His jaw clenches but he does as I’ve instructed and shifts to my right letting me finally get a good look at the two. Both have dark brown hair and aristocratic features. The one with my hand buried in his chest wears his hair shoulder length and tied back at his nape. The other wears his hair shorter, barely long enough for the ends to curl around his ears, and both are dressed like arrogant assholes in button down black dress shirts and black slacks.
“So let me get this straight. You two decided it was open season on a seventeen-year-old girl because she doesn’t belong to a Pack. Is that right?”
Neither answers.
I pull back and the first vampire hisses, clutching me to his chest so tight I flinch. “Let go or I’ll drag my hand down through your sternum taking your black heart with it.”
He loosens his hold and I tilt my head back, noting the ashen quality to his skin. “So, what’s the plan, asshole? Because the way I see it, I can’t very well let go.”
“Release me and we’ll leave. No one has to die today. You have my word.”
I laugh. Right, because I believe that.
“You have no idea the mistake you’re making, wolf.” The other vampire sneers. He’s clearly the ringleader in this little duo.
“Don’t I?” I snarl. “You two had every intention of killing me! I never did anything to you. Or to anyone. I’m a freaking teenager. And you vamps decided to—”
In a blur of motion the second vampire charges me, shoving me back away from the first. My back slams into the hard pavement and I pull on the thread in the pit of my stomach that leads to my wolf. My bones snap and my arms elongate into a partial shift I didn’t even realize I was capable of. Pain burns through my arms but the shift dulls some of it, taking already broken bones and mending them into my new form. Rolling to my feet in a warrior form, a blend of girl and wolf, I face the two vampires only to realize the first has collapsed.
I take a few steps back just as the remaining vampire lifts his gaze from his fallen friend and locks onto my hand. I follow his gaze, spotting the undead heart in my clawed grip.
So gross! I drop it, making a sound of disgust in the back of my throat as my stomach revolts. What did I just do?
“I should thank you,” the vampire says, advancing on me. “You took care of an inconvenience of mine. But …” The corner or his mouth lifts and his eyes brighten. In a whirl of movement, he’s inches away from me, wrapping long fingers around my now fur-coated throat. “I’ll still need to kill you. I have people to answer to. You know how it is.”
As though I weigh nothing, he flings me across the parking lot and I crash into a nearby parked car, my body denting the metal.
I groan but roll to my feet just as he comes crashing down on top of me.
“You know—” He sneers as I sink my claws into his arms, but he doesn’t even flinch, pressing me down into the pavement. “I’ve always wondered how much damage a shifter could take before they were forced to shift back to human. Shall we find out.”
He draws back his fist and slams it into my mouth, my wolf’s teeth graze his skin, but it doesn’t phase him. He draws back and punches me again.
My head whips to the side and I cough out a mouthful of blood. I need to get him off me.
Drawing my feet up, I press them against his chest and kick out with all of my strength. He flies back but manages to land in a crouch, whipping his head up with a vicious smile before charging forward again as if this is all some sort of game.
He’s so fast, his body a blur my eyes can’t seem to track. Letting my other senses take the lead I thrust my arm out, hammering a punch to the vampire’s midsection but shit, it’s like punching concrete.
I twist and deliver a spinning kick, but he manages to capture my leg and throws me on my back. I tuck and roll, coming to my feet just as he shoots forward with a curled fist. I dodge the blow and he collides with the car behind me, setting off the alarm.
I’m breathing heavy, though whether from adrenaline or exertion I have no idea.
Whirling, he pins me with his gaze. “This is going to be more fun than I thought.” He reaches behind himself and pulls out a blade. The edge glints under the moonlight and every one of my hackles rises.
In a blur of blinding speed, he rushes me. The blade sinks into the soft skin of my stomach and a burning pain spears through my gut. He withdraws the blade, tosses it to his other hand and stands again, this time sinking it deep beneath my ribs.
I choke on a scream as my blood turns to liquid fire.
“Burns doesn’t it?” he whispers in my ear.
I fight through the agony coursing through me and manage to knee him in the balls. He drops to his feet and I stagger back. I rip at the fabric of my shirt, exposing the two stab wounds. The skin around them is black and dark blood oozes from the wounds, thick and putrid.
Fuck.
He groans on the ground but pushes himself to his feet, his eyes murderous. “You’re going to pay for that.”
I eye his blade wearily. It’s silver and it’s killing the virus in my system, making it harder to recover. Already I can feel it leeching at my strength. I need to get out of here.
I turn to run but I stumble, and he crashes into me, his arms circling my waist and taking me to the
