I could have broken my slayer mask in my frustration, but I was too late.
Brody scooted down the sidewalk, stopping at a street corner where a marked crosswalk stretched across the street. “Shall we cross?” He edged closer to the curb to let a wide-shouldered man I belatedly recognized as a werewolf amble past him.
I watched the werewolf stroll down the sidewalk, away from the bazaar. “Not yet,” I said, suspicion swirling within me.
Considine casually stepped into my personal space, his voice low and soothing. “You have also noticed that’s the third werewolf we’ve seen in an event that was human run and focused.” He stated it, he didn’t ask.
“Yes,” I confirmed. “We should continue down Main Street for a bit.” Glancing at Brody, his stance was casual, but his blue eyes were intense as he watched Considine and me. He nodded, so he must have heard us.
Brody stepped away from the crosswalk and led us farther down the road.
It grew darker since all the closed stores and offices had their lights turned low, and the tinny Christmas music that blared over portable speakers in the bazaar grew quieter.
I nodded to a human couple who waved to us as they climbed into their car and pulled out of their parking space, and the streets grew more abandoned the farther we got from the bazaar.
We walked three more blocks before I saw a shuffling figure pass underneath a streetlight.
I could make out the form—excellent night vision was a slayer power—and recognized the shape.The dwarf with the ornaments.
I opened my mouth to point him out when a growl rippled through the air and werewolves popped out everywhere.
CHAPTER
FOUR
Jade
They emerged from alleyways and jumped out from behind cars. One of them even hopped down from a second-floor fire escape. All of them—eight wolves total—converged on the dwarf.
I burst into a run. “Brody—radio!” I snapped.
It took me five steps to realize I wasn’t alone, and that Considine was matching my pace as he pulled a wicked-looking dagger from a scabbard on his belt. “Kill?” He asked.
“Restrain!” I snapped.
The dwarf shouted in pain.
“Unless we have no other option.” I considered pulling my gun, but this close to the bazaar the humans would hear the shots, so I grabbed one of my daggers.
Behind us, Brody fumbled with the radio before his voice crackled over our speakers. “Team Blood—we’ve got werewolves attacking a dwarf on Main Street!”
We were almost on the werewolves—who were oblivious to us as they focused on the dwarf.
“I go high, you go low?” Considine suggested.
“Agreed.” I held back, letting Considine go first.
He smashed into the outer ring of wolves, grabbing one by the neck. He yanked him off his feet and effortlessly threw him to the ground. Considine cracked the pommel of his dagger into the base of another werewolf’s skull, toppling him. He took the time to redirect the wolf, so he fell on top of his recovering kinsman.
Two down, six left, I counted.
“Going in!” I dropped, my momentum carrying me forward, so I slid through Considine’s legs and popped up in the center of the wolf circle, next to the dwarf.
Trusting Considine to cover my back, I lunged for a werewolf that was attempting to shove a gag in the dwarf’s mouth but was having a hard time between the dwarf’s thrashing, and his bushy beard that made it hard to find his mouth.
A throat strike to the grasping werewolf choked him. I helped him down with a kick to his side.
Three down.
