Midnight Predator

Daryl had a low pain tolerance for one of his kind; as she fought, she saw that weakness come into play. He had been startled by her initial attack, and now pain was making him take too long to defend himself.

A fight between a vampire and a human almost always goes one of two ways: either it ends instantly, or the human dies. A vampire is stronger, faster, and can heal more than any human. If a fight lingers, the human will always tire first. Once prepared for a fight, all a vampire needs to do is wait, providing minimal exertion to defend himself.

She had a chance for one more attack while Daryl was bent over, a side kick to his temple. It was a risky move; he could catch her foot and tear it off if he recovered enough to react. However, a broken neck would get him out of her hair long enough for her to get away.

Daryl did not manage to turn her attempt against her, but he did get out of the way to turn her paralyzing attack into a minimal nuisance.

Nursing his injured knee, the vampire did not bother to stand. He swiped Turquoise’s back leg out from under her before she had recovered her balance from the miss, and the only thing she could do was control the fall.

She let herself fall away from Daryl, so that when she landed she was the perfect distance for another kick to his already broken knee.

She turned quickly, but Daryl was quicker. Still fighting from the ground, he dragged her to him and hit her squarely across the jaw. He did not need to bother striking sensitive areas or waiting for opportunity; his strength made any blow strong enough to daze.

Turquoise turned her face away from the blow, moving with it to absorb the brunt of the force and retaliating at the same time. Sparks crossed her vision even as her attack snapped the weak floating rib off Daryl’s rib cage, driving it back and causing him to release her.

He rolled away, and shoved himself up. She did the same, both of them momentarily too hurt to press an advantage.

She got to her feet first; Daryl was still struggling with his knee. He wasn’t in too much of a hurry. Most vampires instinctively discounted humans as a threat, no matter how many kills a hunter had on her record or how the fight was going. Vampires were called “immortal,” after all. No human could kill them.

Daryl was pushing up from his knees when Turquoise repeated her earlier attempted attack, striking his head hard and fast. She felt the impact all the way up her leg as the kick made contact, the resistance of bone that gave way with acrunch.

His neck snapped, and the vampire tumbled back to the ground. A broken neck is paralyzing to any creature, even one that can survive and heal the injury.

Turquoise hated running, but short of tearing Daryl’s head off, she knew no way to kill a vampire without a weapon. Like most humans, she wasn’t strong enough for bare-handed decapitation.

But retreat chafed on her nerves. One thing Crimson always taught: eliminate your enemies. Leaving prey alive gave it a chance to recover and win the advantage next time. A second fight rarely went as well as the first.

The cougar had fled somewhere during her fight with Daryl, probably distressed to see the vampire losing. Eric was waiting for her on the other side of the iron fence.

She barely remembered scaling the fence. She remembered Eric asking if she was okay, and nodding sharply before leading the way into the forest behind Midnight. She had no idea how far away the town was, but she would not stop until they were out of Jaguar’s land.

Later, she could examine the painful swelling of her jaw. Later, she could wash and bandage the wounds from the cougar’s claws. Later, she could pause to wonder what on earth she was going to do with a fourteen- year-old boy. Now, she just wanted to go to ground and disappear.

They reached town at a slow limp at about noon. Eric obviously wasn’t used to so much walking, but he never complained. Turquoise’s adrenaline carried her through the many miles, leaving her with the focused energy and feeling of immortality that always followed a fight. More than anything, she wanted to go back and pound the cougar, which must have called to Daryl when Jaguar did not respond to its summons.

Instead, she found a pay phone in some hole-in-the-wall town a couple miles down from the end of Jaguar’s territory. The street signs declared this to be Main Street, in some town called Logging.

“Yes?” Nathaniel’s faint voice over the static-filled telephone wires was the sweetest sound she had ever heard.

“It’s Turquoise,” she said quickly. “I need a place to stay for a couple days where I can’t be tracked.”

“Until the waters cool?” Nathaniel responded. “I’ve got a place you can borrow. I’ll lend you some cash so you don’t get traced pulling out your funds. Tell me where you are and I’ll pick you up.”

She told him, wondering how much this was going to cost her. It didn’t really matter though. She had made enough in Crimson—vampire hunting could be a lucrative business—that she could comfortably retire for the next seventy years if she wanted. Whatever price Nathaniel charged, it would be worth it.

“Wait fifteen minutes so I can make a reservation for you, and then check into the inn down the street. I’m a few hours away, so you’ll have a chance to patch up and get some sleep.”

Blissful advice.

“I’ll see you soon,” he bid her. She responded in kind, and then found the phone dead in her hand.

No barter, no price. Nathaniel was as proper a mercenary as there came, and when he made a deal, he kept it. He never forgot to include a price, but he had agreed to give his help without stating one, and couldn’t change the terms later.

She would puzzle it out later. For now, she turned back to Eric. “Just a block more, and we can get some sleep.”

The kid smiled.Smiled, after all he had been through, and despite the exhaustion that was clearly written on his features. Miracles do still happen after all.

CHAPTER 17

“CATHERINE, PUT THE BOY DOWN,” Daryl commanded, “and I won’t have to hurt him.”

She reluctantly set Tommy down, though his small, trembling hand gripped hers tightly enough that her fingers were going numb. “Tommy, run,” she commanded, pushing him away.

The boy hesitated, long enough that the creature reached forward and twined pale fingers in Tommy’s soft brown hair. “You love your sister, Thomas?” the creature asked softly, kneeling so he was looking the young child in the eye.

“Let him go!” she shrieked, launching herself at the pair, trying to separate them. The creature simply glanced in her direction and backhanded her casually, a light tap compared to what he would do later.

He released the boy and caught Catherine’s arm as she tried to hit him, brushing his fingers across her cheek. She jerked back from his touch. “Catherine—” he began, but before he could continue she lashed out, striking him in the throat with all the force of terror, hatred, and fury.

The creature cursed, releasing her, and she was off in a sprint. She had barely reached the driveway when it caught up, and a shove sent her sprawling. Her palms and knees tore open as she struck the pavement, less than a foot away from her father’s body. Where was Tommy? Had he gotten away, or . . .

“Catherine.” He dragged her to her feet, his grip on her wrist bruising. “Never hit me.” He hit back. She tasted blood in her mouth for a moment before she fell into the encroaching darkness.

Turquoise woke to find herself coated in a sheen of cold sweat. She was lying on a bed in a room she did not know. The dream left a sour taste in her mouth, and agitation in her mind.