Aida’spleasepenetrated the haze ofbloodlust consuming him, and his punches slowed in theirassault.
“People will see you,” she said.
He hadn’t expected her voice to be so close.When he turned his head, he discovered her standing beside him. Hergolden eyes shone with terror, and her lower lip quivered as shebrought her hand to her mouth.
When he looked back at the battered remnantsof the vamp, shame flooded him. He never should have lost controllike this in front of her; shenevershould have seen howmuch of a monster he was. She’d dealt with the absolute worst ofhis kind on the island, and now she was seeing theworstside of him.
His shoulders heaved as he bowed his head andgazed down at the blood dripping from his hands. Most of the bloodbelonged to the vamp, but some was from where his knuckles splitopen during the fight.
Turning back to the vamp, he took in thepummeled remains of its face. He’d beaten the man so badly it wasimpossible to make out any of the thing’s features. A gurgled noiseescaped it, and blood spilled from between its lips.
“Turn away, Aida,” he said.
“Julian—”
“I don’t want you to see any more of this,”he said more brusquely than he intended.
It was a little ridiculous for her to turnaway now when she’d already seen so much, but he was barely incontrol of himself, so she did as he asked. The cold air caressingher skin was nothing compared to the ice encasing her soul. Notonly had she been attacked by a vampire again tonight, but she’dalso witnessed how close Julian was to becoming one of the thingsshe hated most.
She winced when bones crunched, and shesuspected he was either tearing the vamp’s heart out or ripping offits head. The wind flowing down the alley tickled her face as itblew her hair around her. At the far end, people rushed past theopening. They were probably fleeing the bar and the possibility offire. She rubbed at the goose bumps covering her arms and prayed noone looked down the alley.
CHAPTER 22
“When you opened the door, you set off an alarm,”she said over her shoulder. “The police and fire department will behere soon. People are evacuating the bar.”
Julian crushed the vamp’s heart as he glancedaround the alley. Both ends opened onto streets; he couldn’t carrythe body out either way, especially not to his left as a growingnumber of people milled about on the road. The other way offered afew doorways, one of which led down a set of stairs. He didn’t knowwhere those doors led, but he didn’t have any other choice.
Bending, he grasped the vamp by the back ofits neck and lifted its torso off the ground. “Go back inside,” hetold her.
“Julian—”
“Don’t look,” he interrupted when she startedto turn toward him. “You’re freezing, Aida. Go back inside. I’m notgoing far, and I’ll be back soon.”
Before she could reply, he closed his handaround the vamp’s neck, lifted him, and dragged him down the alley.If anyone were to see them, they’d probably assume he was helpinghis drunk friend down the alley.
He searched for cameras as he walked butdidn’t see any before he carried the vamp down the stairs. It was alittle too late to look for them now, but he was too far goneearlier to consider the possibility someone was recording them. Ifhe discovered any, he would take care of them.
Grasping the doorknob, he wasn’t surprised tofind it locked. He almost twisted it off and shoved the door open,but he couldn’t trigger an alarm, so he double-checked for camerasbefore dumping the vamp’s body in the stairwell. In the shadows ofthe stairs, the body was unnoticeable, but a search would uncoverit. He’d have to run interference if it became necessary.
Aida rubbed her arms and shifted her feet asshe waited for Julian to return. When he ascended from thestairwell, she retreated into the room to find a towel or somethinghe could use to clean himself.
Stepping back inside the bar, she discoveredKyle and Cassidy speaking calmly with the humans who’d come thisway in the hopes of fleeing out the back. Aida didn’t have to hearwhat they were saying to know they were using their ability tomanipulate the humans’ minds. She stayed to the shadows as shesearched for a towel. She discovered one near the remains of thetable and snatched it off the floor as the humans turned and headedback into the bar.
It wasn’t until water landed on her hand thatshe realized she still had snot and tears coming out of her likeshe was a two-year-old throwing a tantrum. And now that heradrenaline wasn’t pumping as much, the discomfort of the pepperspray was sinking in. She used the towel to wipe her face, but moretears spilled free as soon as she finished.
When the back door opened, she turned asJulian entered again. Before he could make it more than two steps,she stepped in front of him and used the towel to wipe the bloodsplatters from his face.
“Don’t,” he said and clasped her hands. “Youshouldn’t touch this stuff.”
“It’s a good thing I’m touching the towelthen,” she said and pulled it away when he tried to tug it from herhands. “You can’t see what you’re doing.”
“Aida—”
Whatever he was about to say died away when abull of a man appeared in the doorway. Aida recognized Rick, themanager of Addy’s. He’d probably been busy evacuating everyone outthe front door until now.
“What happened here?” Rick demanded.
“Someone went out the back door, Rick,”Cassidy said. “They triggered the fire alarm.”
