voice trailed off as consciousness swam up from the secret depths behind his eyes. âThe leader? Where is he? Did he get away?â
Alexios released his friend and stepped back, still wary, his hands dropping to the hilts of his daggers. âNot exactly.â
Christophe strode up to them, his sword out and held at the ready, a snarl on his face. âYeah, you dusted him. Which normally Iâd be all over, but we needed this one to tell us what he knew about Justice. What were you thinking?â
One of the humans rose unsteadily to his feet and took a deep breath, trying to regain some semblance of control. He was built like a manatee, and Alexios randomly wondered why it was always the ugly humans who went to the cultâs naked parties.
The pretty humans undoubtedly had better things to do. Damn shame, considering how many of these gatherings heâd busted in on over the past four months.
The manatee drew a layer of pomposity around himself like a cloak and dramatically cleared his throat. Probably some captain of industry when he had his clothes on. If only his board of directors could see him now.
âLook here, you three. I donât know what you think youâre doing, but this was a private party, and Iâm going to callââ
âOh, shut up, Tiny Dick,â Christophe snapped. âJust a tip, but maybe youâd be better off to keep your pants on in the future.â Almost negligently, he waved a hand in the air in the direction of the man, whose eyes bulged out before his eyelids fluttered closed and he silently slipped to the ground, unconscious. Alexios shot a look at Christophe and was unsurprised to see that the warriorâs eyes glowed a fierce dark green with the force of the power he channeled.
âHells, while weâre at it,â Christophe muttered, âwhy not take care of all of this?â He took a deep breath and raised his hands in the air, then whispered an ancient incantation and opened his arms in a sweeping gesture that encompassed the room. Like a wave tumbling against the shore, the humans in the room fell to the floor in a graceful, rolling line of naked flesh.
Alexios narrowed his eyes. âTheyâre unconscious, right? You didnât just kill a roomful of humans, did you?â
Christophe laughed. âHey, not a bad idea. What, thirty fewer idiots we have to protect from themselves?â
Alexios nearly snarled. âFool, if youââ
âRelax. I just put them to sleep for a while. But theyâll all wake up with one miserable hangover. It was the least I could do.â
Brennan shoved his throwing stars in some hidden pockets in his jacket and stared at the bleeding gashes on his hands. âWhat happened here? Why am I bleeding? Did I truly kill the one vampire who might have helped us to find Justice?â
Alexios blew out a deep breath. âYeah. You did. You had some kind of meltdown and went crazy on us, saying the humans must die. And if Iâm not mistaken, that was a giant helping of emotion crushing you down.â
Brennan raised one eyebrow, but no other evidence of even the slightest surprise marred the serene calm that had returned to blanket his expression. âImpossible. I have experienced no emotion in more than two thousand years.â
A shaky but determined feminine voice interrupted them, coming from the far corner of the room. âWell, that was a pretty good imitation of it, then.â
As one, the three warriors whirled to face the threat, pointing raised weapons at the figure who peered out at them from behind a large red-leather sofa. A human female, wrapped in nothing but a torn length of fabric, stood up and stared at them defiantly. Her dark hair was tangled around her shoulders and one eye was swollen and bruised as though sheâd been struckâhardâin the face. In spite of her disarray, she had a compelling beauty that drew Alexios, made him want to assist
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