm tingle ran through them. Then they were crushed as his hand closed around them in a painful grip.
“Ow!” Tears sprang into my eyes, and I smacked him hard in the chest with my free hand. “Let go!” When he didn’t respond, I reached up and slapped his cheek. “Nikolas, snap out of it! You’re breaking my hand.”
He released my hand, but before I could nurse my bruised fingers, he pulled me against him and wrapped his arms around me so tightly I could scarcely breathe. His whole body trembled, and I could feel his heart thumping furiously beneath my cheek. My fear was swept aside by an overwhelming need to comfort him, and I wriggled my arms free to wrap them around his waist. “Hey, it’s okay. I’m here,” I whispered, rubbing my hands against his back. My own traitorous heart sped up at his nearness, and I could not help thinking about the last time I touched him. This is not the same. There would be no repeat of the other night.
Minutes passed, during which his trembling faded and his heart rate slowly returned to normal. I was about to ask him again if he was okay when his arms loosened and fell to his sides. I took a cautious step back and looked up at him. His face was still hard, but at least he no longer had that crazed look in his eyes. The anger seemed to have burned itself out.
