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
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
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