and launched his attack. He didn’t know what the creature was, but he knew it wasn’t friendly. He had to keep it contained while the other dragons got organized. The sounds would have alerted the dragons above, and they would be here shortly, but until then, Pietro was on his own.
Another figured stepped out of the Gate, a twin to the first. They both glanced at the incoming fireballs and then casually sidestepped them, moving faster than Pietro’s eyes could follow.
That simple movement alone made his blood run cold. The portal absorbed the fire and seemed to shiver. A moment later, another pair of the jet-black humanoid figures stepped through. Four sets of eyes focused on Pietro, dull red glows emanating from somewhere deep within.
Well shit. I think I agree with Gunnar now. Boring was good.
“Let’s go then,” he snarled, charging at them.
The quartet moved as one. They flowed past Pietro in a blur. He’d anticipated their speed, however, and started striking before they’d moved. His fist caught one of them. The black shell cracked and crimson blood flowed from the cheek of one of the creatures, even as it was shot from its feet by the impact and tumbled off to the side.
That still left the others, however, and while their blows were not the strength of a dragon’s, they weren’t weak. And there were three of them.
Pietro went down in a heap, a kidney howling, a broken rib, and stars in his eyes. He shook his head to try and clear his vision just as one of the creatures stepped up and bent over him, planting a hand on his cheek, almost cradling it. He was shocked by the warmth of the thing.
Then, he felt its presence in his mind. Digging through his memories.
“Those are mine,” he snarled as it latched onto the most prominent, recent one.
The woman at the bar.
The thing twisted its head as if surprised, then made to withdraw. Pietro made sure that’s what it did by kicking it full in the stomach, launching it across the room. The creature twisted gracefully midair, landing on its feet, and then raced from the room before the dragons could recover themselves.
There was a shout of surprise from outside the cavern as the dragons on their way down encountered the creatures, but despite the boom of a storm dragon blasting away, Trent knew they hadn’t succeeded in stopping them. They were too fast. Too skilled.
His mind replayed the memory of the creature that had stood over him. A line on its cheek had stuck out, and Pietro realized with a start that it was the same one he’d hit. The line was all that was left of the wound he’d opened less than a dozen seconds earlier. It had already been nearly healed.
“Well, that’s just great,” he muttered. “What the hell were those things?”
“Those,” Gunnar said as he picked himself up, an arm bent the wrong way from where he’d slammed into the wall. “Were vampires.”
“Worse,” another voice muttered as it entered the room.
Pietro turned to see Kladd, one of his clanmates and a member of the Atrox strike team, enter along with the remaining dragons from the top of the mine shaft.
“Those were vampire Hunters,” Kladd said heavily. “Their elite.”
“Meaning what?” Pietro asked, worried about the way the thing had invaded his memories.
“Meaning we need to find them and kill them,” Kladd said quietly. “Before they multiply.”
Chapter Three
Claire
“You just going to sit there and make eyes all night?”
Claire looked up to see the bartender giving her an amused smile.
“Is it that obvious?” she asked, shaking herself and taking another sip of her drink.
It took a forceful effort of will for Claire to swing herself back around to stare at the wall behind the bar instead of the veritable buffet of man meat behind her.
“Just a bit,” the woman behind the bar said, sliding a fresh drink across to her. “On the house.”
“You don’t—” Claire started to say but was hushed by a narrowing of eyebrows. “Thanks.”
“So which one catches your eye?” the bartender asked, grabbing a cloth and wiping down the bar, as much to keep herself occupied as to clean it. The place looked immaculate to Claire.
“Ha. Muscle boys with tattoos and piercings is what got me into this mess in the first place. They’re all gorgeous, but I am not pining after one. Not tonight.”
Not while I’m still dealing with the last one, she added mentally, not wanting to burden the friendly bartender with her