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Trace twisted the lid off a third bottle “She didn’t stand a chance, and he was fucking out the door before Adele could initiate the lockdown” A string of harsh words “I thought I could handle hier than he should be—no way Rupert should’ve been able to grab me, much less throw me off the mezzanine to the first floor”
Janvier had once seen a vampire in bloodlust make an i A large percentage, though, went into bloodthrall after their first kill, a torporlike state caused by their gluttonous feeding that made them easy to hunt down It didn’t sound like Rupert was one of the latter “Can I enter the club without going through the passageway?” He’d be the e of his blades
Naasir ju raced to the location by running along the “lower skyroad,” as he called it “There is a skylight,” he told Janvier, shoving his hair out of his eyes
Adele stirred “It’s reinforced glass You won’t be able to break it”
Sheathing his weapons of choice, Janvier , the other vaht, Naasir raised his hands and slammed doith his claws Cracks spread out from the point of contact Janvier used the butt of a kukri to deepen the cracks, and then the two of the down in a hail of glass that sliced shards through both of the position, Janvier saw Naasir already pinned down, the once-urbane Rupert on top of hi beast, Rupert’s face a mask of blood Naasir should’ve been able to take him without problem—except it appeared Rupertthe valass that had effectively skewered hih Janvier’s mind in a split second In position as he rose, he threw one of his blades with the flat spinninghis time in Neha’s court The lethally sharp and perfectly balanced kukri spun like one of Ash’s throwing stars, co stop in the wall behind Rupert
Whose head toppled off his body a second later, the blade having sliced it clean through
Growling, Naasir shoved off the body, which was spurting blood all over hi hilass shard with a look of irritation on his face “I was about to break his neck”
“You’re welco his blade fro, but didn’t put it back in the sheath As Adele had said, bloodlust could spread with deadly speed “Are you badly injured?” As far as he could tell, the glass had gone straight through Naasir, but hadn’t penetrated any ans It must’ve been the shock of the sudden injury that had kept hirowled in reply “My new shirt fro that meant the other vampire was fine, Janvier ran to Adele’s control room with Naasir at his back and scanned the feeds Two of the va in an erratic pattern, but Khalil appeared in control, his wo the button that unlocked all the doors, Janvier glanced at Naasir
“Go scare the Khalil if his wounds allow it—if not, can you do it?”
Naasir gave hi Khalil’s liver I hope he giveseven Khalil wouldn’t mess with the silver-eyed vampire, Janvier returned to Rupert “Damn it, what the fuck happened to you?” The cultured art collector had been a good ht, but when he exa a necklace of intestines, the flesh slick and bloody
Pressing his fist to his e that rose in him, Janvier forced himself to walk to the private roolimpsed on the surveillance feeds At first, he couldn’t see Lacey It was the glint of light off the ring on her finger that alerted him to the fact she was on the floor on the far side of the bed, her outflung hand the only part of her he could see
When he ca wo herself Rupert’s had been disemboweled From the state of Rupert’s face, it appeared the bloodlust-ridden vas, then used his hands to pull out the ropes of her intestines Her jaas broken, her tongue ripped out
Itthat felt slippery beneath his boot Frowning, he bent down and found it to be a tiny plastic ziplock bag There was nothing inside, but he knehat tests would reveal “Umber”
•••
Ashwini met up with Ransom at Guild Academy a half hour after Janvier left the aparte about aearlier than she’d expected, and now the two of the that overlooked the outdoor training ground Ranso her oas perched on a piece of wood she’d found to ensure the cast was protected froround in front of them was asession that had already occurred The Guild never cleaned up this yard, never put up shields against the wind or the rain Sessions occurred nomy ass kicked by Bracken one winter while hail pelted down on my head and face” She winced at the ,” Ransoory three stor debris—and he roup come out here and coht Bracken in a flood The water was up to hs”
Ransom snorted “Dude, there was that time cats fell froan to laugh It was a ritual araduated from the Academy in the past twenty years, the atte stories The outdoor sessions were mandatory for every trainee, but the all-weather stuff was reserved for the final year—because vaher, more resistant to the weather