And that vampires didn’t always rely on their first course of attack.
Backup plans. She wasn’t the only one who had them. Dee let her claws out. “Simon.”
His head jerked up.
“He’s leading us by the balls. It’s a trap.” One they’d walked, no, ran, straight into. The Ignitor hadn’t been the only threat.
Not by a long shot.
The vamps came from the shadows. Four. No, five. Oh, damn, six.
Simon rose slowly, no fear flickering in his eyes or showing on the hard planes of his face. His shoulders rolled and he smiled. “Guess you’re all ready for an ass kicking, huh?”
The man might be insane. This many vamps? No, hell, no. Dee was very much afraid they would be the ones getting the ass kicking. She still didn’t even understand all her Born powers. No way could she take on this many vamps at once.
Laughter. The wild, crazy kind you usually only heard in B-movies. Ferret-face rose to his feet. He spat at Simon. Blood hit the ground near his feet. “I-I knew they h-had a hole here.” More laughter. What was the deal with Mr. Giggles? “Can’t take us all, c-can you?” His back straightened and that grin nearly split his face.
Simon’s arm brushed hers.
Dee sighed and pulled out a stake. Some habits just couldn’t be broken. Maybe they shouldn’t be broken. She eyed the closing circle of vamps, looking for the head of the snake. Because there was always a head, one with dripping fangs. The alpha. The vamp who wielded the most power and who had to be taken down first, because otherwise, he’d take you down. Fast, hard, and dirty.
Just because she liked her sex that way, it didn’t mean she wanted her second death to be like that.
There. The guy with the long, dreaded red hair. The one with green eyes that glinted and stared too hard at her. The one with his claws out and his hands up. He stood before the others, just by about a foot or two. Not toss-away prey.
Threat number one.
“Got him,” Simon whispered.
Hey, if he wanted to go first. “Knock yourself out,” she whispered and her gaze dipped to the woman on the alpha’s right. Asian. Exotic eyes too dark and deadly, red, red lips, pale, smooth skin and—
The woman lunged forward.
What?
Dee snarled and brought her stake up. Fight. Survive. Her mantra. Always.
But the woman didn’t come for her. Instead, her claws ripped into the still laughing vampire’s back. Dug deep.
He screamed.
“Hold him tight, Jun.”
The vamp screamed even louder when the woman dug her claws in deeper.
The alpha stalked toward him.
“What the hell?” Simon muttered.
Dee just shook her head and kept her stake up.
“You don’t know us. You come down here, smelling of fresh blood, bringing the risen Born, and you think we’re gonna do your bidding?”
“Grim—” Spittle flew. “Grim’s gonna—”
The alpha shook his head. “Grim’s gonna die, and so are you.”
A whimper now, not a scream.
The alpha vampire jerked his head. “Make it fast, Jun. But make it hurt.”
“N-no, no, Grim—”
“Grim can rot. I’m not his bitch.”
Wow. Now that wasn’t a statement she’d expected.
Two other vampires rushed to Jun’s side. They hauled the now begging vamp away and Big Red turned to face her.
A sliver of wood bit into her palm.
His nostrils widened, flaring a bit. “Going to kill me?”
“I was considering it,” she told him honestly. “But I thought I might see your plans first.”
A short, shrill cry burst from the darkness.
Make it fast, Jun. But make it hurt.
Looked like Jun had done both.
So killing was obviously on the agenda for him. Fair enough. It had been on hers, too, but she’d hoped to force answers out of the now dead vamp first.
“You going after Grim?”
If she survived the next five minutes, yes.
“And you…” Big Red turned his green stare—green, when it should have been black, definitely a time for a vamp to switch to the hunting mode—on Simon. “That spell still working for you?”
Simon tensed. “How do you know about—”
A hard laugh. “I know about a hell of a lot.” His gaze trekked back to Dee and he smiled.
Okay, that smile had goose bumps rising on her arms. Because while his eyes hadn’t so much as flickered in color, his fangs were out and Dee could feel his power in the air. Pressing around her. No, surrounding her. He hadn’t gotten his little gang of vamps to attack them, yet, but Dee had the very distinct impression that the order could come at any moment.
Jun came back to his side, her steps sure and steady. Her hands reached for the lead vampire, her hold possessive.
“I felt you—” he murmured, “the moment you rose.”
Jun’s nails lengthened into claws. Blood trickled down the male vamp’s arm when those claws slashed his skin.
Dee braced her legs and got ready for the attack that had to be coming. As far as she knew, there was no way this guy should be feeling anything about her. “Did you now?”
“Um. Been waiting a long time on you.”
If Jun’s glare got any hotter, Dee figured she might start to burn a second time that night. “Just how long have you been in this game, Red?”
“Name’s Tore,” he said, “and baby, I’ve been in this game longer than you can imagine.”
Born.
“Oh, I don’t know. I can imagine an awful lot.” She caught the slight hitch in Simon’s breath and knew he’d just realized they were dealing with a Born. Out of one fire, into another. “So are you some screwed-up prick like Grim? And what the hell are you doing in my town?” Cause no way, no way had this guy been in the city long. Word traveled too fast about the Borns, and Pak hadn’t said anything about two of the super vamps being around.
Pak wouldn’t have kept that Intel from her, would he?
The faint smile wiped from Tore’s face.
“He’s nothing like Grim,” Jun rasped and Dee knew the chick was walking a pretty short anger leash. “Nothing.”
“Good to know.” Simon’s body was in the same false relaxed stance as hers, and she knew if she so much as inched forward, he’d jump to attack.
“But we still don’t know why the hell he’s here, and yeah, Tore, I do know exactly who you are.” Banked fury rumbled in Simon’s voice.