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Jamie

“ W here the fuck is he?” Jamie muttered, more to himself than the vampire beside him.

They’d reached Gate’s Pass in record time, but there was still no sign of Luc. Or Danny and Roman, for that matter, but Jamie figured it would take them at least a few more minutes to get there.

“You know, vampires are super-duper hard to kill,” Jay soothed.

“I know seeing Luc’s throat get torn into was probably really scary, but he can totally survive it.

You don’t need to worry so much. That’s why it usually takes more than one of us to bring a feral vampire down.

It’s not easy. Beheading or total consumption by flames. ”

Jamie nodded along to the reassurances, but he was having trouble taking it to heart. Jay hadn’t seen what he’d seen—that vampire had been tearing through Luc’s throat. How much damage before Luc’s head was severed from his fucking body?

“Even then,” Jay mused, circling around the signpost, “it’s not always just the feral vampire that goes down.

Even with multiple vampires helping, it’s a really dangerous business.

I think it’s like what they say happens when humans lift cars off babies and stuff?

Like feral vamps have an extended adrenaline rush.

Or maybe just nothing left to lose? They can be stronger than you’d think. ”

“Um, I think maybe you’re trying to comfort me, but what you’re really saying is that if it was the feral vampire I saw attacking Luc, that fucker could totally kill him.”

Gray eyes met Jamie’s in a surprisingly flat stare. “I’m saying if you didn’t see his head come off his body, you didn’t see him die.”

“Have—have you seen that? A vampire’s head come off.”

“I have.” Jay stared down at the hand he had resting on the signpost, then lifted it to rub the heel of his palm against his chest. He looked unbearably sad, standing there.

But in the next moment, the little vampire had perked back up again. “Maybe we should try call—”

He was cut off by a woman’s scream.

It was faint enough, seemingly coming from a ways off, but it was definitely hailing from further into the desert.

He and Jay shared a look, locked in mutual indecision.

Jamie licked dry lips. “Do you think it’s the feral vampire?”

“If it is, he’s got a victim. That was someone in distress. We should— I should help, right?” For some reason, Jay was whispering.

Jamie nodded. If someone was in distress, they definitely needed to help. But he couldn’t run at the speed Jay could. “It’s faster if you go alone.”

Jay looked uncertain. “I don’t want to leave you here.”

“Danny and Roman will be coming any minute.”

The woman screamed again, a prolonged wail.

“ Go ,” Jamie urged.

Jay nodded once before dashing off and—holy shit. Jamie realized he’d never seen a vampire go at full speed for any length of time before. The little guy was completely out of his sight before Jamie could even register the idea of it in his mind.

Even sick with worry, Jamie found that pretty fucking cool.

Jamie did his best to wait more or less patiently, pacing in circles around the little signpost. He wasn’t so much worried for Jay—for all his odd sweetness, the little guy seemed to have his fair share of life experience—as he was nervous for Luc’s arrival.

Dusk was fast approaching, and there was still no sign of his vampire.

Jamie checked his phone again, tried ringing Luc even though he already knew the end result.

It took him longer than it should have to realize he was being watched.

He was so keyed up with worry and adrenaline his skin barely felt like it fit over his body as it was. So the prickly feeling took a few minutes too long to register. But once it had…

Jamie held himself as still as he could and scanned the horizon. He couldn’t see anyone or anything out of the ordinary.

But he could still feel it. Something watching him. He had a brief irrational moment were he thought, Mountain lion.

They could be found in the desert hills around Tucson, and once, when he’d been hiking with his mom as a kid, she’d stopped him on a trail, gently hushing his childish babbling.

He’d been too young to realize what was going on, but he’d…

felt it. A presence. She’d raised her arms, started yelling, and used her foot to urge Jamie to back away slowly with her.

He’d found out later she’d seen one of the big cats up on a cliff ledge in the distance. They’d been close to the start of the trail and had made it back just fine, notifying a ranger of what they’d seen. But Jamie had never forgotten that feeling.

He felt the same thing now.

But the simplest explanation was usually the right one, and Jamie was waist-deep in vampire bullshit, so…was he being watched by another vampire?

Fucking fuck. Fuck .

He wanted to tell himself it was Luc toying with him. But for one, Luc would never joke about Jamie’s safety, not even for a bit of primal play.

Ohh, that was a thought.

No. Focus.

For two, Jamie had never felt this creeping danger with Luc. Not once. Sure, there was an underlying air of violence wherever his big, strong vampire went, this sense of barely contained force. But that violence had never, ever been directed at Jamie.

Whereas right now he felt…hunted. The densely packed saguaros and desert shrubbery he’d loved all his life now felt like nothing more than potential hiding spots for whatever was creeping on him in the fading daylight.

And he was just now realizing what a colossal fucking idiot he was.

Letting himself be left alone with a rampaging, murderous vampire out and about?

Jamie had been so focused on Luc—on the horrifying sight of his beloved monster being taken down—that he hadn’t had any spare energy to worry about himself.

But now— now he was worried.

So the question was…to scream or not to scream?

Someone out there really needed to update wilderness survival guides. They taught people what to do with mountain lions (yell loudly, stand tall, and never run) and grizzly bears (play dead until they lose interest), but where were the classes in predatory vampires stalking you?

Screaming would bring a better chance of Jay’s quick return, but would it also set off the vampire watching him? Jamie at least had a gut feeling that running was not a good idea. Especially after seeing how fast Jay could move.

Jamie took stock. He was about a hundred yards from his parked car.

If he went slowly, could he get there in time?

It seemed like a good enough moment to try.

Just standing there wasn’t helping him any.

And maybe he’d find out he was just being super paranoid and silly and laugh later about how neurotic he’d become.

He started stepping down the trail and then—oh shit. There it was. Not paranoia at all. Sneaking out from behind a saguaro, five hundred feet or so away.

It was definitely the vampire from Jamie’s vision. Unkempt light-brown hair. Shorter than Jamie but definitely packing more muscle. And— Oh .

Jamie stumbled back, just narrowly avoiding pressing up against a cactus, as the vampire suddenly appeared much, much closer. Less than a hundred feet away now. Jamie could make out his black eyes—a look that was much hotter on Luc, in Jamie’s humble opinion—and fingernails caked with…dirt? Blood?

The vampire didn’t speak, only stared. Jamie considered for a hot second trying to talk it down like he did with Luc. Hello, monster. I know I look like a delicious treat, but I’m actually a vampire ally, and I would prefer not to be eaten at this time.

But he knew it wouldn’t amount to anything. Luc’s monster listened to Jamie because…well, because he loved Jamie. Wanted to please him, the man and the beast underneath both. This creature though…

This creature felt wrong. Rotten. On a different plane of existence entirely.

Jamie would almost feel sorry for it if he weren’t very certain he was about to become that thing’s dinner.

So Jamie screamed as loud as he fucking could.

The vampire grimaced at the noise, a snarl escaping its lips, and before Jamie could catch a breath, the creature was on him.

Oh holy fucking fuck, that hurt. It all hurt.

Jamie’s arm was on fire, he was pretty sure. He wasn’t positive how that worked—he couldn’t see any flames—but it felt like what he imagined burning alive probably felt like.

Who knew vampire bites could hurt this badly?

Jamie had managed to twist at the last moment, and the feral vampire had latched on to his raised right bicep instead of his neck. Small mercies he wasn’t at Jamie’s jugular—that shit probably wasn’t survivable—but holy fuck the tearing at Jamie’s upper arm hurt like a bitch.

He screamed again—a hoarse, pathetic sound. He couldn’t help it. He’d like to tell himself it was intentional—to bring Jay back sooner—but really Jamie was just in too much pain to keep his mouth shut.

Should he be grateful the magical bite arousal thing wasn’t happening? It would have been beyond weird to be turned on right now, when he was most likely about to lose his life to becoming vampire food, but also it would be really, super fucking cool to not hurt this bad.

The feral vamp gave a weird guttural growl and released Jamie’s bicep, but before Jamie could breathe a sigh of relief, it was latched back onto his forearm.

“Fuck!”

What if it tore his radial artery with its fucking teeth? Jamie kicked with his legs. He writhed as best he could. He tried with every bit of muscle strength to shake his arm enough to dislodge those goddamn fangs, but the fucking beast wouldn’t budge.

He had a flashback to the body he and Luc had found in the pool house. The way it had been torn apart, massive wounds all over. It had looked like it had been mauled by an animal. Eaten alive.