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The door swung open in a wide arc. There was a thump as the door hit something solid.

The grunt that followed suggested it was a someonerather than a something.

“Don’t move,” someone said. I didn’t recognise that voice, but I recognised the guy I’d hit with the door.

Navy slacks and a blue jumper. “Charlie? God, Charlie, are you okay?”

“Benji?”

I took a step forward but stopped when I realised Charlie was holding a gun. Nope. This couldn’t be happening. I couldn’t be caught in the middle of a standoff.

“Shit, I hadn’t meant for you to follow me,” Charlie groaned. “It doesn’t matter. It’s too late now.”

“Just put the gun down, Charlie,” the other guy said. I had no idea who he was or evenwherehe was, but I could sense him just beyond my peripheral. Like a monster waiting to strike.

“No!” Charlie cried. “The bullets are silver. Don’t come any closer, I’m warning you.”

“I just want to talk, Charlie.”

There was a sound of a footstep, and my heart leaped into my mouth as I saw the moment Charlie made the decision to fire the gun. His jaw clenched, his eyes narrowed and then his finger, ever so gently, squeezed the trigger.

This close to the gun, the sound was deafening. It shook me, right down to my bones. I didn’t even think. Didn’t even stop to consider my safety. I just launched myself towards the man Charlie had pointed the gun at.

“Stop!” the man shouted and my feet ground to a halt.

I heard Charlie make a run for it, using the distraction to escape the alleyway and on to freedom. Leaving me behind to face whatever this was.

Shit. I was going to die.

I threw my hands up in the universal I’m-not-armed way and tried not to puke. My skin felt clammy, my heart was beating so fast I could feel it pounding against my ribs and my breaths were leaving my lungs that quickly I thought I was going to pass out. How was it I could deal with anything in the emergency room as calm as you please, but someone points a gun at me and I’m about to faint like a fucking damsel in a fairy tale?

Chapter Six

Damyr

Itook in the guy in front of me. Hands held aloft. Quick breaths. Even quicker heartbeat. The rapidthudof it was distracting, reminding me I hadn’t fed for a while. It made me edgy. Impulsive.Dangerous.

Charlie had vanished again. Slipperier than an eel, that one. But I’d find him eventually and then I’d cut him into tiny pieces for all the trouble he’d caused.

“Please don’t kill me,” he said, his voice strained.

The guy was human. I couldn’t kill him. But I couldn’t leave him here. I didn’t know if he was in league with Charlie, or if this was just the worst case of wrong place, wrong time, but there was no way I could leave him here.

I watched as his eyes flicked between the gun I was holding and the entrance of the alley. “Don’t. Please don’t.”

I was not in the mood to chase him. Not that he’d get very far, even with the bullet sitting just above my hip. The pain was manageable, but I really could do without having to move fast. I didn’t want to feel it rip apart my insides and Charlie had indeed used silver bullets. The bastard. A normal bullet wound didn’t do much damage to a vampire, but a silver one felt like I was burning from the inside out. “I’m sorry for this, but I need you to come closer.”

“Why?” he asked, his green eyes narrowing and his hands coming to rest on his hips. Feisty.

I huffed a breath. “Because I’m asking you to.”

“If you want to kill me, then you’re going to have to come closer to me,” he said, folding his arms across his chest.

Who the fuck did this guy think he was talking to? I had to admit, my curiosity was piqued. No one usually had the balls to talk to me like that. No one in my world, anyway.

“Fine,” I growled, and enjoyed the moment he flinched. Good. He should be wary.

I stepped forward into the shaft of moonlight and lowered the gun. I didn’t miss the way his eyes roved my face, or the puzzled expression that overtook his. I’d spent centuries learning to school my features to give nothing away, so he wasn’t going to get anything from me unless I offered it.