Page 65 of Donovan

Kit’s jaw tightened. “You said you’d come with us. Alone.”

“I said I’d agree to come,” Donovan corrected. “Doesn’t mean I actually planned to.”

Kit’s expression darkened, and I saw the split second where he decided whether or not to pull the trigger. My muscles tensed, ready to strike first if I had to.

Then the woods erupted with sound.

A deep, guttural snarl cut through the night, followed by the sharp snap of breaking branches. The air shifted, thick and heavy with the scent of blood and rot.

I knew that sound.

Rabid vampires.

Kit’s team snapped to attention, their weapons swinging toward the trees.

My own grip tightened on my knife, adrenaline spiking as my body prepared for the inevitable.

And then they came.

Dark, blurred shapes launched from the undergrowth, eyes glowing red, mouths twisted in snarls.

They moved fast, too fast for human eyes to track. But I’d fought them before. I knew their patterns.

The first one lunged for Kit’s second-in-command, a woman with a crossbow.

She barely had time to react before I was already moving, my blade slicing through the air.

The vampire’s head snapped back as my knife plunged deep into its throat.

Blood sprayed, hot and foul. The creature shrieked, its claws raking toward me, but I twisted away before it could tear into my skin. It staggered, gurgled, and dropped.

One down.

Around me, chaos erupted.

Gunfire ripped through the night. Snarls and screams mixed together, blending into a violent, bloody symphony.

Kit’s hunters fought with trained precision, but the vampires were relentless, their movements unpredictable.

Donovan was beside me in an instant, a blade in one hand, a gun in the other.

He fired a shot into the chest of an incoming vampire, then turned and drove his knife into another without missing a beat.

I had no time to admire the way he moved.

A heavy force slammed into me from the side, knocking me off my feet. I hit the ground hard, air punching from my lungs as claws raked across my arm.

The vampire loomed over me, lips peeling back in a snarl. I twisted, barely avoiding its snapping jaws as it lunged for my throat.

I grabbed the knife from my belt and drove it straight into its eye socket.

The creature shrieked, jerking back, but I didn’t stop. I tore the blade free and stabbed again, this time straight through its temple.

The body convulsed, then stilled.

I shoved it off me and surged to my feet, blood pounding in my ears.

Across the clearing, Kit was locked in combat with a massive vampire.