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“It’s definitely going to beTwilight.”

Phillip’s expression downturned in an instant, and I couldn’t stop laughing at how adorable he looked when he pouted. But I was seriously grateful for the distraction from the heart I’d just broken.

I curled up on the couch while Phillip made a phone call with the phone that hadn’t been broken.

This is for the best.

8

Not My Alpha

SHADOW GOBLINS WEREexactly how they sounded.

They appeared mostly at night, in the shadows, and couldn’t be seen by humans. Because of our special abilities, we could track them. They killed mostly for pleasure, not for food. They were highly territorial, which was why Phillip knew the nest had to be nearby. Because they used magic, which was brand-new to me, their weapons were made from the same stuff as their body, making it as tough as any blade. Their saliva and claws mimicked poison and could be deadly even to Hunters if an antidote wasn’t consumed within twenty-four hours.

Lucky for Phil and I, our regeneration abilities eliminated poison. It just hurt like hell.

Also, very few creatures were faster than our regeneration abilities in order to decapitate us, but Shadow Goblins were one of them. Because of the way they moved and their magical weapon use, our necks wouldn’t regenerate quickly enough to avoid full decapitation. Any other creature or Hunter wouldn’t be fast enough. Our neck would regenerate just after they’d cut through it. But terribly enough, we’d feel it all, and the pain Phillip said was beyond words.

Not really what I expected to hear, and it was sure to give me nightmares for the rest of my eternal life.

Shadow Goblins lived in groups, often twenty or more. Sometimes even hundreds if the group was established enough. Because they avoided sunlight, most nests would be located in underground caverns big enough to house the group.

Taking down a nest of them would require tactical planning, and Phillip was already working out where possible locations of the nest might be. Depending on how many we found, it may be a full-scale operation to remove them.

Ways to kill the bastards included: decapitation, extended exposure to ultraviolet light, and hellfire.

I hadn’t been aware such a thing as hellfire existed, but Phillip explained that it was a magical fire. It took a minute to realize that magic existed. It took even longer for me to ask what sort of creature wielded that kind of magic, and Phillip only hinted at it being a fair few things and in time I’d see for myself.

Of course, he was not-so-surprisingly vague. I guess discussing all the things I didn’t know about this life would require longer than a night, so I didn’t ask more than that. Honestly, it’d be easier if I just went ahead and assumed everything myth or otherwise existed and I’d probably end up fighting it at some point.

With so many ways to die, how was a girl to choose?

Despite not needing much in the way of sleep, I fell asleep on Phillip’s couch. On his lap, no less. I woke up with an eyeful of his exposed abs. His shirt had scrunched up somehow, and it took every bit of my Hunter training not to freak the fuck out.

But probably most surprising was seeing the other Hunter slumped over, eyes closed, arms crossed laxly over his chest—a pretty vulnerable position to find the formidable vampire hunter in.