Matt stayed by my side as we traversed the intricate network of tunnels. He didn’t have the sense of direction that I had been born with, so we had to stick together. If we split up, Matt would be sure to get lost and the last thing I wanted was to have to spend more time in the damn sewer than I needed to.
Placing a hand around my upper arm, Matt pulled me to a stop. He was about my height, if marginally broader, so when I turned we were standing face to face and close enough that I could see his remorseful expression. He let out a long sigh.
“I’m sorry I dragged you into this. You were right. We should have stayed in Maine.”
His repentant tone dispelled most of the anger I had been holding onto. There was a reason I hadn’t wanted to come back to Austin, but Matt didn’t know about that. As far as he was aware, I’d walked out on that part of my life two years ago and I hadn’t looked back. I was good at hiding my feelings, even from Matt, who had become like a brother to me over the ten years we’d been hunting together. Or maybe I was just a damn good liar—too good.
I shrugged. “Don’t sweat it. I’m a big girl. I agreed to come along. Now that we’re here, let’s kill us some vamps, yeah?”
A goofy grin was his only reply. When we turned a corner, the dimly lit, narrow passageway opened up into a cavernous room. The stark brick walls held small fitted lights, but they let off hardly any illumination. Our prey was standing in the back, casually leaning against the wall when we entered. His eyes glowed yellow in the small beam of moonlight that filtered down from an overhead grating. Even from ten feet away I could smell the stench of death and decay on his breath. The room was just bright enough to see the vampire’s wide, toothy grin.
“Well, it’s about time y’all showed up,” he said with a lazy Texan twang. “I ain’t got all night, ya know.”
I took a few steps farther into the room to get a better look at the creature. He was wearing pale blue, flared denims and a floral shirt. He wouldn’t have looked out of place in the seventies—in fact, he probably hadn’t taken them off since the seventies. That would certainly explain some of the stink. But the strangest thing about him was his relaxed stance and calm demeanour. Most vampires feared hunters on sight. Reaching into my jacket, I pulled out my favourite silver-tipped stake.
“Oh, I’d put that away if I were you.” He swaggered towards us and the stench increased, clogging up the already stale air until it was all I could smell. Some days, I really hated my damn job.
I shrugged. “Sorry, no can do.”
“Someone could get hurt,” he mused.
“Not someone,” I corrected. “Something.” It was damn near impossible to think of a vampire as human when their humanity had departed along with their soul. ‘Mindless, emotionless killers’ was the only term that fitted.
His grin broadened. “Details,” he drawled, with a swish of his hand.
As we stared at each other silently, my mind went into overdrive. There was something off about this whole situation. His relaxed manner made me jittery. Vampires were undoubtedly the most conceited of the supernatural species, but he would have known we were hunters. So he was either stupid enough to think he could take us or he had a death wish. Of course, there could always be a third alternative—he wasn’t down in the sewer alone and that fact was giving him false confidence.
“Matt, pick up the slack,” I instructed.
My eyes never wavered from the soulless creature in front of me. In the ten years we’d worked together, Matt and I had come to understand one another pretty well so I didn’t need to elaborate. In my peripheral vision, I saw him nod then walk back down the tunnel we’d just come through.
“Well, well. Not as stupid as you look.” As the creature neared, his haughty smirk exposed yellow, razor-sharp fangs.
I was about to respond with something equally banal when a fight broke out in the tunnel behind me. The harrowing sounds of fists hitting flesh and snapping bones reached my ears along with Matt’s shouts of rage as he fought what sounded like four or five vampires at once.
“Raven! Raven, help me!” Matt shouted.
Damn. I thought about dealing with the creature in front of me first, but then a sound rang out that made my stomach lurch violently and all the air whooshed out of my lungs. Matt screamed—quite literally screamed. The chilling sound echoed off the damp sewer walls, reverberating through my body like it was a physical entity that had taken me by the arms and shaken the living daylights out of me. It was excruciating to listen to.
I was about to charge to Matt’s rescue when the vampire lunged, catching me off guard. I dived out of the way, narrowly missing his teeth, but his clawed hand slashed across my chest, slicing deep. It hurt, badly, but I took a deep breath and pushed the pain out of my mind. I needed to focus on the fight. The sickly sweet, metallic odour of blood reached my nostrils and from the hungry look in the vamp’s eyes, he’d scented it too.
“There’s no escape,” he said in a pedestrian tone that annoyed the crap out of me. The vampire was too sure of himself, too arrogant by far—totally misguided.
The second time he came at me, I was ready for him. His sharp teeth and rancid breath were inches away from my face when I plunged the stake into his chest, hitting the dead centre of his heart. His eyebrows drew together as he looked down and let out an ear-piercing wail before crumpling to the ground at my feet, dead. Unlike his first death, there would be no coming back from this one.
I pulled out my stake right before the vampire’s body began to degrade—aging before my eyes, wrinkling and drying out like a grape on a vine left to wither under the sun’s harsh rays. In a few minutes there would be nothing left to mark his time on earth but a pile of dense ashes. Without sparing another thought for the soulless creature, I raced back down the tunnel to get to Matt, but I was too late. The vampire’s friends had already left and Matt was missing too. What the hell? I leant back against the damp wall and tried to catch my breath. I had to find him before it was too late.
Get your copy now
About the Author
Amy Armstrong is a Brit that loves chocolate, prosecco, and sunshine. She lives and breathes paranormal romance and urban fantasy, but is also a fan of the classics and pretty much anything else she can get her hands on, including but not limited to contemporary romance, thrillers, horror, dark fantasy and young adult fiction.
Amy writes stories filled with heart, heat and passion. She loves to read about strong woman, but believes heroes come in all different shapes and sizes. She is happiest when writing or soaking up the sun with a pina colada in one hand and her kindle in the other. Her family and friends are an important part of her life and she loves meeting new people with similar interests. She is a full time, multi—published author and loves to hear from readers. She writes M/M romance under the pen name Lavinia Lewis.
Email: [email protected]
Amy loves to hear from readers. You can find her contact information, website and author biography at http://www.total-e-bound.com.
Also by Amy Armstrong
Huntress Chronicles: A Demon in Dallas
Clandestine Classics: Pride and Prejudice
Tied to the Billionaire: Hot for Him
Total-E-Bound Publishing
www.total-e-bound.com
Take a look at our exciting range of literagasmic™
erotic romance titles and discover pure quality
at Total-E-Bound.
Hot for Him Page 6