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“Fucking called it,” Kade mutters under his breath.
“Very helpful,” I snap at him, scanning the group of vampires opposite us. They’re young, all turned—I’m assuming by Selene.
The devil herself, the vampire we're here to hunt slides out of the backseat of the first SUV.
Kade growls deep in his throat, and Lex grabs his arm before he can shoot forward and attack. We need to be smart about this; she has the numbers, though we don’t yet know how skilled they are when it comes to fighting—and fighting other vampires at that.
Selene walks around to the front of the SUV, her heels clicking on the pavement. “Well,” she says, scanning the lot of us with a sharp gaze before flipping her long, near-white hair over her bare shoulder. “This is quite the welcome committee. I hope you don’t mind, I brought my own.” She licks her deep red lips, the corners of her mouth curling into a grin as her eyes land on Gabriel. “Hello, love.”
“Don’t you speak to him,” Calla snarls with venom in her voice, squeezing through the space between Gabriel and me. Her heart is racing in her chest and her jaw is set tight. The hatred in her expression is cold, dark. I’ve never seen her like this, not even the night we broke into her apartment in Washington.
Selene barely glances at Calla, annoyance flickering across her face. “I see you still have a pet. Honestly, Gabriel, it’s rather tacky at this point.”
“Enough,” I cut in sharply, my gums throbbing from the pressure of my fangs threatening to extend.
She turns her attention to me, her eyes glimmering with amusement and lust; it turns my stomach. I want to rip this monster’s throat out with my teeth for what she’s done. “Atlas, how wonderful to see you again.”
I ignore her words and nod toward Jase. “What happened here?”
Selene casts a sideways glance at him before returning her gaze to me. “I don’t appreciate being watched and tailed. Especially after I so graciously saved these pathetic excuses for vampires from a group of hunters.” She picks a fleck of lint off her emerald knee-length dress that fits her like a second skin. The deep V-neck leaves nothing to the imagination as her breasts nearly spill out of it. Between the heels and the dress, it’s clear she wasn’t anticipating a fight. At least not one she’d participate in.
I shake my head, exhaling a long breath. “Fallon, get him cleaned up and fed,” I tell Gabriel’s friend without looking away from Selene.
Fallon hesitates. “Are—”
“Go.” I toss her the keys to our vehicle.
She catches them and, moving at an inhuman speed, she slides her arm around Jase’s waist and guides his arm over her shoulders to help him walk to the car. They peel out of the parking lot moments later.
Selene’s entourage of vampires exchange subtle glances before moving to flank their sire. Their fangs are bared, their silver eyes gleaming with bloodlust as they stare at Calla. They were likely turned in the last few months based on their evident struggle to keep their fangs to themselves.
“You should teach them control,” I comment in a mild tone, inclining my head slightly toward the salivating vampires.
She presses her lips together, seemingly displeased, but says nothing in response to my observation. Instead, she focuses again on Gabriel. “Care to explain why you’re keeping tabs on me? I’d much prefer you came to me yourself instead of sending your annoying little friends.”
“I’m here now,” Gabriel says in a level voice, moving closer to her.
A couple of Selene’s vampires snarl, moving at heightened speed, and they each grab one of Gabriel’s arms. A bad move on their part, considering Gabriel can’t hurt Selene despite wanting to tear her to pieces. Evidently, she hasn’t taught them that bit of being sired to her. Perhaps she didn’t find it important and instead taught them blind obedience.
Calla steps forward when Gabriel tries—with intentionally minimal effort—to break free of their grasp, and I shift sideways, blocking her path. My lips twitch when she punches me in the back and huffs angrily. I can’t communicate with her that Gabriel purposely isn’t fighting them off as a way to keep them occupied.
Lex advances toward Selene, his fangs fully extended and a growl tearing from his throat. Four of her vampires dive into action, their sights set on Lex, to prevent him from getting close to Selene. He whistles, chuckling as he goes head-to-head with a broad-chested male vampire. “You guys are so whipped, it’s sad. I’m sad for you.” He’s taunting them, getting in their heads and distracting them so he can take them out with the least effort possible, because that’s Lex.Work smarter not harder, he loves to remind us.
Gabriel continues his half-hearted struggle with the vampires on either side of him, while Kade and I exchange a glance. I nod subtly toward Calla, motioning for him to stay close to her so I can tear through the other vampires. I want this fight over quickly. It’s been a long time coming, and we’re all ready for the end to come.
The next ten minutes pass in a blur of tearing flesh and spraying blood. These turned vampires are nowhere near a match for my years or bloodline. I attack ruthlessly, pulling out hearts and ripping out throats with my teeth. The monster in me revels at the blood dripping from my fangs, staining the front of my shirt. My heart beats wildly in my chest, excitement making my pulse tick faster. I don’t often allow myself to be this way, but when I do… Well, the blood-soaked pavement covered with vampire corpses speaks for itself. A few of them fled before I could get my teeth in them, which is as unfortunate as it is pathetic.
I turn in time to see Lex creeping toward where Selene is trying to speak to Gabriel, desperation creeping into her tone as she realizes things aren’t going the way she expected them to.
Lex’s arm arches through the air, his fist flying toward her face, but she manages to duck at the last second and kick his legs out from under him. He curses loudly, breaking his fall gracefully before shooting back up and kicking her hard in the stomach. She clocks him in the face, which gets Kade worked up enough to go after the remaining vampires Selene brought, who are still holding onto Gabriel.
I move back toward Calla, who is staring at me with a mix of shock and something that is definitely not fear. She’s more like us already than she wants to admit, but this certainly isn’t the time to bring that up.
Gabriel shoves one of the two remaining vampires toward Kade, who sinks his fangs into his throat, tearing through his flesh, while Gabriel shoves his hand through the other’s chest. The vampire freezes, going stiff, his silver eyes widening and filling with tears as his mouth forms a perfect ‘O’. Seconds later, Gabriel pulls his hand out, the vampire’s bright red heart clutched in his fist. Gabriel drops it, snapping the vampire’s neck a moment before he crumples to the ground.
Kade pulls back, blood covering his lips and chin, and grins manically at Gabriel. The vampire in his grasp growls weakly, and Kade pulls a dagger out of the waistband of his pants, driving it into the vampire’s heart through his back. Kade tosses the still body next to the other dead vampire and joins Lex in the fight against Selene, who, glancing around at all of her fallen vampires, isn’t looking so confident anymore. She may be powerful, but there’s no way she’ll make it against all of us.
Calla grabs my arm and leans up to speak in my ear. “I want this one.”
