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He arched a brow. “Peach Blossom’s cute, but the name’s Cliff.”
“Alright, Cliff. Let’s work this out. You were sent here to capture my friend for some reason. I’m guessing I can pay better than your boss. What do you say, can we come up with a number?” I asked.
“This isn’t about money, darlin’. There’s nothing you can give me, other than the stone.”
Fuck me.He sure as hell wasn’t getting that.
“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” I said. “I’m sure there’s some pretty jewels waiting to be placed on the corpses, am I right, Heidi?”
“Oh, yeah,” she said. “There’s a ruby the size of a half dollar in the safe if you want a stone.”
“Don’t play dumb with me.” He returned the blade to Heidi’s neck. She tensed and her eyes widened again, the fear returning.
My pulse raced as the blade hovered above the gold chain. He had no idea how close he was to everything he wanted.
“I can’t read minds, Cliff.” I took a careful step forward.
“No closer,” he said. “And don’t give me that bullshit. You have the moonstone. We traced it’s magic here then it vanished. The trail’s cold.”
“What the fuck is a moonstone?” I asked.
“Nice try, but your friend here already confessed that you visited her,” he said. “She was difficult to compel, but we got that out of her. But it seems she can’t remember the nature of your visit.”
Anger surged through me, overriding how impressed I was that Heidi resisted. I’d hoped the necklace was as powerful as my father said, but I had never seen it in action. It must have prevented Heidi from being able to speak about it. Or Heidi was very, very strong willed. Which was totally possible.
Either way, nobody uses compulsion on one of my friends. “You used compulsion on my friend? You mother fucker!”
“Don’t worry,” he said with a grin, “I took it off so she’d be fully aware when I feed on her.”
“If you lay one fang on her so help me…”
“You’ll what?” He lowered the switchblade and took a step toward me. “Where were you when I tasted the princess? Where were you when I stuck silver pins inside her and questioned her? Where were you as we let her bleed out on the floor?”
I snapped.
On impulse, I reached for my stake and threw it at Cliff.
It landed in his thigh with a satisfying thwack.
He groaned, then cried out as the switchblade rattled against the ground. Dropping to his knees, he looked up at me, those fangs fully bared. “You missed, you bitch.”
“I didn’t miss,” I said. “I’m going to turn your ass in.”
He laughed. “You think this is over?”
“It’s over for you,” I said.
Something rustled in the shadows and I dove in front of Heidi, blocking her from whatever was coming.
A dart flew through the air and landed in Cliff’s chest. The vampire’s eyes widened in shock and his jaw dropped open. He clutched his chest and gasped for air that his lungs couldn’t use.
Black veins climbed like spiders up his neck and down his arms. Soon, his face and hands were covered in them and his skin turned gray. He tipped to the side, landing with a thud on the wooden floor.
His body convulsed a few times, then, blood flowed from his mouth and nose. Unblinking eyes stared up at nothing, glassy and empty.
A gust of wind filled the inside of the house, my hair flying in my face. The wind roared in my ears. I closed my eyes against the intensity and covered my face as I leaned over Heidi, trying to shield her from whatever was coming.
Then, the wind died down just as abruptly as it arrived.
