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Once I breached the house, any advantage gained by the water access would be lost I had speed, unexpected attack, silver bullets, and silvered blades And while Thomas was a soldier and a black belt in several kinds of martial arts, he hadn’t practiced since he was turned Another thing in my favor--Thomas Stevenson was no vamp master There would be no master’s speed, no master’sand od-complex and no vamp-experience But he was also a va me severely off balance

Once I was at the house, I could only hope that surprise, uns, and daylight filtering through the trees would be enough

The house cah enough to be safe froe rains, an early 1900s post-and-bea cabin, updated in the late nineties with a state-of-the-art rounds still showed the signs of a landscaper’s hand in the placement of trees and shrubs, but likely hadn’t been touched since Thomas was chained in the baseroith knee-high grass, weeds, oversized trees in need of pruning, allind and rain, which would stress the security systeh the storm, and there was a chance that, like any homeowner, he would simply turn the system off I could hope

I made my way up the s the s and doors, all heavily draped or solid wood They were under a twelve-foot-wide covered porch that circled the house, a porch ht on it It wasn’t a fortress, but it ell built The doors looked securely set into the frame, like the portcullis in a castle wall

A car was parked in back, a 1987 Cadillac Allanté convertible, top up I could hear the engine ping from the woods I could also smell blood and see two lumps in the backseat I dropped toto the car as river and rainwater drained from my boots Half-hidden from the house by the car, I squatted and duckwalked close Raised up and looked inside

Two people--or as left of theether as if posed, athroats, covered in blood that looked black in the poor light The rain let up as I stared, growing softer and fainter Water trickled down hs My hair was plastered to me, ouged and slashed as were their inner elbows The girl’s femoral arteries and veins had been worked over She had a barrette in her hair and a sht-headed, and forced in a breath S and raping at the sa at the core ofto control er I dropped back to the earth, the faces of the couple the last thing I saw inside the car The scene was , as if they had died happy Silent, I crawled back to the cover of trees and uy out Froirl ht out of adrenaline into ht Talk to me My mind was silent, empty, as if her soul had never been part of th and speed, keener hearing and sight, all Beast-traits that had beco on that strength and speed, I pried a rock out of the ground--bigger than a football, sht and balance, a pitted oval of forty pounds or so My best bet for getting inside fast was the largein the front rooer in the trigger guard I drew in a long slow breath Let it out Drew in another Beast? She didn’t answer I bent low, still i exposed out from under the trees My breath was too fast, ot closer The rew more frenzied

When I was at the edge of the porch, I stood upright, tossed the rock gently into the air, still testing, like a player with a basketball at the foul line On its third bound, I dropped my elbow and swiveled my body I launched the ball, half Olyentle rain Time slowed so that the rock seemed to float The M4 et and cold insharper The toe of my boot landed on the porch as I launched lass exploded inward, flying shards dirty in thethe drapery Pulling it froreens and dust Into the darkened rooht filled the room The stench of blood and se poof

I ra theat top, botto or standing in the fra the crash The ele From Reach’s files, the floor plan of the house was crystalline in ht of the door, hallway straight through, dogtrot style Thomas hadn’t expected to be turned He hadn’t planned to be a varound He would be in the master bedroom, top floor, s heavily swathed I landed in the diun forward, bracing it against my side Pulled a va, the elk horn corip And I thundered up the stairs

At the top, on the landing, Thoht, red and blackall over hielina Or maybe the vamp who had set hi fangs pale in the dusky light One hand was down, out of sight, a girl in the crook of his other ar around her face, over her shoulders Tiny breasts She was naked Blood trailed froroin She was no more than fifteen She took a breath Tho

CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

I Was So Going to Hell

In an instant, I sa she would land Table and chairs, tingback chairs facing the couch She wouldback down, over the railing Pushing off with all the strength in le I dropped the blade It spun away I caught the girl around the waist Pulled her againstin midair I fired the M4 where Tho above It exploded The recoil slairl’s body landed on mine My breath whoofed out

Elbow as fulcruer on trigger To my feet Thomas was in front of me Pupils blacker than the doorway to hell, open in bloodred sclera Fangs out A short sword in each hand

He cut forith both, a scissoring e I could have sworn I saw the silver fléchettes fly I whipped up with the barrel, into the path of one sword Threw my body after it Felt the other blade slice into my side, even as I twisted out of its way The blade followed my motion, the cut from side to belly, upward, away I drew another va as it left the sheath

It hit hi anything internal that ht kill hi did its work Thoripped and yanked the blade out Tossed it to the side He had a hole in his belly fro blood, filled with the swar red and black motes of the spell The lower hole, where the knife had been, bled too, his blood saturated with the pink spell His skin was scorching fro off both the burn and silver poisoning Only then did I realize he was naked And aroused Va bent under ing, the blow reverberating upat my clothes Buttons popped and flew Cold steel cut me, a paper cut of pain Air hit ainst his bestial expression, he set the swords aside Hebreasts, wound, and blood from his cut I drew another va teeth Fixated on blood I braced the knife on led up And he fell onto h his stomach and up, into his aorta Blood fountained over ed Looking puzzled Confused The pink haze of spell coalesced on his chest, at the point where the knife entered Red ushed over me

I put an arainst the silver rings of led the blade higher Shoved He tried to roll away I hooked a leg around his and let him push us over Until I was on top My favorite vamp-killer was beside his head The one with the elk-horn handle I didn’t re it I took it inwindpipe, veins, arteries, tendons I had never seen sovaht of the blood-dia me even as he tried to heal from the wound The Naturaleza had fed fully and the power thatSawing Knowing that to kill a vamp and not have him rise as a revenant, I had to take his head The pink spell whirred and whirled, an angry buzzing, stinging my skin