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Dressed in my workout clothes, I stood in front of the wall of windows of my apartment and looked out at the city with a steaming cup of coffee in my hand. The sun was retreating now, leaving its final mark with an orange and pink hue on the top of the Rocky Mountains. The midnight-blue sky above began to twinkle with stars and the fat moon was a translucent fixture against its backdrop.
After Evan had dropped me off earlier, I took a long, steamy shower and did some thinking while the hot water and soap washed away the wolf stink.
I knew Evan was right. The thought of having to leave Colorado—to leave the only home I’d ever known—was daunting. What would I do? Where would I go? Would I be alone? The thought terrified me, and I tried to think of other things. I would deal with that when it came. Hell, maybe I wouldn’t have to. Maybe I would be like a regular wolf and just age slower than a human, but not be immortal like Evan said he thought he was. There was no way for me to tell at this point. I thought about Kellan and wondered how many times he’d had to move.
After the shower, I went online and ordered some colorful plastic plates and cups, paying for two-day shipping so I’d have something to eat off of quickly. I then swept and mopped my kitchen floor, since I had found I still had tiny sharp pieces hiding in the corners. Once the kitchen was spotless, I picked up around the apartment and got some clothes together to do laundry later in the basement.
I grabbed my laptop and sat on my sofa to clear out all the emails I was sure I had.
I had a couple from my mom, asking how I’d been. I needed to get over there to see her and Dad soon. I missed them and knew I owed them an update. Then I realized Memorial Day was coming, and I was sure Mom would have a big summer kickoff party like she did every year.
I was almost done clearing out emails when my phone chimed. I picked it up to see a text from Evan:
Our newest target: Fiona McGrann. Human age: 30. Vampire Age: 99. Runs the Lisque Club downtown along with her partner. I’ve gotten some intel that she was the one who put those vamps up in that office building Alexander and friends had been holed up in.
Attached to the message was a photo of a pretty brunette with dark hair, full lips, and flawless olive skin. The pic appeared to be from a color surveillance camera, but her features were easy enough to identify.
As I was staring at the photo, another text from him buzzed my phone: We’ll discuss tonight and possibly visit the club.
I smiled at the message, and then closed the laptop, deciding I needed to lie down for a while so I could be ready for my training tonight.
It was strange, the amount of sleep I required these days, but even after the nap I’d taken in the cage the night before, I had slept the afternoon away, and when I woke, I’d felt great. Training wasn’t until eleven p.m., though, so I had a few hours to kill.
I grabbed my phone, keys, and purse from the table, and left my apartment.
It hadn’t taken me long to reach the office building in my little car. I parked in the lot and looked up at it. It didn’t seem to be very busy. The last time I’d been here, vampires had been using the third floor to camp out during the day. At night, some of them stayed, and others left to feed, I assumed, or do God knows what. Probably work in that club Evan said this Fiona chick owned. But now, the whole building was just dark. I had to wonder if our confrontation with Alexander in the lobby had scared them off.
I laughed to myself. That had to be it.
Despite my conclusions about the deserted feel of the building, I still decided I was going to check out the inside for no particular reason other than I was just curious. If there were any more vampires there, I would confront them; see if there were any that needed putting down. I ensured my dagger was strapped to the thigh of my black spandex pants, then grabbed the flashlight from my glovebox, and set off to the back door of the building. I tried the handle and it wasn’t even locked... that was not a good sign.
I evened out my breath and pulled the door open, and it made an eerie creaking noise. A stone stairwell greeted me, and I stood still a few seconds, letting my eyes adjust to the darkness before I climbed it.
I exited the stairwell and carefully opened the door leading to the lobby. I poked my head in, but couldn’t see a living soul. No security guards, no lighted lobby desk, nothing but silence.
Strange, I thought.
Retreating back into the stairwell, I knew I should check on the third level where Alexander and the other vamps had been camping out. I sprinted up the stairs, and when I reached the third level, I repeated the protocol of opening the big, metal door with the “3” painted on it. I peered inside. It, like the rest of the building, was dark and quiet. With my superior eyesight, I did not see any beings camped out on the floor or in the abandoned desk cubicles. It was just cold, dark, and empty, the only light from the orange streetlamps and surrounding buildings. Seemed like it should be a perfect environment for a group of vampires to hide out in.
But... it was nighttime. The darkness, protection, and safety of the night had descended, and really, they had no reason to be holed up here now. Perhaps they were just out? I pulled the flashlight from my jacket pocket and clicked it on.
If I was a smart blonde instead of a dumb one, I’d come here during daylight hours and see if I could catch one or all of them. And once I caught them, I would... what? Kill them? Interrogate them? I wasn’t sure, but I did know that since Alexander had been such an irresponsible supernatural, part of me feared that there were others like him. Poorly trained and unsupervised while being new, and endangering humans. I was still pissed off at his dead ass for causing the death of his own damn child.
Deciding I was being silly and irrational, I sighed as I slid the dagger into my thigh holster and walked to the elevator. Obviously, the vamps who had once squatted in here had moved on, and I was just hunting ghosts.
I punched the button, and the elevator door opened with a ding, and as it did, I realized that I should probably take the stairs down. Elevators were dangerous—you’re trapped with nowhere to go for an unknown amount of time, so they should be avoided. I shook my head at my lazy foolishness, and turned to make my way to the stairwell.
I twisted the handle to enter the stairwell, and swung the door open. As I made my way to the first step, my foot never reached it, as something hard slammed into my back and I found myself falling over and over down the concrete steps.
I ended up in a heap on the landing, my lungs burning as I tried to draw in breath. I didn’t have time to do that, though, because pain exploded on the back of my head as it slammed onto the ground. With my eyes wide with fear and rage, instinctively grabbed for my dagger in its thigh holster.
Sitting on my chest was a terrifyingly beautiful female, her long, dark hair covering half her face as she smiled down at me. She had on a leather motorcycle jacket with a patch of some kind on the sleeve. The irises of her eyes were red, and they reminded me of the priest I had visited at St. Matthew’s church right after he’d blessed my dagger. But his had only flashed red. This creature’s eyes seemed to be permanently crimson.
“You and your friends have been snooping around my lair, haven’t you?” she said, sneering down at me with her fangs poking out.
Struggling for breath, I narrowed my eyes at this crazy vampire. “Lair? Seriously?” I attempted to laugh. “You’re...” I tried to draw in air, and tried to buck my hips to get her off me. It didn’t work. I was attempting to tell her I knew who she was. I knew she was Fiona McGrann, my latest target. “Thank you...” I sucked in a breath. “For turning yourself in—”
She laughed in my face and slammed her hips down, causing the rest of my breath to leave me. “What were you saying, wolf-bitch?”
Stars began to dance in my vision, and I knew I had seconds before I passed out. I reached for the dagger again, but her thigh blocked me from doing so. I cursed myself for having put the weapon away to begin with.
“Kellan, please help...”
I had no idea if he could hear me, but I knew once I passed out, I would be done for. The vampire lifted her razor-sharp claws, which I realized were nothing more than a fancy black-painted stiletto-shaped manicure. But they were definitely as sharp as they looked as she dragged one down my cheek. I screamed as I could feel the hot sting of blood pool on my face where she was leaving a mark.
I remembered a video they had shown us in high school about what do it if you were attacked by a rapist. They actually suggested vomiting if you could, as that would definitely surprise the attacker and would give you enough time to run. I didn’t think I could without putting my finger into my throat, and in all honesty, I hadn’t vomited in this form since before the wolf curse was triggered, so that could be tricky. But... some loud gagging noises probably wouldn’t hurt.
I concentrated on the pain in my face as she continued to talk. “Where’s Alex, huh? He’s mine. I know you want him. I heard you and your Scooby gang came here looking for him.” She laughed at her stupid joke.
I began to cough and then make loud, exaggerated gagging noises.
Her face turned serious and she eased up off me just enough for me to draw a big breath and cough some more.
“What the hell are you doing?” she asked, staring at me in horror.
I made louder gagging noises. “Oh, God, I’m gonna puke,” I said dramatically.
She lifted up further off of me, but not all the way, and then fisted a handful of my ponytail. “I know who you are, Ayla St. John. You’re gonna tell me where Alex is, or else I’m going to torture it out of you.”
I ignored that pain and realized I could get to my dagger. I pushed my hand under her thigh and slid it out of its holster. Lightning fast, I slammed it into her leg and she screamed so loud my ears rang.
I bucked her off and went to grab the dagger, but she snatched my hand that was around the hilt and used it to pull it out herself. She still had hold of my hair so I slapped her across the face as hard as I could.
She wanted to pull hair like this was some kind of cat-fight? Then I was gonna slap a bitch.
“You little cunt,” she seethed. “I’m gonna kill you.”
I laughed at her. “Okay, well you had your chance. Give me my fucking knife.”
She let go of my hair and used her other hand to begin to twist my right hand that had the dagger. It was now free of her leg, a big red spot beginning to blossom over the light-blue denim of her thigh, but she seemed impervious to the injury—probably because it was already healing. I knew from the information Evan had sent me that she was about a hundred years old and probably had super-healing.
The pain was getting worse in my hand. She was using both hers to twist my wrist and I realized it was about to break. I pushed against her, resisting her. I was right-handed and if she broke it, I would be screwed.
“Kellan, please... I’m in the office building where Alexander was. Beckett knows the place... please...”
He never replied, so I was sure he couldn’t hear me.
I cried out as the bones in my wrist began to make cracking sounds.
“Get your filthy hands off me, you bitch!” I yelled into her face and then gritted my teeth.
When my wrist finally snapped, Fiona smiled, but I screamed out and dropped the dagger. Before she could grab it, though, I immediately rolled onto my right side and she fell backward. I was now covering the dagger with my body, my wrist exploding with pain as I lay on it. She grabbed my ponytail and used it to lift me off the ground. With her fangs bared, she wrenched my head to the side and stared at the rapidly beating carotid in my neck.
“Don’t even think about biting me, you nasty leech!” I growled.
Besides the pain, I was angry. I could feel my blood heating up, and it felt like I was going to change. My eyes began to turn yellow, and I knew this because my vision changed. It was always somewhat sharper with a strange reddish hue around the edges when I was the wolf-girl. My adversary went wide-eyed briefly, but then just started to laugh. She reached up and backhanded me across the face so hard, I saw stars float behind my eyelids. But I didn’t fall down because she still had hold of my hair.
“Put your filthy wolf away, we’re not playing these games, whore. Tell me where Alexander is and maybe I’ll leave you with only a broken hand.”
That pissed me off. Being hit in the face or hit in the head, for whatever reason, always caused an instantaneous rage to burn through me. I was cradling my broken wrist and willing it to heal while I decided how I would reach my dagger on the ground. I needed to stall.
“Let go of my fucking hair and I’ll tell you where he is. You have got to be the worst interrogator ever,” I said, laughing through my pain. I felt a warm trickle on my mouth and I darted my tongue out to swipe away the blood on my cheek without breaking eye contact.
She tightened her grip on my hair. “No.”
“You need to let go. It’s making me very angry, which is bringing out the wolf. Do you want to get bit by my wolf? Because I promise you, it won’t be pleasant. You might turn into hybrid freak. You’d like that, wouldn’t you?”
She narrowed her eyes at me and chuckled, but her stare remained red and cold. “You think I’d let you bite me? You really are one stupid little girl, aren’t you?”
Risking practically having my hair ripped out, I decided I’d had enough of this lady. I raised my leg, and with my boot, I kicked her right in her lady parts as hard as I could. She screeched as she let go of my ponytail, and I squealed in joy. I ducked quickly before she could swing at me and snatched the bloodied dagger from the concrete with my left hand.
She was too fast, though, because in a blur, she tackled me and we now found ourselves in the same position we’d been in just a couple short minutes earlier. I was on my back, and she was straddling me. With a face filled with rage, and her frightening red eyes, she yanked my hair at the temples, as it was already halfway falling out of the elastic tie anyway, and used my hair like handles to slam my head against the concrete floor with each word. “Where. Is. Alex. Von. Brass. You. Stupid. Bitch!” She screamed the last part into my face, and after half a dozen blows to the back of my head, I was fading fast—again.
“He’s dead! I riiiipped his head off slowly and then threw it in the lake.” A crazed expression now masked my face, I was sure. “And you can go to hell and join him, you ugly bitch,” I replied, laughing without humor.
A mask of shock and what almost looked like sadness or grief overtook her face, and I took that opportunity to raise the dagger in my left hand and plunge it into her chest. She screamed and reached for it, managing to pull it out only an inch or two before her face began to pale, then turn gray, and then begin to crumble, along with the rest of her. But I didn’t see any more, as my vision began to blur and then turn black, and then there was nothing.