Maybe he’d buy my desperate gamble.
“Hm. And here I thought I knew every vampire family there was.”
“We’re relatively new. You probably haven’t heard of us yet.”
I edged sideways along the wall, cursing inwardly when he slid along with me.
He regarded me as a predator does its prey, like he was wondering how I would taste, like he was enjoying the hunt. I wasn’t fooling anyone, but I had to try.
“It’s funny that I don’t remember. I’m sure a name like Starett would have caused some gossip when they petitioned for recognition as their own clan.”
“Perhaps it did and it just never reached you.”
His eyes seemed to darken, the colors shifting. I glanced away, not wanting to get caught and mesmerized like last time. I didn’t know if that’s how the mesmerizing worked but it seemed as good a guess as any.
“That would be very difficult as I make a habit of keeping tabs on every upstart clan.”
Okay. Sounded like this guy took intelligence gathering rather seriously.
I shrugged at him. “I don’t know what to tell you. Maybe your tabs keeping isn’t as good as you thought.”
Yes, let’s insult the lethal vampire who is capable of upending my entire world. That is a brilliant plan.
He smiled at me. It did not engender feelings of relief, reminding me instead of a dragon smiling at its next meal. This smile said its owner was a slightly deranged psychopath willing to swallow whole anything that got in his way.
He reached out, grabbing me by the back of my neck, not even noticing my puny punches as they bounced off his chest. A feather could have been fluttering against him for all the attention he gave my struggles.
He held me still as he leaned close, running his nose along my neck and sniffing. I stayed motionless, wanting to see how this played out before I did anything. He was stronger than me, but I had a few tricks up my sleeve that might even the playing field.
“Is there a reason you’re smelling me?” I asked in the voice I used to use when trying to make a private feel about two inches tall.
“You’re lying to me. I thought to cut through your deceptions to the source of the matter.” He raised his head, looking at me with penetrating eyes. “I don’t recognize any of the scents clinging to your skin. I’ll need to take blood to get a better picture.”
The captain had warned me about letting a vampire take my blood again. He said anybody would be able to tell immediately that I was unclaimed. In rare cases, it might even give them some small claim on me, enabling them to track or compel me.
“I do not give my permission for this,” I said. I didn’t know if that would work as it hadn’t sounded like he was asking permission.
He smiled, showing the tip of one fang. “I don’t remember asking.”
Yep. That’s what I thought. Arrogant asshole.
Several things happened simultaneously after that. He bent to my neck as I palmed one of the slim, silver blades hidden in my belt. He held me too closely for a heart blow under his ribcage, and his ribs protected many of his vital organs. That left back or neck.
I buried the blade as deep as I could in his back, praying I hit something important enough to slow him down and then twisted the blade.
A snarl of rage greeted my efforts. I flew through the air and crashed into the kitchen island. Something cracked in my back when I hit. The granite countertop crumbled under the force, spilling me to the ground in a bloody, broken mess.
Pain consumed my being, making it hard to breathe. Blood bubbled out of my mouth. A rib had probably punctured the lung. What worried me more was the hideous agony in my lower back and the crack I’d heard. I didn’t think even my accelerated regeneration would be able to fix this. Looked like I wouldn’t owe that sorcerer any time, after all.
A silver blade clattered on to the tile next to me.
Boots came to stand beside my head and a pair of blue eyes glared into mine. “That was unwise.”
Yeah. I’d gotten that message.
He gave me a confused look. “What is taking so long? Fix yourself.”
Would love to but I didn’t think this was something I could fix. Maybe the sorcerer could. Did sorcerers have the ability to heal? That would be such a cool super power, much better than an addiction to blood and an allergy to sunlight.
