Page 6 of The Vampire's Mercy

I went to summon my stakeblade before thinking better of it. If the authorities clocked me waving my pointy weapon around, they’d know who I was and put me down on the spot. Bullet to the head, another executioner exterminated.

Instead, I grabbed the appendage, giving it a forceful squeeze, then twisted it. Thanks to the cocktail of bloods from other races brimming in my veins, I possessed a multitude ofskills, including the strength to scrunch the appendage so hard it released a satisfying pop.

Awesome.

The frostbrood released me, that long monstrosity retracting back into its guts. I think it called me a pus eater as it stomped up and down, but I was hurting too much to hear clearly.

Or was it a piss licker? Who knew? I was too busy crossing the veil and gasping for air, my neck screaming with pain. But the werewolf part of my blood that granted me healing kicked in, already applying pain relief and its nurturing caress.

Aidan bless their furry arses.

But a second appendage exploded from its chest, slapping me in the face. It was sticky as fuck, cutting off my breathing supply. I grabbed it, finding nothing but extreme solidity with no give.

Shit. Shit. Shit.

Hauled off my feet, I went hurtling through the air. Spinning, screaming under the sticky jelly on my face, my chest on fire.

I crashed into a frozen wall, my right arm taking the brunt of it. My bones complained with painful aches, but nothing broke thanks to my body’s constitution.

I hit the ground. The sticky thing peeled off my face like duct tape. I moaned, rolling onto my back. I took a moment to breathe, facing a ceiling of ice.

Moment over, I sprang to my feet.

I was inside an icy room, sunlight spilling in from a hollow window. The fucker had thrown me several stories up, judging by the glimpse of the view I got from a hole in the wall that used to be a window.

And hadn’t joined me yet.

This time, I did summon my stakeblade into my hand. I curled my fingers around the cherry wood handle, the pointy steel blade ready for action.

Assessing the room, I found nothing of interest but a doorway. This was one of those damn skyscrapers, which meant climbing down the outside of the building.

Usually, that might be a possibility with my natural elf climbing ability. But not on the sheer ice coating this building.

This door it was, then.

Drawing luck down my chest, I hurried out into a hallway of ice, going left but finding a dead-end, so turned and dashed the other way, coming to a staircase.

“Elf isn’t leaving.”

The frostbrood waited on the stairwell, no appendage in sight. It spread its lips in a menacing grin, exposing a white void in its mouth.

I vaulted over the banister, landing on the stairs below it with elfin grace and took off.

“Elf will die! Elf will die!”

It came after me, the stairwell vibrating with its heavy steps.

Shit!

I got maybe a few floors down before it snared me with its appendage again, smothering my face, cutting off my air supply again.

Staying calm, I stabbed at it uselessly with my stakeblade.

Fuck!

Triumphant laughter came at me in a sickening cloud.

Hell to the no. This scumbag wasn’t winning. I’d kill it before it killed me.