Vampire Hunter: Shadow Hunter. Anna Hackett
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you’ll stake me straight in the chest.”
Damon shook his head. “That’ll never happen.”
Mark thumped him hard on the back. “I mean it, D. Promise me.”
Damon let out a long huff. He clapped Mark on the back in return. “I promise.”
Damon threw another punch at the wall, then started pounding the plaster with his fists and praying the images in his head would disappear. Mark’s body lying on the pavement with puncture wounds in his neck. The blood. Oh, God, the blood and the stillness of his body as he lay across the concrete. Dust clouded the air, and Damon’s knuckles bled as he released every ounce of rage coursing through his bones.
If he’d been a weaker man, he would have eaten his gun right then.
Rage surged inside Tiffany Solow as she handed the ancient vampire his Bordeaux. She wished she could smash the delicate glass on the table and plunge the leftover shards into his neck. Waiting hand and foot on Caius Argyros Dermokaites sent waves of anger and hate through every inch of her body. As if rubbing shoulders with the creatures she hated most wasn’t enough, Caius was the worthless bloodsucking piece of crap who’d murdered her brother and the definition of arrogance. She would kill him. It was only a matter of time, and when she did, she would enjoy every single second of it.
“Thank you, my precious,” he purred.
My precious? Gross. I hope you choke on it, you undead piece of crap.
Tiffany forced a smile on her face and slid into the booth beside him. Caius snaked his arm around her. The rank smell of his skin mixed with the aged Bordeaux and a faint hint of blood. The stench hit her nose full force, and she fought to keep from gagging. Thank God she was an amazing actress. If she didn’t have such a rock-solid poker face, infiltrating Caius’s inner circle would have been damn near impossible.
But every time he made her skin crawl was well worth it if it gave her the chance of murdering the son of a bitch. There was no such thing as a decent bloodsucker. They’d proved that the day she’d first become a hunter—the day her family had been stolen from her.
Caius would be tough to kill. Everything in her craved to stab him right then, get it over with. But if she even made a quick move at him, he would crush her before she blinked. She had to catch him with his back turned. His trust was key to his death. And she’d baited him perfectly into wanting her as a Host.
Serving their purpose for a short time, Hosts fed the vampires and sated their blood thirst, but once the anemia set in, the vamps had no more use for their weakened prey. Humans with knowledge of vampires were too high a risk to keep around. Hosts always ended up dead or undead. And despite the Hosts’ presence, vampires weren’t only leeches, they were greedy; feeding regularly on Hosts didn’t stop them from massacring innocent civilians for sport; it only delayed the actions on occasion.
Tiffany had found ways to warn multiple women and men during the time she’d spent with Caius, but it was no use. They were too entranced, nearly hypnotized, by the charm of the bloodsuckers to listen to reason. Tiffany had to admit, that charm was hard to ignore. But every time she thought of the deaths of her parents and brother, not to mention the loss of a deep friendship, her disgust snapped into place and she remembered exactly why she lived to drive stakes through vampires’ hearts. She thanked her lucky stars that Caius was still trying his persuasive skills on her, practically begging her to be his.
He could tell she was healthy and strong. To keep her iron high and appealing, she ate enough red meat and spinach to last her a whole lifetime—the thought of one more piece of spanakopita or rare steak made her stomach churn. Hell, every spare cent she possessed went toward that. Steak wasn’t exactly in the usual budget for a flat-broke college senior with four years of med school and then several more years of residency ahead of her. But it worked in her favor. Caius knew from her scent that she would provide a long Host relationship with all the expected sexual benefits, ensuring that she was too tempting for him to kill her in one quick meal. Caius wanted her for the long term.
Little did he know his efforts would have been more effective on a piece of broccoli. She almost snorted. Was she hungry or what?
He interrupted her thought. “Darling, do you see that private room over there?” Caius gestured toward the far side of the bar.
Tiffany nodded. “Yes.”
Caius sipped his Bordeaux, his eyes fixated on the closed curtain of the private room. “I believe we have a new visitor. Vampire, it appears. He has the movements of a predator.” He set down his wineglass a little more forcefully than necessary. “I won’t have an unannounced alpha traipsing around my club. Please go fetch Calvin and see that he’s taken care of.”
“My pleasure.” She smiled and stood to find the bodyguard. As soon as she turned her back on Caius, her smile faded into a frown.
Eat my stake, you nasty leech.
She was really feeling the pure bitchiness tonight. But then again, spending more than five minutes with Caius would turn any sane person into a complete basket case. He would pay for everything he’d done. She would gladly drive a stake into his heart and watch him explode to pieces like the blood bag he was. Vampires were so damn messy to kill, but she didn’t care. She wanted nothing more than to make him bleed.
As quickly as possible, she navigated through the crowd toward the back of the club. She exited the first door and stepped into the small area leading back to the offices. She glanced up and down the hall. No Calvin.
An immediate chill ran down her spine. The hairs of her neck and arms stood on end, and goose bumps prickled over her skin. Something was not right. She needed to get out of there, and fast. Pushing through the final exit, a rush of cold winter air hit her hard in the face. She stepped out into the alleyway and fell straight on her ass.
What the hell?
Her eyes widened as she took in the sight of what she’d tripped over: Calvin’s dead body. His neck was twisted at a strange angle as he lay lifeless on the pavement. Not a single drop of blood or any evidence of a fight.
Damn. It took a lot of cojones to snap the neck of a vampire. Whoever had done this was vicious.
She hopped to her feet and brushed herself off. No skin off her back if Calvin was dead. One less bloodsucker made for a better world. Though Caius would go ballistic at the news, and she didn’t want to deal with one hell of a pissed-off vampire, unless…
Her eyes widened again. She knew how to lessen Caius’s anger: deliver the new alpha vampire.
She rushed through the back door and reentered the club. If she could move fast enough and deliver the head of the anonymous vamp to Caius, she would be that much closer to gaining his trust. One step closer to destroying the scumbag who’d murdered her family.
Pushing her way through the club patrons, she headed toward the private room. She weaved in and out of the crowd to avoid Caius’s gaze. Once she reached the curtained entrance, she pulled her Smith & Wesson from her jacket. Always loaded with silver bullets, her rounds sure wouldn’t kill a vampire, but they would inflict a serious wound, enough to make the leech pause.
She quickly slipped inside. With her eyes already adjusted to the darkness from being outside, she searched through the dimness, gun aimed.
No one.
She stepped farther into the empty room.
The end of a gun barrel pushed against her skull. The small click of the hammer sent adrenaline pumping through her body. Her heart thumped hard against her chest.
Positioned at the end of a vampire’s gun.
Royally screwed didn’t even begin to cover