The woman’s mouth parted as she glanced fromhim to Kyle and back again. “Kyle is your brother?”
For some reason, this piqued her interestmore as her eyes shone with lust. When he glanced at his brother,he found Kyle grinning at him as he popped the top on a beer bottlebefore setting it on the bar. Julian scowled back at him.
“I’m his older brother,” Julian said.
“How… wonderful.”
“I’m here with someone,” he said bluntly.
The woman’s eyes darted to Aida’s empty seatbefore returning to him. “That doesn’t mean you have to leave withher.”
Julian’s skin crawled at the idea of touchinganyone other than Aida. “I’m not interested.”
The woman’s eyes twinkled with amusement asshe leaned away from him. His rejection hadn’t fazed her at all.“Perhaps another night.”
It took everything he had not to bare hisfangs at her and watch her run screaming from the bar, but heforgot about her as he turned his attention back to the hallway. Hecouldn’t ignore the uneasiness in his stomach anymore. Pushing awayfrom the bar, Julian’s heart beat faster as he started toward thehall and the urge to run gripped him.
Then he realized his rising terror wasn’tfrom him; it was coming fromAida.
•••
No! No! NO!Aida screamed in her head as shefumbled for her purse and slipped her hand inside. She pulled thebutterfly knife out and, after years of practicing to release itwhile incapacitated in some way such as being blindfolded or withone arm tied behind her back, sometimes both, she flipped it openwith ease.
She’d much prefer a stake, but they didn’texactly fit into her purse, and they didn’t fold up into a neatlittle package that made it safe to carry around. Besides, herchances of being able to stake a vamp in the heart were slim tonone, and she didn’t know if she had the physical strength topierce someone’s breastplate, but she could get a blade throughthem.
The vamp threw the table aside, but insteadof trying to roll away from the crazed monster, she rolled towardhim and plunged the blade into his foot. The vamp howled, and sheducked back when a massive hand swung at her head. Keeping her handon the knife, she twisted it into his bones.
Grabbing her by the back of her shirt, thevampire plucked her off the ground. The adrenaline flooding hersystem made her hands quiver. Drawing on all her years ofself-defense classes, she refused to give in to the panic clawingat her chest like a hamster at his cage. If she panicked, she’d beas good as dead.
She didn’t scream. This far away from the barand with the music playing, no one would hear her, and she refusedto give thisthingthe satisfaction of hearing her screams.Swinging her hand back, she backhanded the creature across theface.
She’d never seen a vampire look so furiouswith his blazing red eyes and extended fangs that sliced into hisbottom lip. When he jerked her up and down, the quick, sharpmovements sent a lightning bolt of pain from her neck to herspine.
The vamp dropped her down again as abloodcurdling sound filled the air. At first, Aida believed it wascoming from the vamp, but when he stopped using her like a yo-yo,she saw the confusion on his twisted face.
She lifted her head to find Julian standingin the doorway. She realized she’d been wrong;nowshe’dnever seen a vampire look so furious. She barely recognized Julianas his eyes blazed red, he bared his fangs, and his shouldershunched like a bull about to tear apart everything in its way.
Julian raced forward in a blur Aida barelyregistered before he struck the vamp’s face. His head shot to theside and blood flew from his mouth as Julian battered him again andagain.
Before the vamp regained control, Juliancaptured the hand holding Aida’s shirt and crushed the bones in it.The vamp squeaked, and its fingers involuntarily relinquished theirhold on her. Releasing the hand, Julian caught her before she hitthe floor.
Aida stumbled back when Julian righted herand set her abruptly on her feet. She didn’t have a chance to gether bearings before Julian hit the vamp so hard, he knocked the manoff his feet and flung him ten feet across the room.
When the vamp hit the door, the metal dented,and he slid down to sit on the ground. Aida imagined little cartoonbirdies flying around the vamp’s head as his head bobbed back andforth. With every muscle in his body tensed like a panther about tostrike, Julian stalked toward his victim.
She’d never seen him look so enraged, and sheknew he wouldn’t stop until he gave in to the one thing he cravedmost… killing. He seized the vamp by the throat as Kyle and Cassidyarrived in the door of the hallway. Their eyes widened as theyassessed the situation.
Throwing the back door open, Julian draggedthe vamp into the alley and bashed it off the brick wall across theway. The bones crunching in its skull made a sickening sound whenhe thumped its head against the brick and unleashed the savagerybottled up inside him.
His fangs throbbed in his mouth, and redclouded his vision as he repeatedly drove his fist into the vamp’sface. Thisthinghad dared to touch Aida, and that was adecision it would regret for the short amount of time it hadleft.
Blood flew from his hands as he repeatedlybattered the vamp. His incessant need to kill eased, and herelished the brutality while he beat the vampire to death.
The second Julian opened the door, an alarmstarted to blare, but Aida ignored it as she shoved the door backopen and ran into the alley after him. She skidded to a halt whenshe spotted Julian pummeling the vampire. His hands blurred asblood flew from them.
“Julian!” she cried as she ran toward him.“Julian, no!”
He couldn’t do this here. The alarm woulddraw people, and if anyone saw him like this, it would exposevampires and put his life, as well as countless others, in danger.“Julian, pleasestop,” she pleaded.
