Blessed by a Demon’s Mark by E. S. Moore Page A

leave them there when I was the one who’d drawn attention to our little confrontation.
    I was barely a step out from behind the van when something very large and very angry came flying over the van. It smashed into my motorcycle, and the crash of my Honda hitting the pavement as they both tipped over sent my teeth to grinding.
    “Goddamn it,” I said. I raised my gun and shot the werewolf in the back of the head while he was still trying to untangle himself from the wreckage.
    He dropped instantly and I turned my attention to what was approaching.
    There were at least a dozen of them. The wolves were already shifted and were approaching much faster than the vampires behind them. Someone in the back was carrying a shotgun.
    “In the name of Count Mephisto, lay down your weapons and surrender yourselves.” One of the vampires in the back spoke, his voice lofty and self-important. He didn’t look to be overly concerned that I’d just killed one of the wolves.
    “Get out of here,” Lefty snarled to me. “You aren’t any good to Adrian in the hands of Mephisto.”
    “And you’ll be no good to him dead.”
    He gave me a long, hard look before he nodded once. We turned to the oncoming army.
    There were five wolves in the party, as well as five vamps behind them. The other two in the back appeared to be Purebloods, but I couldn’t be sure. One was carrying the shotgun. The other looked unarmed, but with the confident way he held himself, I was pretty sure he had a weapon hidden away somewhere.
    The wolves stopped a good ten feet back. The vamps held their ground behind them, waiting for us to either surrender or make the first move. They knew they had us. Even if I started firing right away, there were too many of them for me to get them all before they’d be on us.
    “We’ll just be leaving,” I said, faking a smile. “We just had a little lover’s spat. It’s all cleared up now.”
    One of the vampires in the back smirked. “I don’t think so,” he said. “Firing a weapon on Mephisto’s property is against regulation 436.” He looked me up and down. “We must confiscate the weapons and take you back with us so you can be properly interrogated.”
    A wolf growled, causing the rest to follow suit.
    “Oh, fuck this,” I said, raising my gun and firing.
    I’d been aiming for the vamp who last spoke, but just as I moved my arm, all five of the wolves straightened. The one in front of the vamp I was aiming for took the bullet and he dropped, shuddering from the silver bullet lodged in his chest.
    The other four wolves didn’t hesitate. They charged forward, dropping to all fours to increase their speed. They were on the twins so fast, I didn’t get a chance to fire another shot before the melee began.
    The vamps held back, but spread out so I couldn’t drop them in a couple of quick shots, and the Purebloods behind them moved to hide behind cars.
    I had to think fast. The twins weren’t going to hold their own against the wolves, but I knew if I left the vamps alone, they’d find a way to get to me while I was distracted by the wolves.
    I growled deep in my throat, frustrated that I had to make the decision.
    I drew my sword as I fired two quick shots. One took a wolf fighting Righty in the head; the other nicked Lefty’s shoulder and flew off harmlessly. He howled in pain and glared over his shoulder at me. I shrugged and mouthed an “oops” before turning my attention back to the enemy.
    Righty had fallen and struggled back to his feet. His cowboy hat was somehow still on his head despite the wind and the fight. He started to say something, but before he could say much more than “Th,” a loud blast took his head clean off his neck.
    I immediately fired. The Pureblood had made the mistake of watching the results of his shotgun blast and my bullet took out his eye.
    The vamps, apparently having seen enough, charged. I managed one shot, which went wide, before two of them were on me. They each had