Blood whiskey was the vampire’s poison of choice when it came to bars. The older one smiled, a closed-lip smile that didn’t show a hint of fang. “That will be fine.”
I nodded and went to pull it up. TJ kept it on hand just in case, but it wasn’t used often, a synthetic blood blend, mixed with alcohol. It was cut-rate whiskey, I could tell from the smell of it as I poured it, but TJ wasn’t going to waste her good stuff on blood suckers. I poured their drinks into the heated glasses and carried them back to the bar, set them down, but before I could I could move away, the older leech reached out, brushing my hair aside. “He was careless.”
I backed away, popping my wrist again. “No. He took great care, trust me. He did exactly as he wanted to do. Please don’t touch me again.”
The vampire inclined his head, nodded slowly.
His companion snickered. “He had a lot of fun, I think. You were all but ripe with fear a minute ago.”
My gut clenched and although the magic that connected me to my sword was gone, my hand started to itch and heat pooled there. It hadn’t done that in…months. The need to draw the gun was strong. The need to hurt something was strong.
I could control it, as long as he didn’t make a move, bu—
“I can show you it’s not always bad,” he whispered, flashing fangs at me.
I drew the Eagle and leveled it at his head before the last word had even left his lips.
The red in his eyes burned hotter, brighter.
“You can’t kill me with that,” he whispered and cold crashed through the room.
“Want to bet?” I cocked my head and studied him. “You’re no more than thirty, thirty-five at the most. That’s just a baby. If I bury enough silver in your brain, you’re dead, and I mean for-real dead.”
He swayed, the moves oddly snake-like but I kept my focus. “You’d never be fast enough.”
His partner laid a hand on his arm. “Benjamin. You’ve upset her. Perhaps we should—”
The younger one leaped.
Vaguely, I was aware that the older one misted away. Benjamin, though…he came at me in a rush. I aimed, squeezed.
His head disappeared in an explosion of blood, brain and bone.
As his lifeless body dropped to the floor, I lowered my gun.
Nobody ever thought I was fast enough.
I guess that’s not a bad thing.
About J.C. Daniels
J.C. Daniels came into being in May of 2012. She’s the pen name of author Shiloh Walker and was created basically because Shiloh writes like a hyperactive bunny and an intervention was necessary.
J.C. is the intervention.
Shiloh/J.C has been writing since she was a kid. She fell in love with vampires with the book Bunnicula and has worked her way up to the more…ah…serious works of fiction. She loves reading and writing just about every kind of romance. Once upon a time she worked as a nurse, but now she writes full time and lives with her family in the Midwest. She writes romantic suspense and paranormal romance, among other things.
Read more about Shiloh’s work here…
Read more about J.C.’s work here…
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