Page 19

I moved to shove him again, to squirm out from under his grasp and run into the street, but two more vampyres stumbled into the alleyway. We both turned to look. The creatures distracted theangel boyjust enough for me to slip from his grasp, bolting in front of him.

Right toward the bloodsuckers.

The angel sighed behind me, but I kept my focus on the rotting flesh ahead. With Venom readjusted in my hand, I lunged.

But so did the monsters.

I only had one weapon, one small slice of death separating me from them. Normally, that wouldn’t be a problem, but the alleyway caused me to adjust my usual maneuvers, limiting my movement.

I dove Venom into the first vampyre’s chest, holding her there while it struggled, all while kicking the second one away from me with my black boot.

Its disgusting claws sliced the skin on my arms, aiming for my face, my throat. The bloody wounds only forced them into a frenzy, leaving pain wracking through my body.

“Need some help?” the angel called from behind me.

“Fuck you!” I yelled back.

He laughed, but a few moments later, the second body dropped. Angel boy had tossed one of his own daggers, landing perfectly in the center of its rotted chest.

Both vampyre bodies slumped to the ground.

I yanked Venom out of the corpse.

“I just saved your life,” the angel whispered, now much closer than he needed to be. “You’re welcome.”

“I didn’t need your help,” I argued, narrowing my eyes at his proximity.

He shrugged. “Sure.”

I turned my ears to the streets, listening for any more movement, any more signs of vampyres.

Silence.

The angel’s breath tickled the back of my neck, all of my senses heightened from the rush of the kill.

I turned around and met his gaze.

He stared down at me with a twinkle of amusement in his electric eyes, his black wings now narrowed to fit the thin alleyway.

The vampyres, I could handle. The killing, I could handle. But the way he stared at me, the way his eyes flickered to my wet, sliced-open shirt that exposed my chest wrap, to the cuts that now scattered my chest and my upper arms… That was something new.

More footsteps caught my attention, but they weren’t from vampyres.

“Huntyr!” Lord yelled, searching the streets. “Huntyr, where are you?”

My eyes widened. The angel took a step back.

“I’ll be seeing you soon, little huntress,” he whispered.

And as soon as Lord arrived, the angel boy was gone, deep in the shadows, as if he was never really there at all.

Lord stood at the entrance of the alleyway a few moments later. His pristine appearance now radiated with hatred and violence. His dark skin dripped in sprayed vampyre blood, the moonlight glistening off the wetness of it.

Every breath he took sent his massive chest rising and falling. “This way, Huntyr,” he ordered, beckoning me closer. “There are a few more vampyres approaching Phantom.”

I snapped myself out of the fog and ran after Lord, ready to kill.

Ready to fight.