by Cynthia Eden
A park. A big, dark, yeah, things-could-be-hiding-here park. Overgrown grass. Too tall trees. Too thick brush. Great.
The vamp with the ferret face was fast; she’d give him that. Her heart raced in her ears and her legs kicked beneath her as she charged after him and Simon. No way was this guy getting away, not after he’d set a freaking Ignitor on her.
An Ignitor. A vampire’s nightmare. A being that could raise and control fire.
Not a good way for a vampire to die.
She’d watched vamps burn before. Dee just hadn’t thought that would ever be the way she’d go out.
Of course, she hadn’t thought she’d be a vamp, either.
Simon lunged forward and launched his body at the vampire. Even from the distance that separated them, she could hear the thud when their bodies crashed into the earth.
She pushed forward with a burst of speed.
Simon flipped the vampire over—and the ferret bastard started laughing.
That’s when the hair rose on Dee’s nape. When she realized that the shadows were too dark.
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.
Someone let me in on the party. Dee darted a quick glance at Simon.
His black eyes burned. “He’s Grim’s brother.”
What? Damn, talk about one powerful bloodline. Two Borns?
“An unfortunate circumstance of birth,” Tore murmured. “Can’t really choose family now, can we?”
Her heart slammed into her chest.
“No, we can’t.” You couldn’t always save them either.
But you could avenge them.
“I thought death would finally let me escape the bastard.” Tore shook his head. His dreads brushed over his shoulders. “Should have known things wouldn’t be that easy.” His eyes raked over her. “I really thought you’d be…bigger.”
Dee shook her head, fed up. “Look, are we gonna stand around here pissing and moaning all night, or are we gonna fight?”
“Not so fast,” Simon growled. “We need to—”
“I can’t kill him,” Tore told her, patting Jun’s hand with a soft, “Easy, love.” One red brow rose. “But according to the seer—”
“Uh, you want to kill Grim?” But, then, didn’t everybody?
“He killed me once. Payback should be…acceptable.”
“Right.” Dee shook her head. “I don’t get it, why can’t you—”
“Kill him?” Simon fired at the same time.
“Because we’re linked. Grim can’t control me, but he can feel me. He can slip into my thoughts, no matter how hard I try to shield my mind, and he knows when I’m coming for him. He runs, always runs, and leaves a bloodbath for me to clean up.” His teeth snapped together. “Blood bonds, you know? There was no bite between us, but we shared a mother and the bond linking us has always held.”
This guy didn’t sound like a raving lunatic. He didn’t act like a power mad vamp, either.
He’d come into town, without raising a stir, without leaving a river of blood in her streets.
“Can’t get it, can you?” Jun asked, voice sharp. “Even now that you’re one of us—”
Uh, no. Not quite.
“—you still think we all deserve to rot, don’t you?”
No. Her eyes went to Simon again. No, all vampires weren’t evil. Some fought like mad to keep their souls. Their spirits. Some of them, well, they just got stuck in a curse or a war they didn’t understand. “I’ve never gone after every vampire,” Dee said slowly and she kept her focus on Simon. He glanced at her. Their eyes held. “Only those with bounties on their heads.” The killers. Those who loved to torture and raise hell.
“Like the bounty that’s on your head?” Jun pressed.
Simon’s jaw locked. “Don’t push me,” he growled at the chatty chick.
Her hero. So sweet. Her fingers lifted and brushed against his cheek. His head turned, just a bit, and his lips pressed against her palm.
“You’re making a mistake,” Tore said. “You shouldn’t trust him. Take him, screw him all you like, but don’t let your feelings blind you. You’ll die if you do.”
Simon attacked. He lunged at the other vampire, wrapped his left hand around Tore’s throat and lifted the stake he’d snatched from Dee—
Jun raked her claws down Simon’s side.
The vampires closed in.
“Stop!” Dee screamed. No, Simon wasn’t going out in front of her. No. Way.
At her cry, every vampire froze. Some of them—wait, did a few of those guys just lower their heads?
A vampire celebrity. That’s what she was now. Hell. “Let. Him. Go.” But nobody moved. “Jun, chick—I’m talking to you.” She could take that vampiress down, no doubt about it.
“He won’t kill my chosen mate!” Jun didn’t ease her hold, but she didn’t go in for another attack, either.
“Yeah, well, he won’t insult mi—” Whoa. What was that? No way she’d been about to say mine. “He won’t insult the guy that’s had my back this whole time. I know Simon’s linked to Grim. I know the spell won’t hold forever.” Her shoulders squared. “It’s a chance I’m willing to take.”
Tore whistled, or well, kinda gurgled.
“Simon…”
His hand fell away from Tore’s neck, but the stake remained pressed right over the other vampire’s heart. “I’d die to protect her.”
“You’ll probably have to do just that.” Tore’s gaze dropped to the stake. “Lesson for you, little vampiress. When you get to be as old as I am—as old as Grim—killing us is hard.” His fingers rose, curled around the stake. “It’ll take more than a stake through the heart to keep Grim down.”
She’d heard a rumor like that years before. Talk of another Born who’d been staked and nearly decapitated, but the guy had gone to ground and risen again. “So what’s your killing tip?”
“Burn him. Burn him until there’s nothing left.”
Easier said than done.
Simon swore and stepped back, yanking the stake with him. “Why don’t you just tell us where to find the asshole?”
“Go back for your charred witch. She knows.”
The vamps began to retreat into the shadows.
“And where are you going?” Dee demanded.
“I just wanted to see you and to figure out if you were up to the task before you.” A somewhat sad shake of his head. “You’re not.”
Now he was going to insult her? “I could’ve had you dead on this ground in the first minute.”
“And I could have taken your heart in the first thirty seconds.” A taunt. One that had her hands clenching. “Don’t hesitate on your kills. Stop thinking like a human.”
Impossible. Inside, she still was human.
Deep inside, and she always would be.
Surface. Maybe Zane had been right about that. Maybe rage had been blinding her for too long.
“When you face Grim, strike fast and strike first. Because you won’t get a second shot.” He turned away.
So did Jun. Protecting his back. Good girl. She could admire that.
“Oh…” He stopped, looked back. “Tell the Ignitor they’re dead.”
Then he was gone.
But the knot in Dee’s gut had just gotten bigger.
Spells were powerful things. A few words, charms, a wisp of magic, and the world could change.
Dee and Simon rushed back to Delaney’s. Simon half-expected to find the street swarming with fire trucks and neck-craning bystanders, eager for a glimpse of tragedy or heroism.
But Catalina’s spell held, and though smoke curled lightly from the shattered windows, no humans were near the bar. If a human came by and glanced at Delaney’s, they’d see no damage. No wreckage. Not while the spell was in place.
But Simon saw it all.
Catalina stood in front of the broken doors, her shoulders slumped, her clothes stained with soot.
The demon wasn’t near her. He’d positioned himself next to a parked truck. A beat-up, older, gray pickup. When he caught sight of them, his head jerked. “You get the bastard?”
“He’s dead.” Not by his hand. Tore. Who would have thought that vamp would come calling? Simon had known he was looking at the Viking, even before Tore had opened his mouth and started talking about Grim.
The guy’s reputation definitely proceeded him.
He jerked his thumb toward the truck. Even with the tinted windows, he could see the slumped figure of the woman. “She still out?”
“Yeah, Dee hits hard.”
Dee grunted at that. “When someone is trying to fry me, I do.” She stalked toward the bar. “Catalina?”
The witch didn’t turn.
Dee touched her shoulder. She flinched. “Catalina, I-I need your help.”
Finally, the woman turned. Her face had bleached of color, and her lips quivered when she asked, “Do I get to kill her?”
From the corner of his eye, Simon saw the sudden stiffness of Zane’s body. “Cat…”
“She would have killed me.”
“No.” Dee’s hand fell away. “She was looking for me. This wasn’t a hunt, Cat. She wasn’t here to bind or destroy you.”
A hunt. Simon’s brows rose. Witch hunts were supposed to be nightmares from the past. Burning and screaming and hell.
From the past.
Then why did they keep happening so often in the present?
“Doesn’t matter why.” Catalina’s chin lifted. “She would have burned us all.”
>
Simon remembered the tears he’d seen streaking down the woman’s cheeks. And she was right. The fire could have destroyed the building in one fast fury. But, lucky for them, they’d all had time to leave before the fire burned their flesh away.
With an Ignitor, they could have been destroyed in seconds. An Ignitor always had perfect control over the fire.
The woman had hesitated with her flames. Why? Slowly, he said, “I think there’s more going on here than we know.” Tell the Ignitor they’re dead. His gut knotted. Couldn’t be good. “Let her talk. Let’s find out what she knows.”
“I want her dead.” Fury and fear talking from Cat.
He knew ’em both when he heard ’em.
“Stand down, Cat. Stand. Down.” A demand from Zane. One that came just as—
The Ignitor blew out the back window of the truck. She hurled herself through the flames, crashed into the cement. Stumbled, but managed to get to her feet.
Zane took her down. Hard. “And don’t even think of burning me because, baby, I control the—”
“They’re dead,” Simon said, the words ripping from him. Probably the wrong time. Should have used some tact, but the witch was looking twitchy and with her magic—no way could they take chances. They needed someone left alive to question, and he didn’t want to lose another link to Grim.
“Simon!” Dee’s soft and shocked voice.
The Ignitor stopped thrashing beneath the demon. “Wh-what did you say?”
“They’re dead.” Who was he talking about? Didn’t know. Had to be someone close to her. “A vamp told us.”
A sob broke from her. Not one of those soft sniffles that some women could do, but a hard, chest-shaking eruption of agony. Pain.
Her face reddened and the tears leaked from her eyes. She tried to curl into herself, but Zane held her fast. “What the hell?”
Then Dee was there. Staring down at the other woman with recognition. Understanding. One who’d been there, and seen the darkness. “Her family. It’s…Christ. They’re gone.” She swallowed. “I-I cried like that, too. Zane, l-let her go.”
He stared down at the woman, the struggle on his face.