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“They’re gonna cream their pants when we get done with them—”
“Dude, give me that shit. My turn—”
“So I walked in and found Lana fuckin’ some asshole she met at school. She’ll never do that again.”
“What’d you do to her, dude?”
“Gave her a beating she’ll never forget—”
“We ready? My old lady’s been bitchin’ about too many late nights—”
I turned my attention to the man who had beat up his girlfriend. He’d do. He was tall, lithe, with a long braid that hung halfway down his back. His beard and mustache were blond, but his eyes were so dark they were almost black. He was wearing a blue wife-beater and a pair of cargo pants covered with chains. I noticed he had a lead pipe sticking out of one deep pocket on the side of his pants. Oh yeah, he’d do just fine.
I stared at him, focusing on him, willing him to stay behind. Old-school vamps used the trick a lot, but I usually didn’t bother. It felt a little like cheating, but tonight I didn’t care. He’d crossed the line in my book when he bragged about beating his mate.
“I’ll catch up in a minute,” he said as the others moved off down the alley. As they disappeared, my quarry looked around nervously, as if he wasn’t sure why the hell he’d stayed behind. He shivered. I could feel his tension from where I stood. As he moved to follow his buddies, I stepped out of the shadows, blocking his path.
“Going somewhere?” I asked softly, my head down so he couldn’t see the crimson light of my eyes.
“Get out of my way, bitch,” he said, with a hint of contempt.
I raised my head and smiled, my fangs fully extended.
“What the—” He backed up a step.
“Oh baby, don’t run away. I promise, I won’t hurt you like you did your girlfriend.” And then, giving a little hiss, I began to walk toward him, steady strides that played into the fear spreading across his face. Oh yeah, some days being a vampire felt good. The power to intimidate, the power to bring someone so cocky, so sure he was king of the world, to his knees rippled through me. It was a better high than any drug could offer.
He backed up another step, then turned to run, racing toward the wire fence that blocked the end of the alley. I let him go for a few yards, then closed the gap between us in two leaps, landing in front of him.
“Who are you? What do you want?” My man backed away, his voice quivering. “You aren’t human, are you?”
“Only half,” I whispered. “Or at least I was half-human. Before I died.”
“Vampire!” Recognition filled his face, and he tried to squirm around me.
“Not so fast, boy. Recess is over.” I grabbed him by the collar, slamming him against the wall. “Look at me,” I said.
He obeyed, fear clouding his eyes.
“Tell me your name.”
“Jake.”
“Okay, Jake. I want you to tell me, did you really hurt your girlfriend?”
He nodded, unable to stop himself. “Yeah, yeah . . .”
“Did you rough her up?”
Again the unwilling nod. “Yeah.”
“Did you bruise her? Make her bleed?”
“Yeah. Yeah.”
“And why did you do that?” I wanted him to say it. I wanted to hear his story. It made it easier to do what I had to do.
“She wanted to leave me. She said I roughed her up too much. She found another guy.” His voice was strangled, low, and shaking. I could smell the fear rolling off of him.
