by Cynthia Eden
“Yeah, great, call me whatever you want, but just go.” Her hand came up and pressed against the guy’s chest. He stumbled back about five feet. “Go.”
“How did you—” Romeo’s eyes widened and then he turned and ran back into the bar.
Nicole shoved her hair back over her shoulder. Then she braced her legs apart and kept her arms loose at her sides.
Interesting. When had the little schoolteacher learned to prepare for an attack?
“Who are you?” She asked him, her face showing no hint of fear.
“I’m someone who’s been looking for you.” True enough. “For a very long time.”
She gave a little shrug. “And here it is, your lucky night. Looks like you found me.”
No, he hadn’t found the woman he’d expected.
“So what are you going to do now?” She murmured as she walked closer to him. The moonlight spilled onto her face. His eyes narrowed. Her face was a little thinner. Her cheekbones were more defined. Her eyes were still as wide and dark, but her lips appeared redder and plumper than before. The woman was still beautiful, no doubt, but ... a darkness seemed to cling to her.
Her body was as slender as he remembered. Her breasts still round and firm and her hips—no. He shouldn’t be noticing that. Her body didn’t matter.
“Like what you see?” She whispered, and her slow drawling voice sounded like ...
Temptation.
He backed up a step.
One black brow lifted. “Now, surely, you aren’t afraid of me.”
“I fear nothing.” After what he’d seen, what he’d done, there was simply nothing left to stir fear in his heart.
“Good for you,” she muttered and the words didn’t seem sexy. More ... annoyed then. But then she blinked and the heavy-lidded mask came back. “Tell me how you know my name.”
She was almost close enough to touch right now, but he wouldn’t touch her. No, he never touched. Touching was far too dangerous.
You didn’t touch unless you were ready to kill. He wasn’t ready ... yet.
“I’ve known your name for a long time.” No sense lying. Besides, lies weren’t possible for his kind. “Ever since you were put on my list.”
He heard the hard inhale of her breath.
“L-list?” Now there was fear flickering in her eyes. Her voice hardened as she said, “You’re one of them.”
“Them?” Curiosity stirred within him.
“A hunter.” Her bow lips tightened in distaste when she spoke the term.
But she was right. Now he was a hunter and she was his prey.
“I haven’t done anything wrong! I haven’t killed anyone—not since—” She broke off and tears filled her gaze. “I thought if I didn’t hurt anyone else, you were just supposed to leave me alone.”
He could only stare back at her. “Leaving you on your own isn’t an option for me.”
Her chin snapped up. “I won’t make this easy for you.”
“No, I didn’t expect you would.” Nothing had been easy with her.
“I’m not going to be the weak target you think.” Her hands were fisted at her sides. “You want to take me in, then come and try.”
He blinked at that. “I—”
“You’re not takin’ her! Get the gringo!” The shout had Keenan tensing. He glanced back and saw that Romeo was back, and he’d brought friends. The drunks from inside—only they didn’t look so drunk now. No, they looked furious and very, very determined.
They were also armed with knives and guns. What? Why? Because one of them had lost a potential lover for the night?
“We’re taking her. Not you,” Romeo threw out as he and his men strode forward. “We didn’t wait this long to find her just to have some gringo get in our way.”
Nicole hurriedly backed up.
The men brushed past Keenan, barely seeming to notice him.
“I know what you are,” Romeo called to Nicole. “A monster like you ...” He spat on the ground. “Killed my mother.”
Nicole wasn’t a monster. She was just a woman.
“Your kind thinks you’re so safe ... so much better than the rest of us ...” This came from an older man with graying black hair and cold brown eyes. “Think again, señorita.” His long fingernails looked almost clawlike.
“I-I don’t ... I don’t want to hurt you.” Nicole retreated a few more feet. A fence stood behind her. An old wooden fence that had to be at least six feet tall. Trapped.
Keenan watched—and waited. The men weren’t even glancing at him now as they closed in on Nicole. Six men against one woman. Were those fair odds?
I had to just stand back before. For so many years. Just stand and watch.
He was done with watching.
“You don’t want to hurt me?” Romeo repeated. “Then what the hell were you planning to do to me tonight, puta? I know damn well what you were—”
She shook her head. “I had to—I didn’t mean—”
And it must have been a trick of the light, because her green eyes seemed to darken with her fear.
Then she spun around and leapt over the fence.
Leapt over that six-foot-high fence in one bound.
“Get her!” The old man screamed.
“Don’t even think of touching her,” Keenan said, his voice quiet, but cutting through the guy’s scream like a knife. He could hear the thud of Nicole’s footsteps as she fled—she was rushing away far faster than a human could run.
But Nicole was human.
No, she had been human.
The men paused, for just a moment, then they sprang for the fence.
“I said,” Keenan growled, the fury breaking through his control because he still hadn’t fully mastered the whole control concept, “don’t even think of—”
The old guy lifted his gun and pointed it at Keenan’s chest. “This fight ain’t yours.”
Romeo made it over the fence. Two others were right on his heels.
Keenan stepped toward the gun. “Yes. It is.”
“She would’ve killed you tonight.” The gun barrel trembled in the old man’s hands. “You’re lucky, we saved you—”
Keenan grabbed the gun in a move too fast for the human’s eyes to track. He slammed the butt of the weapon into the man’s head and heard the thud of impact even as the guy fell to the ground. And as the man fell, Keenan turned fast and fired the gun—once, twice—and took down the men still in the back alley.
He didn’t kill them. He just gave them something painful to remember him by. “Go after her again,” he promised, “and the bullets will be in your hearts.”
They didn’t answer because they were too busy groaning in pain and writhing on the ground. Keenan stared at them a moment longer as he memorized their faces. He always kept his promises.
He turned, holding the gun close, and jumped right over the fence. He followed the sound of the screams and the scent of the blood as he tracked his prey once more.
Nicole wasn’t getting away from him, and those bastards after her would learn that when an angel spoke—they damn well better listen.
Even if that angel had fallen.
Outrunning humans wasn’t normally hard. But when the humans in question had baited a trap and you’d walked right into it because you were so freaking thirsty—well, then things became considerably more difficult.
Nicole’s knees barely buckled as she cleared the fence, and, seconds later, she started streaking across the empty lot as she rushed for the darkness on the other side.
Then the growl reached her. A deep rumble of sound—a truck’s engine. The truck’s headlights flashed on, coming right out of that waiting darkness, and she realized just how good the trap truly was for her.
They’d known she’d come to the bar. They’d known she’d be hungry. They’d known she’d take a man outside for her drink.
Then all they’d had to do was make certain her escape path was cut off.
The truck roared toward her, toss
ing up dust and dirt in its wake as it aimed right for her.
Nicole lunged to the left. A gunshot fired behind her and she felt the close rush of the bullet as it whipped by her arm. Dammit, why couldn’t they let her go?
The truck swerved and followed right behind her. She was fast, but not faster than a truck.
The bumper hit her and she went down. Nicole slammed into the dirt, but she rolled quickly so those wheels didn’t plow right over her.
Dirt filled her lungs. Blood poured from the gashes in her arms. And the thirst grew. I went too long between feedings. Shouldn’t have waited.
But she hated to drink blood. It reminded her too much of what she was. Monster.
And when she drank, the dark temptation to take and take welled within her.
A truck door squeaked open. “We hit her!” Not a Mexican accent this time. She recognized Texas when she heard it.
The other door groaned open. “Keep yer gun on her. It’ll take more than a smack from my Chevy to put one like her down.”
Yes, it would, but Nicole kept her eyes closed and kept her breathing light. The men eased closer. She could smell their sweat and their fear.
And excitement.
Other footsteps pounded in the distance—her would-be victim and his buddies must be coming in.
Then she heard the thunder of a gunshot. One. Two. But she didn’t flinch at the blasts. If they wanted to shoot at each other, fine with her. Infighting meant fewer guys for her to fight off later.
The ground vibrated with the footsteps of her hunters. She waited, held steady, waited and—
The first man nudged her with his boot. No, not a nudge. The jerk kicked her with his boot. She turned, moving fast in an instant, and caught his legs. Twisting hard, she broke his right leg, then his left. He was screaming before he hit the ground.
And she was up. Nicole slammed her fist into the other attacker’s face. Bones crunched. Blood spurted, and oh, she would have taken a drink. Fitting punishment for them running her down like a wild dog, but ...
But she needed to get the hell out of there.
More bullets were flying, but they weren’t even coming near her. Someone must have real crappy aim. She darted around the truck and ran for the shrouding darkness once more. There’d better not be another truck waiting there.
Nicole risked one quick glance over shoulder, and when she did, shock had her tripping.
Only one man followed her now. What had happened to the others? She’d counted at least six before she’d run like the devil was chasing her.
Been there, done that.
The man striding so calmly across that barren field had a gun in his hand. But as she looked at him, he tossed the gun onto the ground. Wait, wait, that wasn’t the guy she’d intended to steal a few sips from in that dark lot. That was ... him. The stranger with the voice like thunder’s rumble. Deep and dark and, oh, damn, she was in trouble.
Nicole made it into the darkness in the tattered remains of the woods. She pushed inside the trees, still hurrying. She’d scouted this area earlier. There was a turn up ahead that would lead her back to old sedan she’d parked and—
The thirst.
Nicole swallowed and kept moving. Her mantra these days was just keep moving. That was the way she’d been living her life. One wild step at a time.
As she broke from the woods, she saw her sedan waiting. Lucky for her, that beaten-up gray shell still managed to drive. Her breath expelled in a hard whoosh as she sprinted forward. She’d head to the next town. There was just enough time to get there before dawn. She’d drive over and find more prey.
Going without blood wasn’t a possibility that night. She couldn’t afford to be pushed to the edge. Not with the hunters after her.
“Nicole.”
A shiver worked over her at his voice. Don’t look back. She wrenched open the car door and jumped inside. Her hands were shaking when she shoved the key into the ignition. Hurry.
She slammed the car into reverse, spun it around and—
Her headlights burned right on the man standing in the middle of the road.
Tall. Muscled. Dressed all in black, he should have looked like a devil. He didn’t. He looked like the best sin she’d ever seen.
And that fact terrified her. Because, until six months ago, Nicole had never sinned. Now she couldn’t seem to stop, no matter how hard she tried.
He tilted his head and his blond hair, too long, too thick, brushed against his sharp cheekbones. The man’s face was perfect. Better than any photo she’d ever seen in a magazine. Not handsome, perfect. He had strong, high cheekbones, a positively lickable square jaw, and wide, bright blue eyes. Oh, just a come-here glance from those eyes would probably be enough to seduce most women.
Good thing she wasn’t most women.
“Get out of the way!” She warned. Her foot lifted off the brake.
His lips curved slowly in a crooked half-smile that sent a chill over her.
“Move!” She yelled at him.
He stepped closer.
Her hand shoved out the driver’s-side window. She’d broken the window weeks before. “Don’t push me!” He’d already admitted to being a hunter, and she wasn’t going to sit back and let him haul her away.
This life might not be the one she would have chosen, but she wasn’t letting death take her.
Tall and sexy kept walking toward her.
Not human. She was ninety percent sure of that fact. She revved the engine and shoved down on the gas pedal.
He was headed right for her with that smile still on his face—
Okay, she was eighty percent sure. And she wasn’t going that fast. If she hit him—
Seventy percent?
Her hands tightened on the wheel.
Then he leapt into the air. Her foot pushed that gas pedal all the way to the ground and she blazed straight ahead, going as fast as she could.
One hundred percent certain.
She risked a glance in the rearview mirror. The hunter stood behind her car, staring after her with his head tilted to the side.
Thanks to her new vampire senses, she could easily see him—and the grim smile that still curved his lips as he watched her drive away.
The light streaks of dawn shot across the sky. Nicole glanced up at them, eyes narrowing. Time had nearly run out for her.
“Baby, I’m gonna rock your world.”
But luckily, she’d found a drunk frat boy just in time. Thank God for spring break and boys who wanted to walk on the wild side.
Music from the club blared into the air. So dawn was coming. Apparently, the party had barely started for the folks in that place.
And for the folks outside ... Nicole ran her fingers up the frat boy’s throat. His pulse raced beneath her touch and she could almost smell his blood.
Next time, she wouldn’t go so long between feedings. The fear wouldn’t hold her back again.
The guy pressed a kiss to her cheek. A wet, rough kiss that had her hissing out a breath and shoving him back against the side of the building. Her enhanced strength could sure be handy.
“We don’t have time to waste,” she told him. She didn’t trust that hunter not to show up. He hadn’t looked like the type who would give up easily.
I should have hit him with the car.
But she’d been trying for the whole don’t-kill lifestyle. And if she’d taken out a hunter, well, hunters were like weeds. A dozen more probably would have sprung up after her.
“Baby, I’m all for fast,” her frat boy promised as his hands made a grab for her. She caught them, pushed his hands back, and pinned his wrists to the wall.
He groaned. “Oh, God, yes, I like it rough.”
He would. Nicole’s eyes squeezed shut and she pushed onto her tiptoes even as she opened her mouth over his throat. She’d try hard not to hurt him, and she would keep her control. The sharp edges of her teeth pricked his skin.
The faintest whisper of sound reached her ear
s. A footstep. The soft rustle of clothing.
No.
Nicole spun around and saw her nightmare walking out of the darkness.
“Get away from her,” the hunter ordered, that voice still a dark rumble that she could almost feel.
She realized her right hand still held the frat boy. Nicole let her hand fall away from him. No way would she put a human—well, a semi-innocent one anyway—in the middle of this fight. “Go back inside.”
Her college snack blinked at her. “But we were—” A few drops of blood trailed down his throat. “I thought you were gonna ...”
“You thought wrong.” She stepped away from him, and her gaze turned back to the hunter. “And unless you want to die, I’d recommend that you get your butt back in that bar.”
“D-die?” The word sounded like a frog’s croak.
The hunter was closing in. She took a deep breath. Yes, vampires still breathed. Their hearts still beat. Blood still flowed in their bodies. They died when they were transformed, but that death lasted only for an instant. All those tales about stone-cold vamps were false.
“Look,” frat boy blustered, “I’m not going—”
She glanced over her shoulder. This time, she let the guy see the monster in her eyes and the sharp teeth that had been ready to rip open his throat.
“Holy shit!” Frat boy ran, nearly falling twice as he hurried back to the bar.
She shook her head. Flexed her wrists. And waited.
The hunter kept coming toward her with his slow, stalking steps. She wasn’t going to run this time. Not when the odds were better. One against one now. And she might even be able to take him. Well, she might, depending on exactly what he was.
Because, as Nicole had unfortunately discovered over the last six months, monsters were real. Demons walked the earth, vamps hunted at night, and werewolves really did howl under the light of the full moon.
Her rose-colored glasses had smashed the night a vamp attacked her in New Orleans. She’d woken to a new world, new terrors, and the understanding that everything she’d known was really a lie.
Humans weren’t at the top of the food chain in the real world. They were just prey for the Other, for all of the supernaturals who lived in the shadows and who hunted whenever they damn well wanted to hunt.