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The vampyre turned in our direction, freezing when it sensed us.Here we go.

“Kill it,” Wolf whispered. His hand slid onto my waist, lingering there for one electrifying second before sliding to my elbow, raising the arm that held Venom. “Unleash the beast, Huntress.”

His lips brushing my ear, his hand hovering over my body, the creature approaching just a few feet away. It all made me feel something I hadn’t felt in a very, very long time.

The vampyre let out a disgusting, wet roar of primal hunger before bolting in our direction. But I was ready. With Venom in my hand, I rushed toward it and slid the blade into the monster’s chest before it even knew what had happened.

All too quickly, it was over. I pulled Venom from the mass of rotting flesh before the body crumbled to the ground.

“Good,” Wolf praised. “Do that again.”

Another vampyre stumbled into the street. Fresh blood dripped down the nasty thing’s chin.

Fucking monsters.

I jumped over the body in front of me and leapt at the second beast, wrapping my legs around its waist and cutting both arms off in two swift motions.

Lord had taught me that move.

It wasn’t enough to dismember them, though. I shoved him away and slid my knife into the second mass of rotting flesh for the night.

Again, it was over.

“Again,” Wolf ordered.

I spun, finding him watching yet another vampyre that stumbled toward us.

“Are you not going to help me?” I demanded, though I could see it in his face. This wasn’t for him.

It was for me.

“You don’t need my help,” he said simply. “You don’t need anyone’s help.”

The way he looked at me sent my stomach dropping to my feet, but I quickly shoved those feelings aside, busying myself with the kill ahead.

And the next one.

And the one after that.

My body moved like it had at Phantom. I hit every mark with ease, feeling more powerful than I had in weeks.

By the time I pulled Venom from the eleventh body, my heart buzzed with life.

“Is this why you brought me out here?” I asked, wiping the grime of my blade on my pants before sliding her back into my thigh’s sheath. “To do your dirty work for you?”

Wolf watched, his back pressed against a half-standing brick wall with his arms crossed over his chest.

But those eyes…

He stared at me with a heaviness in his gaze that made me want to drop to my knees. His mouth curved up on both sides, his teeth grazing his perfectly plump bottom lip. I stepped closer, trapped in his stare.

It wasn’t until I stood a foot away from him that he uncrossed his arms, pushing himself from the wall.

He opened his mouth to say something, but not before both hands slid up to my neck, angling my chin up at his towering body. I froze in shock, let his hands move me, guide me, coax me.

“You’re a fucking goddess.” He dipped his head and brushed his lips over my jaw, my neck.

I tilted, giving him even more room as his hot breath erupted over my exposed body. Adrenaline pumped through my veins, heightening every single sensation. His hands on my body were making me think things I had never admitted, making me want things, want him—