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Oh, god.
“Why does it worry me when you ask that?”
Nigel chuckled softly and took a step closer. “I was a bit worried about you. Someone said you dodged in and out of every party going on tonight, asking about a Lestat dressed person. Then it was mentioned you drove this direction.”
I was a bit desperate towards the end, and I guess my desperation caught up with me. Now I’d earned myself a worried bystander.
“Ah, yeah...”
“Is this guy you’re looking for your boyfriend, maybe?”
My mouth dropped open, and I had to catch myself to keep from yelling out in protest. “Um, no. More like this guy is sort of a thorn in my side, but you don’t need to worry about it. We should go ahead and head back.”
“So, not your boyfriend then?” he asked again, and my heart pounded like this was a rom-com and not an action-horror sort of evening. “Well, guess it doesn’t matter. There’s all kinds of animals out here and it’s a bad idea to come out here alone, even if you think someone else is here.”
Damn this beautiful bastard for making me second-guess my responsibilities towards an injured nobody caught in the slimy clutches of a Lestat imposter.
“No, you’re right. I guess I wasn’t thinking. It’s a little cold and creepy out here. Let’s get going,” I insisted, pretending to be uncomfortable and cold.
Although, to be honest, I was pretty cold. Even in layers, an hour in this wind chill was enough to make my bones freeze.
The hair on the back of my neck stood up and I stalled in my forward trek. Head twisting, I looked the direction I felt its presence. Eyes dodging left and right, I scanned the area.
The scent I registered was enough to put weight into my stomach. The gleam of pale eyes stole my focus, and without realizing what I was doing, I took Nigel by the arm and towed him over to his car with enough strength he nearly dragged beside me. Only seconds after shoving him inside the driver’s side, a strong impact echoed inside my chest and I slammed into the car door with a sickening thud. Glass cracked, and Nigel’s eyes widened as I groaned and pushed off the door with shaky arms.
That’s going to bruise in the morning.
Blade already out, I sliced down into the arm reaching out for me. The vampire retreated with a hiss as Holy Water soaked into his skin, burning pure-white flesh. I evaded another swipe and threw an arm out before catching the bastard by the neck and throwing him to the floor.
I’m a god!
A cloud of dirt billowed up around us before I was yanked forward, and then pinned to the ground. Coughing, I kicked my knee up and caught the bastard in the stomach. With practiced movements and years of Hunter training under my belt, I forced his weight to the side and pushed my blade into his chest.
The vampire grunted and took hold of my shoulders—my hands failing to pry his off—then tossed me like a weightless doll across the dirt-covered ground. I rolled and hit every damn rock imbedded into the floor before coming to a full stop. To my eternal chagrin, I was grossly covered from head to toe in muck and blood.
That’s going to be a bitch to wash out.
But I didn’t have time to recover or bemoan my destroyed outfit. I was quickly dodging another attack; one that flaunted a twelve-inch blade that could easily decapitate me if I lost focus.
On my stomach, I pushed myself off the ground with enough force to loft me to my feet and blocked another assault aimed at my throat. Round-house kicking the bastard so hard it’d break bone, I sliced through his finger with my blade and the vampire recoiled to stabilize his injured hand.
“Hunter,” the vampire spat. “I should’ve known. You little bastards are hard to fight off.”
I dodged another attempt when he reached for me and kicked out my foot, sending the thing colliding with the floor. Dust took flight again in a great burst and distorted my view before it settled.
But he was gone.
Stake in hand, I searched the area and backed up several steps to go where Nigel was trapped inside the car.
If I didn’t sink this into the bastard’s chest soon, there was no telling how long I’d last with someone to protect. Unfortunately, with how fast and strong this one was, it was very likely he was hundreds of years old. I wasn’t trained enough to take on one that strong. Grandma Rose had even warned me against it, saying calculated retreat was sometimes the only option. But with someone relying on me to keep them safe, retreat wasn’t an option.
Older vampires were harder to kill. A stake would need to be followed up by decapitation, and I’d need to be in top form.
“Lestat makes more sense now that I’m thinking about it,” I mumbled, panning the area again.
The world around me was quiet. Nothing stirred in the wake of battle, and I couldn’t detect the bastard’s presence.
With my mind cycling through tactical retreat plans, I gripped the stake tighter and glanced at Nigel. To my surprise, he wasn’t freaking out. I mean, not really. Not in the way I’d seen before.
