around him. She smelled blood, but saw only a shining stain on the back of his jacket. It was too dark for color. He was motionless, but still she kicked his rifle out of reach. It was a sniper’s piece—night scope and all the fancy fixings.
“Weapon says he means business,” she said softly.
“It seems your enemies put forward their best efforts,” Reynard replied.
“I’m so flattered.” Ashe took another quick inventory of the vamp. Short leather boots. The glint of a fancy watch. Dark hair, collar length. “Y’know, at first I wondered why someone would shoot from a place with only one escape route.”
As she spoke, she shifted the Colt to her left hand and reached into the pocket that ran up the outside of her right thigh. Familiarity, certainty, washed through her. Slaying wasn’t her happy place, but it was one she knew inside and out.
Ashe pulled out a long, straight, sharp stake. “Then it came to me. Vamps can fly. And then I thought of another thing. I was called out here on an emergency. How did an assassin know where I’d be? Somebody’s been doing some planning, and I’m going to want names.”
The vampire struck. The speed was breathtaking; he lifted himself from a facedown sprawl to a frontal attack in less than a second—but she’d been expecting that. Ashe felt the thing’s body pound into the stake, using its own momentum to drive the weapon home. All she had to do was brace her feet against all that brute force and lean into it.
The vamp flailed its arms, trying to change direction and pull away, trying to slash and bite and escape all at once. She’d judged the vamp’s height fairly well, but the stake had entered just below its heart. Ashe felt her feet skid on the stone beneath her, sliding far too close to the iron railing and the sheer drop beyond.
Reynard yelled, grabbing the vamp from behind. In a flash of moonlight, she could see the vampire’s face— features twisted in pain and anger. Reynard was managing to pin its arms, something no human should have been able to do. That seemed to scare the monster even more than the stake.
Ashe twisted her weapon, driving upward. The vampire gasped. She stopped a hairsbreadth from skewering him, praying Reynard’s strength would hold. She was taking a risk, pausing like this, but a chance at information was worth it.
“Why were you shooting at me?” she demanded.
It bared fangs, giving a rattling hiss.
“Scary, but I’ve seen better,” she said.
Reynard did something that made the vampire wince. “Answer.”
“Abomination!” it snarled, and gave one last lunge at her.
The vampire was suddenly deadweight. Reynard let the body drop, wood still protruding from its chest.
“Shit.” Ashe looked down at the vampire. She knew she would feel plenty later—anger, triumph, regret, pity, self-justification—but at the moment she was blank. She’d done what she had to do. Once the adrenaline wore off, the rest could engulf her.
The vampire had called her an abomination. She had opened her mouth to comment on how strange that was, coming from a bloodsucking monster, but closed her mouth again. It was weird enough that she didn’t want to even think about it. Besides, there were other, more pressing questions—-such as why the vamp had chosen to die rather than talk.
It could be vengeance. It could be something else. Whatever it was, it was personal. That thought made her queasy. “Are you all right?” Reynard asked. “Yeah,” Ashe said, keeping her voice light, impersonal. “He went down easily enough.”
Reynard sat down on the bench, head bowed. Ashe looked away. He didn’t look happy, but skewering the enemy wasn’t a cheery kind of thing. But then again, you didn’t get into this kind of work to talk about your feelings.
Ashe turned to lean on the railing. Below was the garden, bathed in starlight. A much better view than the vampire. The body had already started to shrivel. In about twenty minutes, it would be a pile of dust. It was as if time caught up with vamps, grinding them to nothing. Once he was gone, they would search his possessions for clues.
Above, the stars glittered like sequins on a torch singer’s evening gown. Below, the gardens glowed like a fairy kingdom. It seemed distant and surreal, a pretty mirage she could look at but not touch. She was made from a different element—something dark and dangerous.
At some point along the way, when her parents died, or when her husband died, or maybe when she’d bagged her first monster, she’d let herself slide into the darkness. Now that her daughter was home, she had to snap out of it. Kids needed a bright, shiny world. Eden needed something besides a monster-slaying action figure for a mom. Too bad Ashe didn’t know how to be anything else.
She would try. Goddess knew she would try. She would try to see the beauty in the world and look away from the shadows.
She heard Reynard shift on the bench behind her. “You should come see the view,” she said. “No, thank you.” His voice was quiet. The dark made it oddly intimate. “Why not?”
He was silent for a few heartbeats. “I have to go back to the Castle.”
“So?” She turned, leaning against the rail to face him.
He raised his head, but didn’t meet her eyes. “Whatever I see out here will make me restless, and I don’t have a choice about going back. It’s best I see as little as possible.”
There was so much regret in the words, it bruised her. Regret—that she knew. She could almost taste it like coppery blood on her tongue, sharp and familiar.
Now, finally, there was something about him that she understood.
And, Goddess help her, she suddenly wanted to fix it.
“I urge anyone who is a fan of urban fantasy and paranormal romance to put Sharon Ashwood at the top of their list!” —Night Owl Romance
Praise for
“A multilayered plot, a fascinating take on the paranormal creatures living among us, plus a sexy vampire, a sassy witch, and a mystery for them to solve ...
“Sexy, suspenseful fun. Ashwood really knows how to tell a story.”
“Strong world building… Readers will look forward to the sequel.” —
“Intriguing and darkly entertaining—not to mention sexy. Ashwood is definitely making herself right at home with this genre.” —
“The world is interesting (I look forward to seeing more of it!), the romance gorgeous, the sex sizzling. There’s plenty of action, as well.” —Errant Dreams Reviews
“This tongue-in-cheek, action-packed urban fantasy hooks the reader from the opening moment... and never slows down.” —
“A fast-paced urban fantasy... nonstop action that will keep the reader turning pages long into the night.
