Pulling back from Gray’s exposed neck, I made a show of licking her blood from my lips. “Find your own blood bank,” I warned. “This one’s already claimed.”
“I see. Well, we’re not from around here,” the leader said. His accent pinned him as an American southerner—from one of the Carolinas, or perhaps Georgia. “Perhaps you would be so kind as to explain whyclaimingprevents you from offering fellowship to out-of-town guests?”
“She is my claimed property,” I said. “I do with her as I please. And you are not my guests. So if you don’t mind…”
I cringed inside, hating the sound of my words. Hating that Gray had to hear me speak about her as though she were nothing but a meal. But the last thing I wanted was to start a battle with three unfamiliar vampires and risk her getting hurt—or worse.
The one on his left—a woman with an auburn-colored braid and a row of rings piercing her eyebrow—slithered closer. “Do you make a habit of bringing all your claimed pets to the morgue? Not very romantic, is it?”
I wrapped my hand around Gray’s hip and squeezed, hoping the touch would reassure her. She was still shaking, her blood scented with a mix of raw fear and adrenaline as her body shifted into attack mode. I still hoped we could avoid that particular scenario.
Hang in there, little brawler.
“Oh, I beg to differ,” I said coolly. “It’s quite romantic. Out of the way, usually private, nice and quiet. So if you’ll kindly see your way out, I’d like to finish my snack.”
I pressed my lips to Gray’s ear, my tone menacing. “Relax, sweetness. This will be over before you know it.”
I’d said it for their benefit, but there was a truth to my words I could only hope she understood.
Gray nodded stiffly in my arms, her muscles relaxing just a fraction.
Her trust felt like a gift. One I wouldn’t squander.
“The three of you would be wise to move on,” I warned. “Your lives are not worth one anemic female.”
“No need for threats, bloodsucker.” The leader appeared before me in a blink, his gaze drinking in every inch of the woman in my arms. I could practically feel Gray’s blood revolting.
“There’s plenty to share,” he purred. “Isn’t that right, lovely?”
He reached out to touch her hair, but I yanked her backward, one arm wrapped protectively across her body, holding her close.
Her frantic heart hammered right through my skin.
I glared at the man. “Touch what’s mine again,bloodsucker, and rest assured it will be the last time you touch anything.”
He bared his fangs and hissed.
And the bloody prat reached for her once again.
Wrong move.
I wasn’t certain who’d seen it first—Gray or the vampire himself—but she was the only one to make a sound.
Not a scream, not a shout. Merely a gasp.
His severed hands hit the floor, blood slogging out from his wrists. The metal bone saw vibrated in my hand for just a moment before I swung it in another powerful arc, decapitating him.
His body dropped, his bald head rolling toward my feet.
“D!” Gray’s shout was all the warning I had before the other male—a mustached blond considerably larger and more muscular than his bald friend—slammed into me, rocketing us into the storage cabinets.
The bone saw clattered to the floor, leaving me weaponless but for my teeth and hands. Near-evenly matched, the vampire and I devoured each other with punishing fists and fangs that flashed like knives, tearing flesh and splintering bones and spilling blood until the walls around us shook with our shared fury.
The female stood before us and grinned, seeming to await her turn.
But she’d never get it.
Gray, who’d been dismissed as a potential threat and momentarily forgotten, slammed a wooden stake into the woman’s back, paralyzing her before she could even scream.
