exactly earned any points with that comment. “And
I always assumed vamps had the good sense to run while they could.” He lifted
his crossbow fluidly, finger squeezing the trigger before it was even level.
The slim, pointy piece of wood tore
free of its resting place, aimed straight for Seth’s heart.
Seth dashed to the side and
forward, spinning around the Slayer until he had the other man’s trigger wrist
in his hand. The wooden arrow buried itself in the dirt well beyond where Seth
had been standing a full second later.
Tightening his grip pointedly over
the Slayer’s wrist, Seth said, “I’ll give you one warning: don’t push your
luck. I won’t bother you without reason, but if you come after me rest assured
I will fight back.”
“Burn in Hell, fang,”
the Slayer spat, reaching behind his lightweight coat for something that
smelled suspiciously wooden.
Seth wasn’t particularly surprised
by his response, and he felt only a twinge of remorse as he tightened his grip
enough to snap the man’s wrist. It was a clean break, but it would slow him
down. All he wanted was time to get away.
The Slayer cried out, cursing, and
dropped his crossbow. He spun in, toward Seth, and tried valiantly to stab him
with the stake in his other hand, but Seth moved back and the stake sliced
through air.
“This is your warning,” Seth
reminded him, holding the Slayer’s angry gaze with one of his own for a long
moment before dashing out of sight. And all the way back to his car he was
cursing himself. It had been sloppy to let the human sneak up on him. Not to
mention having a Slayer prowling the city was going to make his life a lot more
complicated.
He could only hope this didn’t
somehow come back on Veronica.
****
Veronica and Allison stepped out of
the karaoke bar near eleven o’clock on Tuesday night, laughing. “Oh my god,”
Allison gasped, a big smile splitting her perfectly-tanned cheeks and lighting
her hazel eyes, “I can’t believe I never did that before!”
“Neither can I .
How did I ever let you get away with bailing on all those college-karaoke
nights?” Veronica teased, walking half a step ahead of her friend as they
rounded the first corner between them and the public parking lot. The bar had
its own parking, of course, but it was sparse and had been full when they
arrived, so they’d been forced to park in the metered lot across the street and
down a block.
“I was definitely missing out,”
Allison agreed. “But thank you for not giving me the chance to maintain my
ignorance.”
Veronica rolled her eyes at her
friend’s choice of words, saying, “You’re welcome, Ali. And I really am sorry
about missing your party.”
Allison shook her head, smile still
curving her lips, and replied, “Don’t be. This way I sort of got two parties!”
“You make a good point,” Veronica
decided, turning enough to grin over at her friend. “So you’ve sort of made up
for skipping last year, but don’t use this as an excuse to skip next year, got
that?”
Allison gasped dramatically, coming
to a stop and holding a hand over her heart, exclaiming, “Bite your tongue! I
would never do such a thing!”
Veronica was stopped as well, and
she lifted her loosely-curled fists to her hips as she prepared to mock-lecture
her friend, but her comeback was interrupted by a distantly-familiar male
voice.
“Veronica Wyndham.”
The girls’ laughter died in their
throats at the heavy tone and both turned their attention forward, to the man
who had just stepped up in front of them. He was only a couple of inches over
Veronica’s five-six, appeared to be in his mid-to-late-thirties, and had
thinning brown hair. But none of these were the details that jumped out at
Veronica, whose eyes widened almost as soon as they’d landed on him. She’d seen
him before—at the park on Saturday. He was one of the Wilson brothers—the one
the other two had been talking to.
Allison stepped properly up
I always assumed vamps had the good sense to run while they could.” He lifted
his crossbow fluidly, finger squeezing the trigger before it was even level.
The slim, pointy piece of wood tore
free of its resting place, aimed straight for Seth’s heart.
Seth dashed to the side and
forward, spinning around the Slayer until he had the other man’s trigger wrist
in his hand. The wooden arrow buried itself in the dirt well beyond where Seth
had been standing a full second later.
Tightening his grip pointedly over
the Slayer’s wrist, Seth said, “I’ll give you one warning: don’t push your
luck. I won’t bother you without reason, but if you come after me rest assured
I will fight back.”
“Burn in Hell, fang,”
the Slayer spat, reaching behind his lightweight coat for something that
smelled suspiciously wooden.
Seth wasn’t particularly surprised
by his response, and he felt only a twinge of remorse as he tightened his grip
enough to snap the man’s wrist. It was a clean break, but it would slow him
down. All he wanted was time to get away.
The Slayer cried out, cursing, and
dropped his crossbow. He spun in, toward Seth, and tried valiantly to stab him
with the stake in his other hand, but Seth moved back and the stake sliced
through air.
“This is your warning,” Seth
reminded him, holding the Slayer’s angry gaze with one of his own for a long
moment before dashing out of sight. And all the way back to his car he was
cursing himself. It had been sloppy to let the human sneak up on him. Not to
mention having a Slayer prowling the city was going to make his life a lot more
complicated.
He could only hope this didn’t
somehow come back on Veronica.
****
Veronica and Allison stepped out of
the karaoke bar near eleven o’clock on Tuesday night, laughing. “Oh my god,”
Allison gasped, a big smile splitting her perfectly-tanned cheeks and lighting
her hazel eyes, “I can’t believe I never did that before!”
“Neither can I .
How did I ever let you get away with bailing on all those college-karaoke
nights?” Veronica teased, walking half a step ahead of her friend as they
rounded the first corner between them and the public parking lot. The bar had
its own parking, of course, but it was sparse and had been full when they
arrived, so they’d been forced to park in the metered lot across the street and
down a block.
“I was definitely missing out,”
Allison agreed. “But thank you for not giving me the chance to maintain my
ignorance.”
Veronica rolled her eyes at her
friend’s choice of words, saying, “You’re welcome, Ali. And I really am sorry
about missing your party.”
Allison shook her head, smile still
curving her lips, and replied, “Don’t be. This way I sort of got two parties!”
“You make a good point,” Veronica
decided, turning enough to grin over at her friend. “So you’ve sort of made up
for skipping last year, but don’t use this as an excuse to skip next year, got
that?”
Allison gasped dramatically, coming
to a stop and holding a hand over her heart, exclaiming, “Bite your tongue! I
would never do such a thing!”
Veronica was stopped as well, and
she lifted her loosely-curled fists to her hips as she prepared to mock-lecture
her friend, but her comeback was interrupted by a distantly-familiar male
voice.
“Veronica Wyndham.”
The girls’ laughter died in their
throats at the heavy tone and both turned their attention forward, to the man
who had just stepped up in front of them. He was only a couple of inches over
Veronica’s five-six, appeared to be in his mid-to-late-thirties, and had
thinning brown hair. But none of these were the details that jumped out at
Veronica, whose eyes widened almost as soon as they’d landed on him. She’d seen
him before—at the park on Saturday. He was one of the Wilson brothers—the one
the other two had been talking to.
Allison stepped properly up
Similar Books
