inner ear. I fired the laser again. This time the bright beam clipped tail feathers before slicing into a bed that came complete with a white draped body hung with cobwebs.
The vampire squawked and fluttered to the ground, landing rather ungracefully on the old wooden track. I slid to a stop and trained the laser onto him.
"Directorate," I said, my voice edged and low. "Whoever you are, shift shape or you'll die in bird form."
He hopped around until he faced me, his beady black eyes glaring somewhat balefully.
"Your choice," I said, pressing my finger against the trigger. The whine of the weapon powering up cut through the surrounding noise, and the pigeon hopped backwards in surprise.
After a moment, a shimmer rolled across his bloody feathers, hiding his form, reshaping it, until what stood in front of me was cloaked in human skin.
Only it wasn't a man, but a boy. A child. A cute, cherub-cheeked child with golden hair and big blue eyes.
A kid this size could certainly survive on a diet of pigeon and seagull blood, although it was still odd no one noticed the steady supply of dead birds.
Then the adorable image shattered when he snarled, revealing teeth that were long and pointed and every inch a vampire's. He came at me, fast and furious, and though I had my finger pressed against the laser, I didn't fire.
I couldn't.
It was a kid, and I couldn't shoot a kid. I didn't want to shoot a kid - even one that was a feral vampire attacking other children.
Surely there was hope for him. Surely there was a chance...
I jumped as a gunshot boomed through the darkness. The breeze of it burned past my ear, signifying the bullet was silver, then the little vampire went down. The back of his head disappeared, splattering a mess of blood and bone and gore across a somewhat macabre collection of dolls with revolving heads.
For a moment, I simply stared, disbelief and horror churning my gut. Then I swung around. Kye stood several yards behind me, his face expressionless, but cold fury in his eyes.
"Don't ever hesitate," he warned softly. "Bad things happen when you hesitate."
"It was a kid," I all but yelled. "Goddammit, Kye, you shot a kid."
"That kid was a vampire attacking other children. Remember who we're trying to save here, Riley."
The laser whined as my finger twitched against it. It was tempting, so tempting, to just raise the weapon and shoot the cold-hearted bastard. I switched it off instead. As much as I might want to shoot Kye, a guardian who killed without reason wasn't long for this earth. Besides, he was my soul mate, and killing him meant I'd be basically killing myself. And I wasn't ready to die just yet.
"The kid hadn't killed yet," I spat. "He might have been saved."
"You can't ever chance that." His gaze swept me, followed sharply by his hunger. I half expected him to close the distance between us and kiss me, but he shook his head and stepped back instead. "You're a guardian, Riley. A protector of humans, not vampires."
"Don't fucking tell me how to do my job."
"Someone has to." He glanced behind me, then gave me a sketchy salute. "Consider this payment for the information you owe me. And you will meet me with it later tonight, or I shall be forced to take other steps."
Something went cold inside. Coming from a hired killer, those so called 'steps' could only mean one thing. "You touch anyone - "
"Oh," he said blandly, "I wouldn't touch anyone. Shooting, though, that's another matter. And we saw here today just how well a silver bullet can work against a vampire."
Sick fury filled me. I clenched my fists, digging my nails into my palms against the urge to use them against him instead.
"You wouldn't dare."
He merely raised an eyebrow. The fury within me got stronger.
"He's just as much my soul mate as you are, Kye. Are you willing to risk shooting him without knowing just how that will rebound to you?"
"Are you willing to bet on the fact that I'm not?"
He knew I wasn't. It was there in the victorious twitch of his lips. I hated him. I wanted him. God, did things have to get this twisted? "Where and when?"
"Five Proximity Drive, Brooklyn. One o'clock." He gave me another one of those cold-half smiles. "I'll even provide an after-midnight snack."
The hungry glitter in his eyes made it clear just what type of 'snack' he was referring to. "Don't