Page 44 of Peacemaker

Chapter Fourteen

Something Wrong with the Night

On the way to the city, an image of Rhys floated into my mind.

I’d had a power growth spurt. A big one.

I was ready for the demon.

MaybeI was ready for Rhys.

I felt ready. I felt beyond ready. Probably I was just eager and wanted to be ready.

Thoughts of Rhys helped distract me from my worry for my hunters and the city and even for the captain. He’d gotten angrier over my attachment to my supernats, and his anger was bringing out his inner asshole.

Still, I worried about him.

Frank Crawford had a lot on his shoulders.

I called Shane but got no answer. I hadn’t really expected to. A hunter couldn’t stop in the middle of killing vampires to chat on the phone.

I knew that, but I called Clayton, as well. He didn’t answer either.

“Be okay,” I whispered, and drove faster. There was no traffic, and the night seemed vast and endless.

I called Angus.

“You okay?” he asked.

“I’m almost to the city. I just needed to hear you.” My insides shook, as did my voice. It’d been a long, stressful night, and it wasn’t over yet. Not by a long shot. And I was still carrying around the nagging anxiety I’d picked up earlier.

“I’m right behind you.”

I frowned. “What?”

“I’m not letting you face the city without me. Not tonight.”

“Bay Town needs you.”

He grunted. “You need me, girl.”

“But…”

“I need to be where you are,” he said.

I couldn’t help my relief. It just was.

And then his headlights appeared in my rearview, and my stomach eased. “I see you,” I murmured.

He followed me to the city, and when we parked and left our vehicles, there wasn’t time for anything but fighting. Vampires were everywhere.

No. Rifters were everywhere.

At least it seemed as though they were. In reality, there couldn’t have been more than six or seven of them. But they were huge, fast, and vicious, and in my mind, they were many.

Silverlight was ready for them. I was ready for them. My sword lit up the night sky, and the rifters screamed as I sliced through them like butter. Their screams sounded like laughter.

I needed to find my hunters because there was something wrong with the night.