“Your dad wasn’t happy with your decision to send him with Skye and the boys.”
“No, but he knew it was for the best,” I said softly, heading deeper into the darkness of the caves. Trey was right behind me with a flashlight, but I didn’t need it. I could see clearly. It was one of my gifts I’d inherited from my vampire father. “Skye needed help, and he was bleeding like a sieve from that shoulder. He needs to get it looked at.”
“Can you tell how far away Ander is?”
“I feel him, and I am getting brief glimpses of his thoughts. He’s slowed down. Trying to decide if he wants to remove the knife from his eye or keep moving to get as far away from me as he can. He knows he underestimated me, and he’s furious. Not only with me, but also with himself.”
“He had his hand around your throat, Bel. He drew blood. He could have killed you.”
I heard the catch in Trey’s voice, felt his pain at the thought of losing me, and his anger at the rogue who hurt me. “He was playing with me, Trey. He wasn’t going to kill me.”
“How do you know?”
“I was in his mind. He wanted a taste of my hunter blood for himself, but then he was going to take me back to Angel’s Pass to my uncle. If anything, he wanted to remove Drago from the equation so he could get the credit for capturing me on his own.”
“I’m going to kill him.”
I understood how he felt. When I saw my dad fall to the ground earlier, and then Trey thrown into the wall of the cavern, I wanted to rip Drago apart, piece by piece. They are my family, and no one messes with my family.
“Don’t worry, we’ll get him. We can’t let him terrorize this town anymore.”
Pausing, I held up a hand. Ander was close. I could feel it. There were two different paths we could take up ahead, just a few feet away. He was down one of them, and not far. Trey was silent, waiting for my lead. Switching to the new, strange form of communication I seemed to be able to do now, I whispered into his mind, He’s up in the tunnel on the left. He is in a rage, upset that I messed up his pretty boy face.
You think he’s pretty?
I bit back a giggle as I replied, You didn’t?
Bellame.
There was exasperation in his voice, and I had to fight not to let my laughter slip free. He thinks he is pretty. He’s proud of his looks. It’s how he captures innocents so easily.
Well, he won’t have to worry about it either way much longer.
True.
Slowly, I started to move forward again, the mark on my arm burning brighter now, lighting the way.
Can you tone that down a little? It gives off more light than my flashlight.
Resisting the urge to slam my elbow into his gut, I shrugged. He already knows we’re near, anyway. He can sense me.
I immediately felt the change in Trey as he switched from my teasing cousin to the warrior I was discovering he was. Then, what are we waiting for?
He’s really angry, Trey. This isn’t going to be easy, I warned, gripping my sword in my right hand, my dagger in my left.
Got it.
Ander was just around the corner, and he knew I was coming for him. He welcomed the chance to kill me after what I did to him. He knew Trey was with me and planned to kill him first while I watched. He wanted to make me suffer, and somehow knew Trey was important to me. What he didn’t know was that I was firmly in his mind now, and could hear all of his thoughts. All of his plans.
Stay here for a few minutes, Trey.
What? No! I go where you go.
He’s planning to use you against me. If I go in first, catch him off guard, he won’t get that chance. Give me two minutes to get this party started, and then come running.
I could hear the reluctance in his voice when Trey replied, Two minutes. No more.
I was around the corner and on Ander before he knew what was happening. My dagger sliced through his cheek, missing his chest when he moved at the last minute. One second he was leaning up against the cave wall, the next he was twenty feet away, down the tunnel. The vamp was fast, but so was I.
A roar left his throat as his hand went to his face, touching just below the deep cut in his skin, his fingers coming away coated with blood. “I will kill you for that, huntress!”
“You can try.”
He sprang at me, but I anticipated his moves ahead of time and jumped back just as his claws came down. The tips of his nails snagged my shirt, tearing the bottom of it, but he failed to draw blood this time. Baring his fangs at me, Ander snarled, “I will do more than try, and your uncle will thank me. He will reward me nicely for removing a threat from his life.”
I laughed, not bothering to respond as I struck, sinking the blade of my dagger deep into his chest, just an inch from his heart.
Saliva dripped from his fangs as Ander groaned, his hands going to the dagger. “You will regret that.”
“I regret nothing,” I replied calmly, raising my sword.
Ander hissed loudly, yanking the dagger from his chest. “You will.” He moved so fast, I couldn’t do anything but bring my arm up in a defensive move, blocking the weapon just before it found my heart. I felt the edge of the blade cut deep into my skin, but I ignored it. Twirling around, I slammed my foot into his gut, pushing him back a couple of feet, right where I wanted him.
Suddenly, Ander froze, his mouth widening showing the sharp incisors inside. He grunted, a low groan slipping out as he slowly fell to his knees, looking up at me in confusion. I smiled at my cousin, who stood just behind him, his hand still on the hilt of the knife that protruded from Ander’s back.
“As I said, I regret nothing.”
My sword sliced down, cleanly removing Ander’s head from his shoulders. I caught my breath, bile rising in my throat as I watched it roll a few feet away. It was sickening, disgusting, no matter how necessary to make sure the rogue didn’t rise again.
“Good job, cuz.”
I raised my eyes to meet Trey’s gaze, blinking back tears. I refused to let them fall. Not for the likes of Ander, a man who killed innocent people, draining them of their blood. He didn’t deserve my tears. “You too.”
“What do you say we clean up this mess, along with the one we left from Drago, and then go find someone to take care of your scrapes?”
I laughed, wiping the blade of my sword on Ander’s pants before returning it to the scabbard at my back. My scrapes. We both knew my arm was going to need stitches, and I would need blood soon, but my light-hearted cousin was back. Teasing me to put a smile on my face because he knew what it did to me every time I severed the head from a body of one of the rogues.
“Sounds good to me. I want to let those boys know that they have nothing to be afraid of anymore.” Closing my eyes against a wave of dizziness that hit me, I leaned back against the hard, rock wall.
“You’re going to be their hero. You’ve slayed their demons, Bel.”
I looked over at him, a small smile playing on my lips. “No, we slayed their demons.”
Trey grinned, shrugging nonchalantly. “I guess we did.”
“I guess we better get moving.” My head was beginning to swim, and I was afraid if I stayed where I was much longer, I was going to end up on the floor next to the dead vampire.
“You okay, Bel?”
I heard his voice, knew I needed to reply, but was having difficulty getting any coherent words out.
“Bellame?”
Giving him a weak smile, I whispered, “I guess I lost more blood than I thought.”
“Crap.”
I was aware of a ripping sound, and then Trey was holding my arm, bandaging my wound with a piece of cloth. “Let’s get you out of here.”
I shook my head, leaning into him. “We can’t. We have to burn the bodies. You know the rules. You make a kill, you clean it up. You never leave behind evidence that vampires exist.”
“Bel, you can’t even hardly stand up.”
“I just need a moment.”
“What you need is blood.”
I shook my head again. I’d only ever taken blood from my parents. I didn’t feel comfortable taking it from anyone else. Not even my cousin.
“Bellame, you don’t have a choice.” When I would have argued, he put a finger under my chin and lifted my head until our eyes met. “Your mother isn’t here to help. Your father was injured. You’re my best friend. My favorite cousin.”
“I’m your only cousin.”
“Bel, I trust you.” He smiled gently. “I want to help you. Let me.”
Biting my lip, I closed my eyes and lowered my head to his chest. “I don’t want to hurt you.”
“Does it hurt your parents?”
“No,” I whispered.
“Then just do it. I’m not a pansy. I can handle it.”
Inhaling deeply, I swallowed hard and then nodded, knowing I didn’t have a choice. If Trey wasn’t holding me up right now, I would probably faceplant on the ground.
“How do you want to do this? Neck or wrist?”
“Wrist,” I murmured, hating the part of me that needed blood to survive.
“Think of it as a transfusion,” Trey joked, holding me close as he lifted his wrist to my lips. “The sooner you do this, the sooner we can finish our job and go let those boys know they are safe.”
He was right. Sighing, I opened my mouth, allowing my fangs to lengthen. He pressed his wrist more snuggly to my lips, and I sank my teeth into his skin.