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I simultaneously spun around and backed up, facing the vampire who casually leaned against the side of the strip mall.
It was the same vampire I’d encountered with Grove and Brody. His face was still shadowed by the hood of the jacket he wore—this close to him I could feel the glossy mental brush of fae magic that radiated off his shirt, so it had to be charmed. Probably with an illusion spell—shadows fell across his face in the wrong pattern for the lighting back here.
How did he hide himself so well? I should have felt this kind of power all the way down by the café!
The vampire tilted his head, and despite the magic-produced shadows on his face I could see his ruthless red eyes. “Aren’t you happy to see me?”
“Not particularly,” I said. “Since it seems like unconscious bodies always accompany you.”
“Don’t mind them, they’re just stupid.” He sounded polite, but it didn’t go deep—it was more like a mask of politeness, someone pantomiming something they’d only seen and had never experienced. What worried me more than the show of politeness was the faint interest gleaming in his eyes.
“Them?” I asked, trying to keep him occupied.
I glanced past the vampire. He was standing between me and the rest of my team—isolating me in the worst possible way.
I might be able to outrun him and loop around the building without him catching me but if he’s this powerful, I don’t want to count on it.
“Oh, you only saw the troll, then?” the vampire asked. “In that case I meant he is stupid enough to count for multiple beings.”
More groans echoed along the side of the building.
He took down a lot more than a troll.
“And why did you attack the troll?” I kept my posture guarded but I didn’t reach for a weapon—he’d surely read that as a threat and react accordingly.
“I never said I attacked him,” the vampire said.
“Then he threw himself at the parking lot?”
“You see the most inconvenient things.” He sighed; his posture forlorn as he folded his arms across his chest. “If I claimed self-defense, surely you’d believe me?”
“You caused property damage this time,” I said.
The vampire peeled himself off the side of the building stretching up to his full intimidating height. “I should have known: slayers are always trouble. Though it is unexpected to find a solo one…”
He’s going to get nasty, which means the risk of staying here is greater than the risk of running and making his chase instincts kick in. Time to go.
I jumped backwards, neatly avoiding his attempted grab.
“Impressive,” he said.
I didn’t waste my breath—or time—responding. I turned tail and ran, following the road to the back parking lot.
I could hear him chase after me—his breath was non-existent, but his steps were louder than mine. (Improper shoe choice; many underestimated how important the right pair of boots were.)
Swerving to make myself a harder target, I made it all the way down the road, popping into the parking lot.
It was a massacre, with at least eight fae sprawled across the parking lot. No blood—I would have sensed it—but everyone was out of it. At least, I hoped they were just out of it and not… dead. That seemed most likely given the lack of blood and that their attacker was the vampire chasing me.
I was too well trained to stop and gawk, so I jumped over a faun—who was splayed out in a starfish position—and sprinted along the back of the building as I tried to take in the situation.
A dryad was thrown in a heap over an unconscious centaur, and a brownie—head flat on the pavement with his butt hitched up in the air—was wedged next to a no parking sign.
There were more, but I felt the vampire chasing me close in so I changed my focus.
He reached for me, his hand grazing the sleeve of my uniform.
I ducked under his arm, scraping my gloved hand across the pavement and grabbing a few loose pebbles. When I stood up, I threw the pebbles at him aiming for his eyes.
