Page 43

For a split second, he froze with indecision, caught between the desire to hide his vampire nature and the need to keep Anthony safe. It was just long enough for Brian to get his hand around Anthony’s throat. Anthony whimpered in fear and shock.

With that sound, Freddie was gone.

The red mist appeared in front of his eyes, blurring the world around him, and all noise became a faint echo, as if he were hearing and seeing the world from the bottom of a deep lake. Time lost all meaning as his body moved of its own accord. His impaired senses meant that he couldn’t tell what was happening, even as he felt his fangs and claws come into contact with soft flesh. All he knew was the well of rage roiling within him like the caldera of a volcano.

His demon was in charge now. A small part of his brain, kept apart from the overwhelming need to eviscerate, understood that it was his essential vampire nature taking over. He would not be himself again until the demon was sated.

Whether it was seconds or hours later, Freddie couldn’t say, but the red seeped away from his vision, and the world came back to him.

On the ground in front of him lay all five vampires, lifeless, their blood pooling around their inert bodies. Closest to him was Brian’s headless corpse. He looked down at the object in his hands.

Dead eyes stared up at him from the bald vampire’s severed head.