Accented. Familiar.
I turn, licking the blood from my lips. "Well, well. Look who it is. What a delightful reunion."
The leshy. The smug one who'd burned my flesh, cutting through my armband. Konstantin's eyes burn with fury.
Perfect.
He pulls a gun. I move faster.
It clatters across the floor. Sirens wail in the distance, but this moment is mine. This is what I was made for.
He howls, "You killed my brothers."
"Yeah," I say, rolling my shoulders. "And you're next."
He lunges with a knife. It slams into my side.
I grunt, but grin. Gods, it feels good to let it all out.
I grab his hand still clutching the knife andhelphim pull it out. Then I twist his wrist with a savage jerk and ram the same blade upward into his throat, splitting through cartilage and flesh with ease.
He gurgles once.
Twice.
And then he's just another corpse on the office floor.
"Say hi to your brothers for me," I murmur, watching the light fade from his eyes.
Boots thunder on the stairs.
An elevator dings. They're coming for me.
I pivot toward the stairwell and sprint up. Fast, ruthless. Two men are descending. I don't slow. The knife in my hand glints once before it carves through the first man's chest like butter. He falls. The second barely has time to scream before my teeth tear open his throat.
Human. Could be one of Darius's mercs. Could be some poor bastard who picked the wrong night for overtime.
I don't care.
I climb higher, blood on my boots, screams echoing behind me. Someone fires a shot. It misses. There's not enough of them, not enough bullets to stop me.
The top floor door explodes as I crash through it, the metal flying off its hinges and knocking someone clean unconscious. I step over the body, scanning the office like a beast unleashed.
I wanthim.
But instead…
Her.
Blades drawn, eyes sharp.
"Vampire," she hisses.
"Tree hag," I say, baring my teeth in a bloodstained grin. "How generous of you to come to me."
Darlene narrows her eyes. "Try me."
"Oh, I will," I snarl. "No trees to hide behind now. No little forest friends to do your dirty work. They're bleeding out below, by the way. Might still be twitching."
