He begins to answer, but a scream rips through the night moments before I catch the faint, and all-too-familiar, sound of teeth breaking through flesh. The soft crunch is followed by a groan, and I gesture toward the direction we were headed.
Bronywyn nods and glances back at her father, but I don’t wait to see what she says. I blur forward, reaching the edge of the alley within a heartbeat. I can’t see into the alley just yet, but the copper clinging to the air calls to the animal I keep caged.
It gives me a pretty damn good picture of what’s happening.
“Please, let us go,” a woman whimpers.
“Tell me where the traitors are, and I will.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about!” she squeals. Closing my eyes, I do my best to focus my hearing on the heartbeats. One human, another human that is steadily slowing, and two vampires.
I can take two of the fuckers, so I don’t bother waiting for the footsteps growing steadily closer. Blurring into the alleyway, I come to a stop just inside and take stock of the scene before me. A woman who bears a striking resemblance to Deissy is just ahead, her eyes wide in fear as she cowers beside a man bleeding profusely from two puncture wounds in his throat.
The closest vampire, a man wearing a white tank top that looks like it has seen better days—even before the blood splatter on the front—turns toward me, crimson dripping from his mouth. “Can I help you?”
Fearghas’s glamour in place, he doesn’t recognize me.Perfect.“Just wondering what the fuss was about. I can smell the blood from a mile away. You not worried about drawing any hunters to you?”
The vampire farthest from me glances at his buddy, and they both laugh. “Not a fucking concern of mine. Not since the Astor bitch went into hiding.”
The newbie continues glaring at me, his blood-red eyes revealing his youth. Just outside the alley, I sense Bronywyn and her father growing closer.
“Now that you know what the fuss is about,” the new one growls, “get the fuck on with it. These are our hunting grounds.”
“Easy, Pie, he isn’t here for no trouble, are you?” the older vampire asks.
“No trouble at all,Pie.” He snarls at me, but I ignore it. “What traitors are you looking for?” I ask, moving farther into the alleyway. If I can put myself between the woman and the vampires, I might be able to save her life, and the life of the man beside her. That is, if he doesn’t bleed out first.
The older vamp sees my move, though, and counters, putting himself between me and the human woman.
“Where the fuck have you been living, bro? Under a rock?” The closer vampire snarls at me. One earlobe is completely missing, the other gauged so far I’m willing to bet a softball would fit through it. When he shakes his head, it sways. “Fucking pathetic bastards who think to fuck witches, that’s who we’re looking for.”
“Oh?”
“Bloodsuckers and witches, can you believe it?” The older vampire blurs forward and grabs the woman.
She screams, but he pays her no mind as though she’s nothing but a piece of meat. Hell, to him, she is.
I move in closer, careful not to be threatening because, if I come across as though I’m going to challenge them for food, he’ll kill her. “That’s pretty damned pathetic.”
“Right? Anyway, this bitch is friends with them.” He shakes her. “Aren’t you, little cunt?”
“I swear, I don’t know what you’re talking about!” she sobs. My rage intensifies as does her fear, and I blur forward, slamming into him. He releases her, and she hits the wall with a thud.
“What the fuck is your problem!” The older vampire wraps both arms around my waist and slams me into the bricks. He’s strong, which means he’s likely almost as old as I am. I bring my knee up at the same time I bring his head down, slamming my kneecap into his nose.
Bone crunches.
Blood spews.
But I don’t stop. Reaching behind me, I unsheathe my blade and bring it down on top of the back of his neck. It slices clean through, killing him within seconds.
“No!” Pie roars and rushes forward, but before he can reach me, Bronywyn slams him in the back with power. He falls to the ground, and I bring my blade down.
No hesitation.
No chance for the fucker to kill again.
My breathing ragged, I straighten and back up, then scan the alley for where the woman fell. Bronywyn and her father are kneeling beside her, and the broken-hearted look she gives me tells me all I need to know.
The innocent woman did not survive.
I failed. Again.