Page 34 of Curiosity Killed The Vampire

Enhanced humans.

Their movements were too coordinated, too fast for ordinary soldiers. Seven figures emerged from the shadows of the pines, dressed in matte-black combat gear, their visors gleaming red. The shimmer of circuitry pulsed beneath the skin of their necks—augmentation lines.

I tried to summon my magic, but the well inside me was dry—burned out from the temple. The pulse of the artifact in my hand only made it worse, draining what little I had left. My veins felt like fire and frost all at once.

“Cass—move!” Con barked, already in motion.

He blurred forward, closing the distance between us and the attackers in a single, fluid leap. His curved blade flashed in the moonlight—a streak of silver death. The first man didn’t even have time to fire before Con’s blade found his throat. Blood sprayed in a dark arc against the snow.

Another swung a rifle toward him, but Con was faster. He twisted low, the blade cutting through the man’s legs, then came up with a brutal backhand that sent him crashing into a tree. Bones cracked audibly.

The third tried to flank him—bad mistake. Con caught him by the vest, slammed him into the rock wall, and drove the knife home just beneath the ribcage. The man convulsed, then went still.

Three down in seconds.

The rest moved like predators, fanning out in perfect formation. I pulled my daggers free after securing the artifact to my belt, and met the nearest one head-on. My body screamed in protest, still half-drained, but muscle memory took over.

He swung at me with a reinforced baton, the strike fast and precise. I ducked, caught his wrist, twisted hard until the joint popped, and drove my elbow into his jaw. He staggered, mechanical implants sparking at his temple. I spun, bringing my dagger across his throat. The blade bit deep, spraying warmth against the snow.

Pain flared along my side, a glancing hit from a rifle butt. I turned quickly, slashing upward, catching the man’s forearm. He hissed, cybernetic servos sparking as he stumbled back.

Across the clearing, Con moved through the chaos like a storm. Every strike was merciless. He didn’t dodge—he advanced. One of the humans lunged with an electrified knife, but Con caught the man’s wrist mid-thrust, twisted until bone cracked, and used his momentum to drive the knife into another’s chest.

The air stank of blood, sweat, and burned circuitry. The snow beneath us had gone from white to rust-red in patches, melting from the heat of bodies and weapon fire.

But for every one we dropped, another closed in. Seven had felt manageable at first, but the remaining attackers were disciplined with augmented speed, reinforced bones, and enhanced reflexes. I could barely keep up.

One caught me by the arm, wrenching hard enough that pain lanced through my shoulder. I pivoted, slammed my dagger into his thigh, then kicked free, but my balance faltered. The edges of my vision swam—my magic screaming uselessly inside me, too raw to draw on.

Con saw it. His snarl split the night.

He was on them before they could press the advantage—blade in one hand, the other snapping a neck with a sound like breaking ice. The last man fired point-blank; Con turned, letting the bullet graze his upper arm rather than my skull, the impact jerking his shoulder back. A dark streak bloomed across his sleeve, but he didn’t so much as flinch. He drove his weapon straight through the man’s chest.

The forest went still again. Only the sound of the wind remained—low, mournful, whispering through the trees.

I sank to one knee, chest heaving. The snow beneath me was splattered with blood—some theirs, some mine. I pressed a hand to my ribs, wincing. “They knew we were coming.”

Con wiped his blade clean on one of the fallen soldiers’ coats, his breathing steady but eyes filled with fury. “They shouldn’t have.”

I looked up at him—his face lit by moonlight, streaked with blood that wasn’t his own, his expression carved from ice and fire. He wasn’t even winded. But beneath that deadly calm, I saw it—the flicker of something raw. Fear. Not for himself.

For me.

“I told you,” I managed between breaths, forcing a crooked smile. “You can’t keep saving me.”

He looked at me, his jaw tightening. “I’ll stop when you stop trying to die.”

The retort on my tongue faded as the wind shifted, carrying the smell of smoke and metal from below.

I followed his gaze toward the valley, where the lights of Quebec flickered in the distance. Somewhere down there, the network Julian had warned us about was already moving.

Con sheathed his blade, the motion smooth and final. “We can’t stay here,” he said quietly. “They’ll send more.”

I nodded, pulling the artifact from my pocket. Its golden glow pulsed once, almost like a heartbeat, and the forest seemed to hold its breath around us.

The temple was gone. The humans were dead.

But the real danger was just beginning, so I clipped the fragment to my belt.