especially since it seemed Christoph had turned against her.
“OH-MY-GOD-GET-IT-OFF-GET-IT-OFF-GET-IT-OFF!!!”
Grimacing as her piercing screeches deafened sensitive eardrums, Royce growled and finally managed to snag her flailing wrists, though she kept making frenzied lunges to bite at him with partially grown-in fangs. She put him in mind of a rabid puppy. A frightened rabid puppy who was ruining his hand-tailored Caraceni suit.
With a slight heave, he used his superior weight and strength to force them into a roll until he was straddling the girl. If anything, her screaming became even higher-pitched and more frantic. He would’ve taken both of her slender wrists in one hand and tangled his fingers in her shoulder-length, mousy brown hair to keep her from biting him if Christoph hadn’t been waiting for him to be distracted and shift on top just like that. The big Were took the opportunity to crack the vamp over the back of the head with one of the slender metal poles he’d torn out of the floor.
Stunned, Royce collapsed over Analie, his grip on her wrists loosening as he slumped on top of her. Screaming and clawing frantically at him, she struggled to push him off, her great strength heaving him across the aisle to crush the chairs into a crumpled plastic heap a few feet away. When Christoph held out a hand to help her up, she ignored the offer and surged to her feet so she could slap him with all her might.
“You—you piece of crap!” she screamed, tears trickling down her cheeks as the bigger Were staggered back from the blow. “You unbelievable, muck-sucking, unmitigated—!”
Clutching at his nearly broken jaw, Christoph spit out a little bit of blood and snarled. “Analie, for God’s sake, I was using you to distract him. It stopped him, didn’t it?”
She shook her head, wrapping her arms around her stomach and hunching over, haunted hazel eyes locking on the vamp lying motionless a few feet away. “I don’t care. That was an awful thing to do.”
“Yeah, well, it worked. Stop crying and butch up.”
The girl hissed a few hateful curses under her breath, one shaking hand rubbing the tears from her eyes. She was surprised she hadn’t peed herself, she was so scared. You don’t mess with vamps. Period. That Christoph had thrown her at him like a chunk of meat was going to burn in her for a long, long time. When the bigger Were put a hand on her shoulder to urge her toward the next cab, she slapped it away and moved on her own. As soon as she saw the vamp was slowly pulling himself to his feet, her hurried footsteps broke into a run.
Christoph glanced at the pole he was still clutching—now bent at a 90 angle—and threw the useless weapon aside. He waited until the vamp had gotten to his knees and looked in the Were’s direction with eyes turned a hateful, dark red.
As soon as he turned, Christoph kicked him in the face, snapping the vamp’s head back as the heavy workboot smashed into his jaw. The force behind the blow would have snapped the neck and crushed the skull of a human, but Royce only lost his balance and fell back, dizzy and disoriented as he sprawled against the broken seats.
“How do you like that trick, you little prick?” Christoph said, grinning to himself as he turned and dashed off to catch up with Analie. She was waiting anxiously in the next car, wringing her hands together as she waited for him to join her.
That had been very satisfying.
“Is it coming after us?”
“No, not yet. Come on, let’s walk from here,” he said, taking her arm and hustling her off the train as they reached the Canal Street stop. He’d studied maps of the area extensively before this meeting. The walk was a little over two miles, but he didn’t care. The vampire would regain consciousness soon. When he found them gone, he wouldn’t be happy, but he wouldn’t be able to follow to exact any retribution either. Christoph was pleased he’d gotten the last word in this time.
Analie was too afraid to argue with him. It didn’t stop her from being curious, though. “Christoph, why did he act like he knew you? I mean, I know the rattlesnake talk and all, but vampires aren’t usually that nasty without being provoked, are they?”
The bigger Were tightened his grip on her arm until it hurt, ignoring her questions and protests as he rushed her up the concrete