His mask of calm detachment shattered, his lips curling back in a sneer. “Darius won’t be able to protect you forever, hellspawn.”
“Wait, was that… Was that the message?” Ash cupped a hand around his ear and leaned in close. “Or just you talking shit?”
“If you’re smart,” the vamp said, “you’ll disassociate from him now.”
“Damn,” Ash said. “I’d hate to beyourfriend.”
“Oh, you think you’re his friends?” the vampire spat. “Beaumont’s already betrayed his own kind. How long until he decides demonic company is no longer worth the trouble?”
I pressed the stake a little harder. “You don’t know shit, bloodsucker.”
“I know your friend is no more than a witch’s lapdog.”
“And you think you know something abouther?” I tightened my grip on the stake, shifting it up to his throat. His Adam’s apple bobbed nervously, but that was the only indication that he was remotely concerned about it.
“Dude.” Ash faked a yawn. “I’m tired. And bored. I say we ice this asshole.”
“Good call. You got a match?”
Asher patted down his pockets. “Picked a hell of a time to quit smoking.”
“Now that’s a damn shame,” I said, knowing Ash had never smoked a day in his life. “Guess we’ll just have to stake him and leave him for some other poor son of a bitch to find.”
“Hope it’s one of his friends,” Ash said, “and not one of ours. Gosh, I’d really hate to think what a witch’s lapdog could do to this piece of shit.”
“Or the witch herself,” Ronan said. “I hear she’s pretty brutal when provoked.”
The vampire hissed. “Fuck you, d—”
He might’ve meant to say dick, or dude, or devilish demon dickbags, but Ash and I would never know. I’d shoved the hawthorn stake clear through his voice box.
Blood oozed out over my hand and down my arm, soaking my sweatshirt.
The vamp dropped like a bag of rocks.
“That was… bloodier than I expected.” I tried to shake the gore from my arm, but it was pretty well soaked.
Asher wrinkled his nose. “Dude. Nasty.”
“Shut him up, didn’t it?” I shook the blood from my hand. “If only I had another one for you.”
“Make it a dozen,” another voice said, “and you might stand a chance.”
“Guess he brought a friend after all,” I said to Ash, rolling my eyes as the two of us whipped around to face the latest bullshit threat.
Only this time, the threat was real.
Fuck.
At least a dozen vamps stood in formation, ranging in stature from small and willowy like our messenger there, to one guy roughly the size of a dump truck.
All of them were poised to attack.
One scrawny vamp we could take. But a whole damn platoon?
My stake was currently embedded in someone’s voice box. Asher wasn’t packing. And we were seriously outnumbered.
“This is gonna suck,” Asher said to me out of the corner of his mouth.
