“Rafe, I—” Shannon jerked to one side, away from his touch, and he growled at the clear slime coating his hand and hers.
Not now.
Not when she had been about to put him out of his misery.
Rafe turned and glared at the slimy demon standing a hundred foot away along the road into town. He roared at it.
“The Devil, I am going to kill you for that.”
****
Chapter 5
Shannon couldn’t keep up. She did her best but she was no match for Rafe when they were running. He streaked ahead of her, hot on the heels of the demon. She had never seen such anger in his pale blue eyes as she had when he had changed into his true appearance and roared at the demon. Was that fury because he knew what she had been about to say? The words fled her lips now, cowering in her heart as it trembled in her throat, and she wasn’t sure if she would be able to coax them out again for him. Part of her wanted to say them, needed him to know how she felt about him, but the stronger part of her was saying to keep quiet. She fought against it. Rafe needed to hear her say it. She needed to say it.
He wasn’t the only one who had changed over the past two years. Their partnership had changed her too. It was part of the reason she could put up decorations again and see a Christmas tree without reliving the pain of her family’s deaths, instead remembering the happy times they had spent together during the holiday season. He had made her see that there were vampires out there who were capable of doing great things and protecting humans. He had made her see that a vampire could redeem himself and change his ways, forsaking the need to kill for blood. There was a difference between him and the vampire she had killed. Rafe had chosen to redeem himself. The agency had tried and failed to reform him. In the end, he had done it himself. The vampire she had killed had left a trail of brutal murders for her to follow, and her partner at the time had given him a chance to choose salvation and a different life. The vampire had laughed at that, and she had killed him because she had seen that nothing would change him, and she had believed then that all vampires were the same.
And then she had met Rafe.
She had misjudged him from the start, and had grown frustrated each time he had proven himself different to her cookie-cutter vampire. Each mission they had completed together had changed her opinion of vampires, so subtly that she hadn’t even noticed until last Christmas.
She had felt different then. Less pained by the sight of decorations, and less angry around Rafe. A small part of her had started to look forward to missions, to learning from things that he told her, even though she pretended not to listen. Now, they were on their last mission, and she didn’t want it to end. She wanted it to go on forever.
She didn’t want to leave him.
Rafe chased the demon down an alley between a row of dark stores and she lost sight of him.
Although, he seemed quite intent on leaving her.
Shannon tried to catch up and then yelped when slime struck the side of her face. She turned in time to see the demon charging at her from a side street and hit the tarmac, rolling to her feet a short distance away. Rafe slammed to a halt beside her.
“I had not expected him to backtrack.” He wiped the clear jelly off her face and gave her an apologetic smile.
“I hope you know how we kill it.”
“Eyes.” Rafe bolted after the demon.
Eyes?
“What about them?” Shannon gave chase, wheezing with each stride and cursing vampire and demon stamina. Humans just weren’t cut out for long distances and high speed. That was the exact reason the agency had changed its policy and started pairing human hunters with demonic allies.
“Stab it in the eyes,” Rafe called back over his shoulder.
She winced when he leapt at the demon, tackled it around its broad waist, and slid straight off, landing face first on the tarmac. Shannon puffed to a halt beside him and grabbed the collar of his long coat. She tugged. He just groaned.
“You giving up?” She hauled him off the road. “Want me to finish him off?”
“No,” Rafe growled and got to his feet. He scowled down at his slime-soaked black shirt. “That pleasure is going to be all mine.”
He shot off again, heading down a dark alley between two blocks of stores.
Shannon frowned after him and gripped her stake.
Not if she had anything to do with it.
She wanted to kill the demon just as much as he did. It had been her moment that it had ruined.
She ran towards the alley. There was a loud crash, the sound of trashcans rattling, and then silence. She doubled her pace, hoping to find the monster hurt and ready for her to kill. Instead, she found Rafe sitting in a pile of garbage with a disgusted look on his face. The demon was nowhere to be seen. She held her hand out to Rafe and pulled him onto his feet again. He sighed and made a lot of fuss about brushing the specks of rubbish off his jeans and coat.
“Are you sure you’re up for this?” Shannon touched his left temple, her eyes fixed on the ragged cuts that ran into his short dark hair. They were still healing. Her left shoulder ached, reminding her that Rafe wasn’t the only one battling injury.
When he didn’t say anything, her gaze shifted to his and lingered for a moment too long.
She had never noticed how icy his eyes were when he was allowing his true nature to show. The low light in the alley made his wide pupils a stark contrast against the near-white of his irises. She had seen them in full light sometimes and they held a hint of blue, but she had never taken the time to really look at them. They seemed so intense tonight, sharp and focused, and she knew he was trying to figure her out. It was all there in them for her to read and she realised that he was always like this with her. He wore his heart on his sleeve for only her to see, and would open up and tell her everything just in case she took the chance and let him in. It was as though he hoped that by giving himself so freely and so openly that she would be encouraged to do the same in return.
And part of her was.
Only, the other part of her still feared what would happen. It told her to push him away and put him in his place at her feet.
He was a vampire.
She was a hunter.
They should be fighting to the death, not fighting at each other’s side.
Not falling in love.
These feelings were wrong.
Worse than that. They were wrong but they felt so right. She had never been as open with anyone as she had been with him, and each tiny step she took towards accepting him into her life, she grew bolder and opened up a little more to him.
Soon, she would be wearing her heart on her sleeve too.
That petrified her.
To think that she could be so vulnerable again when she had worked so hard to be strong, and that she had to trust him not to take what she offered and break her with it. It frightened her, but she still wanted to step into his arms and see where it would take her.
At times like this, when they were alone, when she let her guard down and the barriers around her heart with it, she didn’t see him as a vampire. She saw the man in him and how vulnerable he was. He stood before her, his heart laid bare, his eyes locked with hers and searching her innermost feelings, looking into every corner of her soul in the hope that he would see what he was trying to find.
The one emotion she feared most of all.
Love.
Right now, she wanted to give him that sliver of hope, wanted to hand it to him on a silver platter and tell him that the feeling he wanted to see glimmered in the recesses of her soul, hidden deep within her so she didn’t have to admit to its existence.
But it scared her.
If she let him in, he would want to be all the way in. He wouldn’t settle for anything less. He would want all of her, right down to her core. He would possess her, wouldn’t stop until he had every last part of her loving him and had made her completely his, ruining her to anyone else. She would need him more than anyt
hing, and being away from him would destroy her.
She couldn’t put herself through that. She couldn’t bear the pain that would tear her apart if she lost him. She couldn’t let him reach in and take hold of her soul.
She couldn’t.
Shannon tore her eyes away from his. She tried to ignore how much it hurt when he stepped back, out of reach of her touch, and the pain she had seen in his eyes just a moment before she had looked away.
She closed her eyes.
What was she doing? She was stronger than this. Not just physically. And she was tired of making excuses and finding a reason not to face her feelings for Rafe, or pretending that they weren’t real or didn’t exist. She fought monsters for a living, killed demons and protected people, yet she was afraid to face her emotions.
“Shannon,” Rafe whispered, a trace of pain lacing his voice.
She met his gaze again, hoping he would see in it that she hadn’t meant to hurt him again, and that she wasn’t going to keep pushing him away. She wasn’t going to keep taking things out on him. It wasn’t his fault that she couldn’t admit her feelings. It wasn’t because he was a vampire. Not anymore, at least. It was because she was afraid of where it would take her and it was easier to keep her emotions locked inside. The only thing stopping her from admitting her feelings was herself.
She had to let go of her fears and take the risk, just as her heart wanted her to.
No one said that love was easy.
Love was frightening. It made you weak and vulnerable, and she was used to being strong now. Love was a thief. It stole your whole world from underneath your feet and placed it into the hands of another—someone you would depend upon, someone you would need so badly that you couldn’t live without them, someone who would be there in the night to comfort you. They would take care of the heart you placed so tentatively into their protection if you only let them. Most of all, love hurt. It made you bleed from the inside out, made you burn with desire, made you ache with need, and made you crave to be held tight in your love’s embrace.
Love consumed.
And it was tearing Shannon apart from the inside out, clawing away at her defences until it found a way to escape the confines of her heart and show itself to the object of her affection.
Rafe.
They say that the eyes are the windows of the soul and she knew that Rafe could see straight through hers to her heart. No matter what she tried to hide from him, he could seek it out in her green eyes if he set his mind to it. In them, she could hide nothing. They betrayed her and gave up her feelings to him the second his met them, and she couldn’t stop them, no matter how hard she tried.
So she let him read in her eyes what she couldn’t put a voice to, trembling with fear that he would take her heart and crush it, and afraid that it wouldn’t change a thing and that it was too late for them. This was their last mission. She had told the agency she wanted to work alone. What if she couldn’t make them change their mind about sending Rafe away? What if they ended up thousands of miles from each other? Was it too late for them?
Had she ruined everything?
She looked at the dull night sky and sought the one thing she had so often looked for at this time of year. The town streetlights drowned out the narrow strip of stars above her in the alley, but she eventually found what she was looking for. Her heart hitched. The Christmas star. She had given up wishing on it a long time ago, but she wished with all of her heart now. She didn’t want to leave Rafe. She didn’t want to leave the vampire she loved.
Shannon started when Rafe’s cool fingers brushed her cheek. Her gaze slowly lowered to his. She knew what he wanted and what he was going to do, and she wasn’t afraid. She wanted it too. She was finally brave enough to face her feelings for him, a vampire, and had faith in him. He wouldn’t hurt her. His earlier words hadn’t been an empty promise. If she gave her heart to him, he would cherish and protect it. He would keep her safe and love her, would give her everything she needed to heal and become whole again, and would always take care of her.
She closed her eyes when he dipped his head and kissed her, his lips soft and tender against hers. She leaned into the kiss, smiling against his mouth when warmth suffused her body, emanating from her heart. His lips barely brushed hers, teasing her more than anything, stirring desire to have him kiss her harder and with force. She pressed one hand against his chest and found his free hand with her other. Their fingers tangled, cool against warm, and he sighed into her mouth. Did it feel as wonderful to him as it did to her? She had wanted this for so long, had denied him all that time, and now it was finally hers. She didn’t want it to end.
She flinched when a wet slapping noise broke the hazy silence. Rafe tensed, slowly drew away from her, and glared down at the slime on the sleeve of his long black coat. The muscle in his jaw ticked.
“For the love of the Devil... would you give it a rest?” Rafe snarled at the demon and released her.
“How about we do this together?” Shannon stood tall when Rafe looked at her. His pale eyes studied hers. She didn’t waver under his scrutiny. She meant it. She had never truly worked with him on any of their missions. It was time she changed that.
It was time they fought together.
As partners.
Or more than that.
Lovers.
Rafe nodded, twirled his stake, gave her a cocky grin, and shot towards the demon at the other end of the alley.
Shannon frowned.
He had a funny idea of together.
The large green demon hurled a glob of clear slime at her. Shannon sidestepped and it flew past her, hitting a black dumpster instead. She ran towards the demon, tightening her grip on her stake when she reached it and Rafe, and tried to keep up with their movements. Every punch that Rafe landed on the demon slid straight off again, and the demon blocked every attempt he made to stake it in the eye. She kept time with them, shifting left and right, waiting for her opening. The moment it appeared, Shannon leapt into the fray.
She ducked under the demon’s arm, avoided colliding with Rafe as he came back around, and leapt. Her stake was within a few inches of the demon’s left eye when it caught her in the stomach with its arm and sent her flying across the alley. She hit the wall hard, her breath leaving her on impact, and dropped to her knees on the tarmac. Her shoulder ached. She rubbed it and dragged herself back onto her feet. A few more hits like that and she would probably be out cold.
Rafe appeared next to her.
“Are you alright?” The concern in his dulcet tones warmed her and she nodded. He lingered a second longer and then shot off again. This time he ran straight past the demon, up the wall of the alley, and flipped high into the air.
Impressive.
He landed on the demon’s broad back and hooked his arm around its throat, choking it. The demon waved its arms around, trying to dislodge Rafe, and managed to knock the stake out of his hand. Rafe growled, flashing fangs, and grabbed the wrist of the arm he had around the demon’s neck. He leaned back, pulling on his arm and throttling the demon. It wheezed and bubbled, thick trails of slime rolling down its jagged jaw. Rafe’s grip on his wrist slipped and the demon grabbed him, dragged him over its head and threw him against the wall beside Shannon.
He slid down it to land in a pile of slime.
“It was worth a try.” He smiled at her.
Shannon swept the slick black curls from his forehead and then dived to one side when the demon shot slime at them. It only caught her trainer. Rafe wasn’t as lucky. She looked back and suppressed her laugh when she saw he was covered in a thick clear layer of jelly. The demon snorted and stepped towards Rafe. Shannon ran at the wall, kicked off it, and landed on the demon’s back. Her arms weren’t long enough to get a good grip on its neck. She started to slide down its back and shoved her stake into its shoulder to stop herself. The demon growled and bubbled furiously. It backed up towards the wall and Shannon desperately scrambled for freedom. In the end, she dropped
, landing at the demon’s feet, and threw herself forwards before it could squash her, rolling between its legs.
She ended up at Rafe’s feet. He roared and launched himself at the demon.
Shannon turned in time to see him shove two fingers firmly into the demon’s right eye. Green ooze shot out of gaps around his fingers, covering his shoulder and narrowly missing her. Disgusting.
Rafe kicked the demon in the stomach, using its eye socket to hold on to it.
She covered her mouth and tried to keep her dinner down. Rafe certainly knew how to show a girl a good time. Take her into town for a nice quiet night demon hunting and charm her by gouging its eye out with your bare hands. A guaranteed winner.
The demon grabbed Rafe by the ankle, yanked him away, and slammed him into the wall. Rafe grunted and the demon snarled and turned the other way, smashing him into a dumpster, and then the floor.
Shannon grabbed Rafe’s discarded stake, took a running jump at the nearest dumpster, and then launched herself off the lid. She held the stake with both hands and yelled as she flew through the air at the demon. It made the mistake of looking at her. She smiled and brought the stake down hard. Green slime shot up her arms, coated her chest, and splattered her face. She hadn’t actually expected to hit the demon’s eye. She had been aiming for its shoulder, so she could use the stake as an anchor to hold on to while she retrieved her stake from its body, and then stabbed it in the eye whilst leaning away from it.
The demon fell backwards with her on top of it. Shannon landed on its chest, slid down onto and over its head, and skidded along the alley in a trail of slime.
“That was disgusting.” Rafe sounded revolted too.
Shannon couldn’t have said it better herself. She got to her knees and looked down at her saturated black jacket and then at her hands. A thick layer of green goo covered them. She touched her face and grimaced when she felt the slime there too.
“You can talk,” she said and crawled away from the slime so she could stand up.
Vampire for Christmas Page 6