Night Kissed (Chosen Vampire Slayer #1) - Mila Young Page 0,5

gaze narrowed into dark slits, all traces of sickness chased away by the rush of adrenaline.

I raised the blade and its arc streaked through the night like a meteorite, drawing a trail of fire behind it. I saw a hand coming up to meet it, but his counter was far too slow.

I plunged the knife into his chest, the blade sinking into soft flesh.

Still, five huge claws raked into the flesh of my forearm, drawing a slow stream of black blood.

The stench of burning meat and hair lingered in the air, and I hissed at the second of sharpening ache before it started to heal.

The man, whose arm had morphed into a great, mauling paw from the elbow down, dropped his chin. He looked at the hilt sticking out from the left side of his chest, at the torn fabric and forest of coarse hair singeing and smoking in the heat. It was as if he didn’t feel the pain at all, for a moment.

“Demon!” he snarled at me. He wasn’t wrong there.

Then he let out a choking, garbled cry. It was hoarse, and it wouldn’t carry far. I grinned and twisted the knife in the wound. I wrenched the knife deeper, my hand coming flush against the beast’s hairy skin. I put my weight behind the blade and shoved.

The body was dead weight before it hit the ground. I glanced back at the bar, distant but not out of sight for any intruders, at the moment of impact. A tremor ran through the frozen ground. Then all was still. I glanced down at the lifeless, sprawling figure at my feet. A trickle of red ran from the parted lips into the silver-brown beard. The hand that had been a huge bear paw lay open in the snow, returned in death to its human form. Two dark eyes stared upward, glassy, unseeing.

In the end, the beast-man hadn’t stood a chance. Like always.

I tightened my grip on the knife hilt. It was buried so deeply that for a moment, I thought it might not emerge. But then my grasp tore it free, cutting a wide swath across the upper torso.

My job was complete, and a sense of satisfaction flooded me. The vampire, Orion, who sent me on the kill reiterated that this dead bear shifter was part of the tribe trying to claim his Anchorage territory, plus had slaughtered two humans since arriving in town. More reason for him to be wiped from existence.

Five minutes later, I had slipped into the trees along the roadside, out of view of any unlucky bastard who might happen to pass by. For the moment, the kill lay shrouded in relative darkness, but the Rabbit’s Foot wasn’t far away. It would only be a matter of hours, if that, before the scene was discovered.

That was the vampire’s intention all along. Kill him near the bar, he’d ordered me. The other shifters and vamps in his tribe need to see the warning so they leave town.

“It’s done. Part one of your plan is complete,” I murmured. I spoke aloud into the quiet darkness, knowing the others heard me. In answer, an impatient whisper returned on the breeze.

“What took you so long?”

I glowered at the trees around me. I recognized the vampire’s maddening condescension at once. “Me? I’m not the one who picked the slowest target in this gods-forsaken city.” My sudden burst of rage manifested in a quickly suppressed flash of fire. “You asked. I delivered. Come see the proof yourself.”

“Fine. You’re through for tonight. We’ll take care of the rest.”

I bristled but managed to swallow the brunt of my anger. “Don’t wait up for me,” I growled. The footsteps I left as I stalked off into the woods melted and ran across the crunching snow.

No reply came from the vampire. It was just as well. I had no further interest in whatever that freak had to say.

Logan

Moments ago, Seth had announced his triumph over the bear shifter, which meant I was up to implement part two of our sordid little act to get these assholes out of Archorage. Now I stood outside Golden Klondike club, at the edge of the spread of lights out front. A larger establishment that seemed to attract supernaturals for a drink.

A whisper touched my ears. “Where are you?” The voice was mildly impatient. It belonged to Orion, the local clanmaster who’d hired me.

“I’m coming in,” I answered.

Orion never responded, but it didn’t matter. I already knew our time had just