Page 4 (1/1)
Chapter One
Nikolai Vasilyev was right in the middle of the shit, and it was exactly where he wanted to be Shots erupted from two positions ahead of him and ricocheted off the abandoned cinder-block streetscape he’d been patrolling Ducking into an alley, he felt a telltale whiz of air buzzing his ear and went flat against the concrete wall of the old factory Inhaling the frigid, early winter night air, Nikolai’s hackles rose and his fangs stretched out His eneh he could feel their evil
He wanted trouble And he found it Or it found him Semantics
Sos, a band of Soul Eaters apparently had a sniper’s roost Those dementedin to the lure of exsanguination All vampires drank from humans, but only the Soul Eaters consuh the last beat of their hearts, then re it Their addictive recklessness threatened to expose them all to the broader human world, and escalated the ancient war between the two rival strains of immortals
Nikolai plotted out a plan of attack, the street taking shape in his mind’s eye like a 3-D si these little birdies flying froht froet any better than that for him Not anymore Not since he’d dishonored hieny and Kyril
The hushed, efficient chatter of his warriors sounded in his earpiece and drew Nikolai fro himself over his brothers’ deaths had no place out on the street There was plenty of ti his heels He peeked over his shoulder and around the corner of the building A volley of shots rang out and Nikolai growled a curse under his breath, his gaze swinging around to the rusted industrial street lahted the bulb and squeezed off a single bullet that solved that probleht out farther down the street
“Who’s got a lock on that gunfire?” cah the earbud His second-in-co his kingdoh to admit that “Report in”
One by one, six of his finest warriors gave the all clear and confirhed He didn’t want to share this one He didn’t want to have to rein himself in When he found the Soul Eaters’ position, he wanted to unleash the inhu inside him as he tore his ene audience required
As if they all didn’t worry about hilances that seemed to follow him wherever he went these days Christ, he needed to release a little of the volcanic agony expanding in his chest,it hard to breathe, hard to think Hard to care
An aard silence passed before he heard, “My lord, what’s your area of operation?” Mikhail’s tone no doubt sounded level and professional to everyone else, but Nikolai recognized the wariness and exhaustion in his oldest friend’s voice Guilt soured his gut “I say again, my lord, what’s your AO?”
Focusing on the task at hand, and not the way he was failing Mikhail—hell, failing all of theh hisbreath and centered hi his memory of the last time he saw his brothers, expressions frozen in death, to fuel his resolve
“Son of a bitch, Nikolai, answer me You’re there, aren’t you?”
With indecipherable words still ranting froed the unit from his ear and yanked it froround and crushed the receiver with his boot, insuring no one could come behind him and eavesdrop on his warriors’ movements
With an apology to Mikhail and a vow to Evgeny and Kyril, Nikolai ht to the building He set his sights on the general location froinate and ducked into doorways and alleys whenever he could Twenty meters ahead, a third street laot rid of it or left it intact, he would reveal his position to the enemy
He voted for the cover of darkness and took it out with a single shot, only the sudden blackness and sprinkling of glass against the concrete sidewalk revealing what he’d done It was enough