Page 32 of Reaper (Quincy Harker Demon Hunter #10)

N ow, I can be pretty scary sometimes. I’m frequently grumpy, perpetually snarky, and occasionally murderous.

But the screaming in the middle of the underground bloodsport arena wasn’t for me, even with my declaration of my true identity, which did have the intended effect of making Eleanor the vampire get even paler, which is a hell of a feat when your opponent doesn’t make their own blood anymore.

No, the screaming was because just as I made my grand pronouncement, the doors of the arena blew open from the outside and a stream of federal agents and werewolf bikers stormed the place.

At the same time, both doors of the arena blew off their hinges and flew inward as parts of Team Harker, along with my old friend Saint (who apparently was now my friend and not just a werewolf biker gang leader who frequently wanted to gnaw on my liver) stormed in from one direction as literally every fighter in the building stormed in the other.

The cheap seats emptied quickly, as people just dropped to their knees with their hands in the air.

Those were almost all humans, and they didn’t have a whole lot of interest in fighting cryptids themselves, just watching us fight each other.

The luxury boxes were a little more interesting, as there were some private security guards who got overly enthusiastic for a few seconds, until the first lycanthrope ripped out the first throat.

That had a chilling effect on the resistance.

None of this bled onto the arena floor, though.

That chaos was all mine. Mine and Becks’ and Luke’s.

My own personal Avengers stepped up beside me as I tried not to look nearly as beaten down as I felt, while a couple dozen paranormal cage fighters arrayed themselves across the sand at me, hurling insults, invectives, and threats in my direction.

I let them go on for a few seconds while the cops and bikers corralled the spectators, then finally bellowed, “SHUT THE FUCK UP!” at the top of my lungs.

They did. I actually froze up a little, so stunned was I that everyone actually shut up.

Then I remembered that I had shit to say.

“Yeah, I’m Quincy Harker. No, I was never just a hapless goofball trying to win money fighting.

No, I’m not sorry I lied to you all. Yes, I’m shutting this shit down right the fuck now.

No, that’s not up for debate. No, I don’t give a shit if you were having fun beating each others’ brains out.

And no, they weren’t ever going to let you leave with a bag full of cash.

If you won your fifth main event, they were just going to send you to a farm upstate, or to the glue factory, or whatever stupid fucking metaphor you want to use for taking you out back and murdering the fuck out of you.

And if you think I’m lying, go get Pete or any of the other guards and beat on them until they tell you the truth. ”

About half the fighters grumbled, but reluctantly nodded.

They knew the score, even if they didn’t want to admit it.

About a quarter looked like they didn’t believe a word that was coming out of my mouth, and about a quarter looked like they didn’t give a shit, they just wanted to fight somebody.

But the one I was most immediately concerned with looked like she knew the score and still wanted to kill me, and that was the one who had almost managed to do just that—Eleanor.

“I know who you are, Quincy Harker. You’re the pitiful half-vampire lapdog of that dried up husk of a monster standing beside you.

You used to be terrifying until you lost your edge.

But lately you’ve been more retired than Reaper.

You’ve spent so much time the last few years chasing your own personal demons that you’ve lost all relevance, and your useless ‘uncle’ is even worse.

Vlad, you used to be a force , but now…now, you’re just a farce.

You may as well wear a velvet cape and decorate a cereal box.

You’re more mockery than monster, and I’ll be happy to slaughter you both right here.

The rest of you can have the human. She’s barely worth a snack to me. ”

I’m killing this bitch myself , Becks said in my head.

Not if Luke gets to her first. And I’m not inclined to get in his way, I replied.

I glanced over at Luke, who let a tiny smile flicker across his lips before he took one step forward.

“I wondered who was responsible for new vampires being turned right under my nose. None of the vampires I knew of in the region would dare such a thing, and yet new fledglings kept popping up. I should have recognized your little rebellion, Eleanor. You of all my children were always among the most headstrong, but until right this moment I never knew you were stupid .”

He took two more steps forward, his eyes locked on Eleanor, paying no attention to the chaos in the stands, to the bloodshed in the boxes, or to the other monsters arrayed before him.

He only saw Eleanor, and having been the subject of his laser focus more than once, I knew for a fact that she could no more move than a deer caught in headlights.

“You are old, Eleanor, and powerful. You have lived nearly three centuries clinging to the shadows, eking out an existence on the fringes of human and vampire society. You have managed to stay ahead of the purges our kind have suffered in many places, all because you have been wary, and wily, and occasionally wise.”

He never stopped moving, never varied his pace.

He just took one step after another until he was right in front of the badass female vampire who had pushed me to my very limit.

“But tonight, you have stepped out of the shadows and into the spotlight, and in doing so, you have made a grievous, and fatal, mistake. You nearly killed my nephew, the closest being to a son I have ever had, but that is not your final error. You have made new vampires right under my nose without my permission, but that is also not your worst mistake. You have challenged my authority and insulted me in front of many of my subjects, but that is not the reason you shall not walk out of this arena tonight.”

He was right in front of Eleanor now, close enough that he could reach out and touch her.

And he did, running his fingers along her cheek almost lovingly.

“No, your fatal mistake was in challenging me. In questioning my authority over the vampires of this city, and in fact this world . That cannot stand, and I long ago learned that disrespect of that magnitude must be dealt with swiftly, and decisively. And thus I shall.”

“You shall what, old man?” Eleanor said, spittle flying from her lips in her rage. “What are you going to?—”

Her words cut off as Luke’s hand flashed out and wrapped around her throat.

He lifted her up into the air, never taking his eyes off hers, and shook her.

That’s all. He just shook her from side to side.

Once, twice, three times, and we all heard the crack as her neck snapped.

Luke stared at her as the life fled from her eyes, then he dropped the body to the sand and looked around the assembled cryptids and paras.

“Would anyone else like to challenge Count Dracula? I expect that your fame would eclipse anyone here should you manage to even land a blow against me, much less actually survive the encounter.”

Nobody seemed in a hurry to step to Luke. But a roar from the back of the pack galvanized them into action, a dozen of the crew rushed us at once, and the melee was on. Oh well, at least he tried.

Notable in not charging forward to kick my ass was the one I was most worried would be able to do just that—Tony.

The faerie knight calmly walked over to one of the Colosseum walls and leaned against it, sword drawn but point down in the sand, just watching the mayhem.

I raised an eyebrow at him, and he just gave me a nod.

I guess he wasn’t who I needed to pay attention to.

Who I did need to pay attention to was Rat-faced Steve, who ran straight at me with a pair of knives flashing in the stage lights over the fighting grounds.

He grinned as he took in my battered, bloody body and the way I held my left elbow pressed tight against my broken ribs.

He got to within ten feet of me and opened his mouth, probably to make some smartass comment as he slashed open my throat.

After all, that’s what I would have done.

Except he focused so much on me that he ignored the gorgeous Black woman standing next to me, her MP5 set to three-round burst mode.

Becks took one step forward, raised her submachine gun, and put three 9mm rounds right in Steve’s face.

He dropped to the sand, blood, and very little brain matter spraying out behind him like a Jackson Pollock original.

“He’s a shifter,” I said, trying to keep my tone as blasé as her execution.

“Silver nitrate-coated hollow points,” Becks replied. “New ammo straight from the nerds at R&D.”

I looked at Steve, who lay on the ground with half his head gone. “Please tell the nerds I love them.”

Yannis was trying to test his strength against Luke, but I only gave that a glance.

The big dipshit didn’t stand a chance, and six lower-tier fighters converged on me and Becks at the same time, so I needed a little bit of focus.

I drew in the very last dregs of magic I had and went back to my old reliable method of destruction—kill it with fire.

“ FUEGO! ” I shouted, holding up my hands and sending six-inch spheres of white-hot flaming energy at the oncoming asshats.

I caught a young vampire in the face, turning him into a running, screaming birthday candle.

Another slammed into the guts of an onrushing were-bear, causing him to instantly shift to his human form, only to catch another fireball in the face.

His body couldn’t heal two mortal wounds in ten seconds, so he went down for the last time.

My last fireball smacked into a massive woman who looked like a slightly more feminine Yannis, with muscles on top of her muscles.

She just shrugged it off, looking more amused than hurt or annoyed by the flames.

Shit .

Becks must have heard my internal monologue, because she yelled, “Duck!” and swung her MP5 around.

I hit the dirt, literally, as half a dozen rounds from her submachine gun whistled over my head and slammed into the massive woman.

Her bullets had no more effect than my fire, and this was shaping up to be a bad time for our heroes.

Until Anthony decided to pick a side, and for some reason it was mine.

He leapt across half the arena floor in one massive bound, bringing his sword up as he did.

He crashed down behind the seemingly impervious woman and cut her diagonally from neck to hip, slicing through meat and bone like it was water.

I swear, his sword moved through flesh easier than my soulblade, and that thing’s made of nothing but magic.

The monster woman’s top half slid off her bottom half, and both chunks fell to the floor with a soggy splat .

I looked up at Anthony and nodded. “Thanks. I don’t know what I had left for her.”

“She was an earth elemental. Not much, I expect. Your magic butter knife would have done it, but it doesn’t look like you’re in any shape to conjure it right now.”

“Yeah, not so much,” I said. “As a matter of fact, I think I…” I meant to say, “need to sit down,” but some asshole turned all the lights off before I could get the words out, and I passed out right in the middle of the bloody sand.