Page 4

Granted, shock took many forms.

It was likely he hadn’t registered what was happening yet. There was a memory tonic Grandma Rose taught me to make that erased memories. It wasn’t always successful, so the Organization—our vampire hunter operation—employed several professionals to work through the “visions” and “hallucinations” of an evening spent fighting off a creature of the night.

But Nigel looked almost calm in comparison to all the others I’d encountered.

Turning back, I shifted from one foot to the other, agitated by the silence. If not for Nigel, I’d be chasing the bastard down. But old vampires were bad news and had years of experience evading and fighting off my kind. My lack of training and handicapped state spelled death in every case but one.

Escape.

I peered at Nigel, decided. “It’s time to get the fuck out of here.”

“V!” Nigel called out just as another blow forced me into the unforgiving metal of the car, smacked into it like a pancake.

My head collided with glass and it cut into my skull, all but ruining my updo. Dazed, I coughed out blood and collapsed to my knees. Darkness swirled around me, and my consciousness wavered as I tried to steady myself on all fours. A loud ringing echoed in my ears, smothering out all other sounds.

Shit on a stick, this night was already off to a terrible start. And all in front of the boy I liked. How lovely.

On my feet again, I cradled my side and opened my legs, assuming a defensive stance. But then my heart was in my throat.

Nigel wasn’t in the car.

The window was broken out and glass glittered dangerously all over the dirt. I traced the footsteps on the ground, but my vision was swaying too much to infer much more than the fact that whoever it was, they’d run off.

Did I pass out?

“Nigel!” I called out, taking ginger steps.

Dammit, my ears were still ringing.

Senses slowed, I didn’t move in time to evade another attack. I struck the already cratered car door and was showered with the leftover glass from the window.

Shaking to get rid of the fog in my head, I blocked a hand full of razor-sharp fingernails, then slammed a brass-knuckled fist into the creature’s chest. But it wasn’t enough to stop him. With another loud bang, my back hit the car door and a strong hand wrapped tightly around my neck, depriving me of air.

Struggling, I kicked a knee out, but the vampire merely smirked and batted it away. The pressure in my head built up, alerting me to the fact that I was likely to lose consciousness if I didn’t get this damn thing off of me.

I threw my arm down across my offender’s outstretched one and sunk a foot straight into his chest, vaulting the bastard away from me with enough strength to do damage. The vampire collided and slid across the ground, his clothing finally displaying large tears across the front.

I stared, vision still suffering slightly, and tried to make sense of what I was seeing. Why were Lestat’s clothes shredded like he’d been cut by claws and not blades?

Before I could get a better look, a dark beast the size of a bear darted out and landed with a stomach-turning thud on the collapsed vampire. Sharp white teeth gleamed before the beast tore through the vampire’s throat, decapitating my foe just as a shrill cry echoed out into the night.

I wasn’t a stranger to torn flesh and severed limbs. I had even seen a decapitation or two before the vampires I fought were turned to ash. But this was the first time I’d seen a beast the size of a bear tear out a vampire’s throat, effectively severing its head with the bite.

Even worse, nothing would’ve prepared me for being made witness to such a brutal, horrific demise. Especially because I wasn’t sure what to make of the beast—friend or foe.

I stumbled backwards, shoulder landing on the door I’d been previously thrown into. “What...?”

Gold eyes flicked up from the mangled corpse on the ground before the slaughtered vampire disappeared into ash and took to the sky like a dark cloud of death. Eyes of the purest, brightest gold continued to bore into mine before the beast reshaped and stood in front of me as the man I’d spent a lifetime crushing on.

Nigel came forward and touched a sore spot on my head.

Gasping in surprise, I recoiled and molded myself against the car, suddenly more scared than I’d ever been in the presence of any vampire. “Werewolf. But...they’re not real.”

Nigel offered me a bitter smile. “You believe in vampires but not werewolves?”

“I...but...”

“We’ve stayed relatively hidden from your kind, believe it or not. Found ways to control our transformation and live practically like humans,” Nigel started conversationally, kneeling down and lifting me into a princess hold.