The chanting had stopped, and the mob started to part. With weapons still raised, they bowed their heads at the presence weaving its way through the lobby. I could chart the newcomer’s path with ease but never caught a glimpse until he popped into existence at the top of the stairs—slender, vamp-white, and decked in sharply tailored black… with the dropped .44 in his fist.
Bang!
A security guard’s head exploded, and Serenity screamed, tucking her face into my arm to block out the horrific sight.
The other guard swiveled, taking aim, but the vamp blew a hole in his chest with the massive firearm.
I raised my gun higher, arm shaking, finger curling through thetrigger guard. It had to be Conrad. The shimmering layer of translucent blue around his body confirmed it. Oh fuck.
I relaxed the finger cramping around the trigger, fighting with my own instincts as I remembered Dagger’s tale of his own bullets whizzing back at his head. Conrad had some of that Fae armor. It looked just like Dagger had described.
Conrad twirled the magnum, grinning at us as the guards’ blood pooled around his shoes. His voice was raspy, grating at my ears. “Happy Birthday, you overgrown strays.” He swiped bloody backspatter off his cheek and sucked it from his finger. “You’re both looking suitably furry, I see. Shame you didn’t get your surprise gift.” He flaunted the gun, pointed skyward. “It would have made things a lot simpler.”
“I’m surprised you even dared show your face, you fucking coward,” Hunter growled.
Conrad tutted, looking Hunter up and down. “What does she see in you?” His eyes roamed us. “Now, where is she? Ah, there you are, pet.
I pushed Serenity further behind me.
He beckoned her anyway. “Come on now, or I’ll have to break all your toys.”
“You know, killing that sack of shit Raphael was a real joy for me,” Dagger boasted, his hand on Hunter’s chest to hold him back from a reckless charge. “You should have seen his skull pop. Like a fucking melon. Yours is next.”
“He was my brother.” Conrad’s fangy smile disappeared as he turned the magnum this way and that in front of his face. “Not always easy, getting weapons like this. But now that we’re face to face”—he tossed it over his shoulder—“a gun seems so inelegant, not nearlypersonalenough.”
Crimson sparks crackled and popped in his palm. An acrid magical smoke billowed out and wrapped around his hand, tainting the air with a rotten egg stench. Within seconds, it solidifiedinto an otherworldly short sword. Transparent silver and coated in glowing purple runes, it curved upward into a barbed tip. “Isn’t she a beauty? Meet Soul Splitter.” He slashed it through the air. “The Fae have a pretty nice stash of magic, don’t you think?” His fevered grin dropped into a scowl, quick as pulling down a mask. “Hand over the little human, or you’ll all feel its bite.”
“Ain’t scared of your pocketknife, you little motherfucker,” Hunter growled in a voice that wasn’t quite his. “I’ve got twenty blades to your one!” His feet had morphed and sprouted ten more savage claws.
“Hold on, boss!” Someone emerged from the snarling masses and walked up the stairs. He tilted his head to appraise Hunter with a cold sneer. “I told you he wouldn’t respond to threats. This is the king of the streetfighters. He’s too proud.”
“Vance! What the fuck!?!” Hunter’s growl was tinged in pain.
The vamp shrugged. “Actually, it’s Vincent. Vincent Marchand.” He nodded at Conrad. “This is my uncle.”
“Your uncle? You little fuck!”
He nodded in smug agreement. “I know, right? I’m not a bad actor though, am I? Course, the raise you gave me is nothing compared to what I’ll have when you’re dead.” He ticked the perks off on his fingers. “Your club, every girl in it, and a cut of the feeding den we’ll install in its basement.” He smiled brighter. “No hard feelings. It’s just, family comes first. Surely you can understand that?”
Hunter’s jaw and cheeks were elongating, reforming into a feline muzzle as he shook his head. “No hard feelings, but I’m going to rip off your head.” Hackles raised along his back.
“Wait, just wait!” Vincent shouted, that cocky smirk slipping as he threw up his hands. “Even if you’re too proud to walk away from a fight, what about her, huh? What about her?” He wiggled a finger at Serenity. “If you don’t give my uncle what he wants, we’re coming up there swinging. And I mean swinging.Pana la moarte.It’s gonna be blades, bullets, fangs and claws flying everywhere. Whatif she gets hurt? She’s just a fragile little human, after all. Why don’t you just hand her—”
“I’d rather die!” Serenity shouted over my shoulder.
Dagger shrugged. “Guess that’s your answer.” His arm shot up, and a bullet cannoned through Vincent’s forehead before I heard the bang. The vamp crumpled and tumbled down the stairs, his corpse landing on top of the skewered false waiter, in a bloody heap.
Conrad chuckled at Vincent’s corpse. “Not a favorite nephew. No big loss. I’m glad Winterborn didn’t waste any armor on him.” He drew his eyes across our group as he raised his magical blade, shouting orders at his baying coven. “Anyone who harms the human will join Vincent in oblivion. Kill everyone but the human. Now!”
“Hold them off a minute,” Hunter thundered, dropping down on all fours. “And make fuckin’ way for what’s coming!” Roaring and snarling, he writhed on the floor as the full transformation took shape. The jaguar started growing… growing… growing.
I pulled Serenity several feet away from his expanding form, keeping my gun arm level as the coven’s onslaught up the stairs began. I fired fast and haphazard, adrenaline twitching my trigger finger as I adjusted to the gun’s recoil. But I blasted three fuckers square in their chests, another in his throat, and another through his cheek. The sheer numbers meant guys were getting up the stairs faster than bullets could stop them, despite the deadshot barrage from Dagger.
One big vamp clamped his clammy palms round my throat, yelling like a mad man. I jammed the pistol under his chin and let loose three shots. He slumped down dead as my face was coated in the sticky iron of blood and skull. I wiped my eyes to see—
Crack! I took a blunt object to the cheekbone that sent me sideways, staggering onto one knee.
Seb, look out!
