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EDEN RODE THROUGH THE Vampire District in a carriage, searching for Bas. Low-grade panic was beginning to rise inside her at her failure to find him. The niggling sensation from the spell was growing worse by the hour as she failed to fulfil her mission. She was worried that Lord Kreaton would run out of patience soon. When he did, he would summon her to his house to explain her ineptness. The Immortal Triumvirate didn’t accept excuses. He wouldn’t care that the Vampire District was so large and sprawling. He’d given her an order and he would expect her to succeed.
The assassin had known it was going to be difficult to find Bas without his address. She’d asked the skeletons who had been driving her around to take her to his house, but they’d just shrugged at her as if they didn’t know who she was talking about. She’d been riding around in random patterns, scouring the District in the hope of stumbling across him. She knew he spent at least part of his time in the other Districts, but he had to come home eventually.
Another carriage approached as they came to a crossroads. Eden’s vehicle paused to let the other one pass. Her door was yanked open before her driver could take off again. Distracted by the increasingly insistent spell to kill her target, she didn’t react to the threat fast enough. Hands reached for her and the succubus was dragged out of the carriage. One hand covered her mouth when she tried to scream. Her captors rushed her several blocks away and entered one of the decrepit, empty buildings.
Eden saw thin, malnourished faces and wild eyes as four famished fledglings fell on her. Her training took over and her hands became a blur of motion. One of the vamps squealed when she jammed her fingers into his eyes. Another one screeched when her nose was broken by the assassin’s fist. A third bellowed in agony when she kneed him in the groin. The fourth one tore her coat off, then bit her on the shoulder from behind. He pinned one arm to her side to hold her still.
When Bas had bitten her, Eden had felt only pleasure. This bite was the opposite and caused searing pain. She hissed out a swearword and clawed her purse open. She grabbed the silver dagger that was stashed inside and thrust it over her shoulder, stabbing the leech in the cheek. His shriek of pain was muffled by her flesh. He was wounded, but he didn’t let go. Steam rose from his injury and her blood dribbled from her wound to stain her light blue dress.
The other three fledglings recovered from their wounds and went on the attack again. Eden repeatedly stabbed the bloodsucker who was biting her until he let go with a gurgle. She spun around and her head snapped back when a fist connected with her face. She shook off the momentary pain, glad her healing capabilities were faster than normal. The wound on her shoulder was already closing.
Her dagger was a pitiful weapon to use against four desperate foes, but she was highly trained in combat. They were too weak to use their innate vampiric speed, so they didn’t have an advantage over her. Even a small cut from a silver blade caused agony to vampires. The guy she’d stabbed repeatedly staggered away with steam rising from the slices. Not even the blood he’d ingested from her was enough to heal him. He’d wisely chosen to flee from the fight, but the other three hadn’t had a taste of her yet. They were determined to drain her dry.
Eden’s mind cleared and she forgot about her personal problems as she fought to stay alive. The smell of blood and the sound of battle drew more starving leeches to the building. The assassin stabbed two of her original attackers through the heart, killing them instantly, but more took their place. She was backed into a corner and had no way out. Bloodsuckers surrounded her and she knew she was outmatched. Her succubus magic didn’t work against their kind. She couldn’t bewitch her way out of her predicament.
One of the vamps lunged at her and she stabbed her in the eye. It popped and the leech screeched and reeled away, knocking two of her friends aside. Eden stabbed her in the back, but her dagger wasn’t long enough to reach her opponent’s heart. Another vampire latched onto her arm and bit down, but the succubus sliced the back of his neck, severing his spine. He dropped to the ground, unable to move, but his wound would heal soon enough.
Sweat trickled down Eden’s face as she fought off the vicious pack of bloodsuckers. She was bitten multiple times and felt herself weakening. An excited babble sounded from the doorway, then a fresh batch of leeches spilled into the building. Despair flooded through the assassin. Sorcha would have been able to teleport herself to safety, but Eden didn’t have that ability. She was doomed and not even her training was going to be enough to save her.
As she fought off the fledglings, she vaguely sensed the target Lord Kreaton had sent her to kill. The mark was drawing closer by the second and seemed to be heading straight for her. In a twist of irony, it seemed the tables were finally going to be turned on her. Her target was about to drain her to death, if the lesser leeches didn’t beat him to it.
Her momentary distraction gave the fledglings the opening they were looking for. One of them yanked the silver dagger out of her hand and tossed it aside. The leather handle had saved him from being burned. Seeing the despair on their prey’s face, they hissed in triumph, then converged on her.
Eden was taken down to the cold, hard floor. She screamed in rage and pain when fangs tore into her flesh. Gross sucking noises filled her ears as the link to her target became so strong that he had to be only yards away. Her strength began to fade as her blood was siphoned from her body. She went limp and started to lose consciousness, but roused slightly when she heard a roar of rage. She opened her eyes a sliver to see a cloaked vampire tossing fledglings around like toys, then her eyelids fluttered shut again.
The fangs that were biting her were torn away, then strong hands closed around her shoulders. She was glad she passed out before her mark could finish the job the ravenous lesser vamps had started.
