“This time o’ year we mostly have just the locals runnin’ the streets,” Rhine says beside me as we walk. There’re three of us on one side of the street, three on the other. I nod and glance at the patrons. Foot traffic has definitely slowed down for the night, and most of the businesses are closed. “Mostly university students,” Rhine says, and shoves his hands into the pockets of his brown leather jacket. He’s wearing a dark blue skully, and it stands stark against his pale skin. “Anything?”
I tune my hearing, keying it to a lower frequency, and I pick up only small bits of animal pulses, baby hiccups, and so many heartbeats it creates a low hum in my ears. I shake my head and look at him. “Nothing out of the ordinary.”
We’re on the streets for another two hours before I see him.
At the far end of the sidewalk, standing against the building. The shadows swallow him, but I can see. I can smell.
It’s Eli.
Beside him, Carrine.
The moment she sees me, she smiles. My eyes drift to Eli, and his gaze collides with mine. He stares at me, and that expression of recognition flashes in his eyes. Carrine moves in front of Eli, presses her body seductively against him, and I notice the muscles flexing at his jaw, and his brow furrowing. He looks angry. Then all expression fades, his gaze clouds, and he widens his stance to accommodate her. His arms go around her waist as they start making out, and his hands grope her buttocks and pull her hard against his crotch. His soft moan rides the breeze and hits me in the gut. We’re walking toward them, and my pace quickens. Rhine’s hand closes over mine, holding me back.
“Don’t,” he warns. “Wait.”
No sooner does he say it than Eli lifts his head and looks directly at me. We’re about fifteen yards away when a young woman rounds the corner close to them. So fast I’m unsure it happens, Carrine grabs the girl by the arm, pressing her between her own body and Eli’s, and when I blink, they’re gone.
The young woman’s heartbeat is racing. That much I can hear.
“Fookin’ A,” Rhine says under his breath, and starts to jog. I fight not to pass him. “So that’s your bloody boyfriend?” he asks.
“Yes,” I answer. “And the female. Carrine.”
As we run, and round the corner, we find it empty except the long shadows stretching across from the buildings. Rhine grabs his cell and makes a call. “At the Eastgate shopping mall. Round the back entrance.” He ends the call and stuffs his cell into his pocket. At the same time, he withdraws a silver blade. The other Ness boys from across the street have joined us.
“Ready?” he asks me, and I nod. “Good. We’ll take the male alive if possible, aye?” he clarifies to the others. “But dinnae endanger yourselves, lads. Us first. Then him.”
Rhine grabs my hand and tugs me toward the alley. “This way.”
Squeezing between two buildings through a narrow cobbled close, we slip through the back of Eastgate and Rhine climbs the first-story fire escape. He glances back at me, still on the ground. I leap up to him. Admiration glints off the streetlight shining in his eyes. “Now?” he asks.
I listen closely; the human’s racing heart is coming from within the mall. “Still alive. In there.”
Rhine leads me up to the roof. I could have climbed and leaped a lot faster, but I would’ve had to just pace waiting on him. We breach the top and he leads us to a single door. It opens under his hand, and we hit the stairwell leading back down and into the mall. I don’t even ask questions as to how he just opened a rooftop door to a public shopping center. I figure he’s got connections.
Inside the building, the human’s heart races wildly. We exit onto the ground floor, and we’re in some old-fashioned-looking market section. High wooden-arched beams peak like a cathedral above our heads. Several shops, their doors closed and locked down, line the walk.
“The Victorian Market,” Rhine offers. “Department stores and food court that way.” He points. “Which way?”
I listen. Footfalls. Faster. Louder.
Just then the young woman comes running from around the corner up ahead. Her heart is floored, and the fright on her face, the sheer terror, drops my own heart to my stomach.
Out of nowhere, a figure flies down and tackles her.
I leap. No thought. No process. Only action.
Vaguely, I notice Rhine and the others hauling ass behind me. And others, around, swarming in. I focus on the woman and just as the male—not Eli, just a rogue—drops his teeth, I lunge and knock him on his back. With my hands around his throat, I spare a quick glare at the woman. “Run. Toward those boys. They’ll help you.”
She simply stares at me, wide-eyed.
“Go!” I yell.
Something flashes in her eyes, and she scrambles up, whimpering, and the last thing I hear are the rubber soles from her hikers squeaking on the tile.
Hoping Rhine and the others deal with her, I turn my attention to the rogue. He’s strong as shit, young. Newblood. His eyes are red, flecked with yellow. His face is fully morphed, and as I hold his mouth away from me, his jaws are snapping like a goddamn rabid dog’s. We struggle, fall backward, and he throws me against the wall. The moment my back hits I lunge back at him as he’s darting away, heading for the running woman. I grab his ankle, yank him down. He’s on top of me again, holding my hands pinned above my head. Drool falls from his jagged teeth and onto my chest.
I focus, stare at his face until it becomes a pinpoint; then I suck in a long breath, and just as his head hurls toward my chest, I explode power. He flies off me and lands against the far wall. He’s up and lunging at me, but now I’ve yanked my silver from my waistband. I thrust it into his heart as he falls against me.
The rogue drops to the floor, quivering.
Done.
“Riley!” Rhine’s voice yells from above me. I glance up. There are Ness boys everywhere. As there are vampires everywhere.
It’s hard at first glance to tell them apart.
At first.
Then they’re all perfectly crystal-clear.
Males. Females. I spot them now, scattered over the mall, hanging from the upper floor, pacing the food court. All young. Void of heartbeats. Void of emotion or compassion. Vampires.
Just like Savannah, when my little brother, Seth, was bitten by Strigoi Valerian Arcos.
Goddamn, I hate that they’re so young. My eyes scan the upper floor of the mall. No sign of Eli or Carrine.
One vampire, a female, lunges directly at me.
Everything happens in slow mo after that.
Somewhere, from a music store, I suspect, Kansas cranks out “Dust in the Wind” over the mall intercom as I take down the female. She’s out of her mind crazy with bloodlust, and I waste no time in ending her swiftly. She falls into a quaking heap at my feet, and I withdraw my blade and wipe it on her coat. Her teeth are still snapping as she begins to disintegrate.
My eyes are everywhere now, and for a brief second or two, I catch Rhine and some of the other Ness boys in action. Rhine fights up close, and he sincerely reminds me of a younger version of Noah. Fights like a mad dog.
The other Ness boys throw, and within ten seconds I notice three vamps are taken out on an air-lifted silver blade. The moment it does the job, the Ness boys retrieve their blades. I catch sight of Pete, who’s joined us. He’s fast.
Just then I see Eli. He catches my eye and disappears around an upstairs turn. I free-run up to the food court, determined to confront him. Or kill Carrine. Preferably that.