Shadows moved. Coalesced. Moss’s mind dizzied, watching that mouth dip to his throat. He tried to pull up his hands to protect himself. To lash out. But dull teeth bit into his wrists. Heavy bodies held him down.
Part of the wolf head disappeared into grays and blacks. Air swirled around them, thick and earthy. A knife came out of nowhere. It slashed down, without a hand attached. The blade pierced the wolf in the neck, sinking in deep.
The beast cried out and spun, snapping its jaws at the unseen attacker. A foot swung out of the unnatural mist, catching the newly dying wolf in the side and propelling it out of the fight.
A woman stepped out of the shadow, decked in tight black clothes and with a new splatter of blood on her heavy black boots.
“Six against one is not a fair fight,” she said in a feminine hum with a smile on her beautiful face. “I think the vampire needs fresh blood in this battle.” She winked at him, her version of humor.
She bent, the knife striking out, her movements lithe and graceful. Oh so lethal. Her knife dug into a furry body before she yanked sideways cutting off the howl of pain. Her face showed no emotion as she moved to the next, diving away from snapping jaws, rolling, and popping up without so much as a grunt. A bow came out of nowhere, an arrow nocked in a moment, before loosing at a wolf running into the scene. A fletching blossomed red in gray fur before the wolf staggered and died where it stood, the shot perfect.
Without skipping a beat, she slashed her knife to the side, opening a throat, then switched stance and kicked out, dislodging a jaw.
Moss blinked in utter confusion, not having seen many non-vampires fight with the ruthlessness of this woman, and never seeing such a beautiful, graceful dance when they did.
“You like when your women do all the work, yes?” The woman gave him a smile before she stowed the bow out of sight and slipped her knife back into the sheath, the movements fast, practiced and elegant, easily disguised from prying eyes with her magic. She grabbed the wolf chewing into his side and threw it. It landed on its back before scrambling to its feet.
The woman uncoiled to standing, a grin on her face, murder in her eyes.
Three wolves waited in the clearing with their heads lowered and lips pulled back from their teeth. They stared at her from wary, yellow eyes. Bloody bodies law strewn around the dirt, Moss’s being one of them. He was the only downed creature still alive.
The woman whistled, like she was calling a pet. “Here Fido. Heeere Fido. Mommy has a treat for you.” She whistled again and put out her hand like she was offering that treat. “Here boy.”
Despite the situation, and his severe lack of energy, Moss couldn’t help but smile. He liked her style.
One of the wolves took a step forward and its body braced. Moss rose to sitting, fatigue dragging at his muscles and hunger churning his stomach.
The wolf paused, its head swinging his direction. The others started backing up.
“Even nearly dead, you give them pause,” the druid said, approval in her voice.
“I am fully dead,” Moss said, struggling to standing. “Which is why I heal quickly.”
The wolf furthest away turned and loped off into the trees. A moment later, the rest followed.
“They’ll get reinforcements.” Moss staggered and reached for his pocket, needing to call Darius.
“Wait here. I’ll be back,” the druid said. Shadow formed, clouding his mind and draping across her body. A moment later, she was gone—her body, her smell, her sound, everything.
He blinked at the empty space. He’d seen the effect before, but every time, it left him befuddled.
Or maybe he just needed to feed.
“Hungry,” he heard in a weak mew.
Legs protesting, body strung out, Moss moved to the untouched human-in-transition, knowing the shifters had intended to bring him down before moving on to her. They wouldn’t have let her live. She couldn’t be salvaged at this point. Either she got the necessary blood and became a vampire, or she withered away into nothing. She was an easy kill for the shifters—entirely vulnerable. She’d be dead now if it wasn’t for the druid. They both would.
Of course, she’d be well on her way to becoming a vampire if it wasn’t for the Druid, too…
Claws morphing back into badly shaking hands, he crouched by the woman while tapping Darius’s name on his screen. The sweet scent of her body called to him, driving him to his knees. The world tilted as she reached forward and ran a firm hand up the inside of his thigh.
“Please,” she whispered. “Hungry…”
The world spun, his answering hunger blotting out thought. The phone fell from his hand and he pitched forward, fangs once again filling his mouth. He slid his body along hers, moaning when she dropped her knees wide to accept him. He grazed his lips along her neck, sucking in the scent of her. The exquisite desire.
“Oops. Probably a bad idea just now…”
That soft, sultry voice of the druid rolled heat through him. He wanted them both, at the same time.
The druid stood beside him with his phone to her ear and a nondescript plastic bag held in her other fist.
“I’ve mostly disguised your trail,” she said, “but shifters have a great sense of smell. I can’t hide yours and the girl’s like I can hide my own. So we need to get out of here, I’m afraid.” She turned her attention to the phone. “Yes, hello—vampire call center? I’d like to order a pick-up.”
Soft lips created a trail of heat along Moss’s neck. A blue vein pulsed under the human-in-transition’s creamy skin, inviting him.
A long howl drifted behind the druid speaking on the phone, giving coordinates. Another answered it, the wolves re-organizing.
“Who’s up for a jog?” the woman asked.
A hand fisted against his back before his body was yanked from the human-in-transition. He hit the dirt and rolled, rising with a hiss.
“Wow. You’re beastly. I’ve never seen a vampire as old as you reduced to this untamed sort of creature. You guys are usually so…glossy. Refined. I rather like this change. ” The druid grinned at him as she picked up the mewling human-in-transition. “I wonder if you’ll rip into your victim’s skin? Because that could be interesting. I do love violent sex. It’s thrilling. Just don’t change into your other form before I fuck you. It’s hideous. It’ll be a deal breaker. Come on.” She jerked her head before throwing Felicia over her shoulder. “Let’s get moving. We need to get you out of here before you lose the plot entirely.”
She turned and started to jog.
“What a fun experience,” he heard her mutter. “I had no idea what I’d land in when I started this contract. Pure stroke of luck.”
The druid was right, he was far gone. Hungry beyond rational thought. He needed to be closed away from society until he’d properly fed and fucked his way back to level.
He barely remembered the jog to the small coastal road, and definitely didn’t remember the car ride where the human had been unceremoniously dumped in the back of the vehicle and he’d sat in the middle seat alone, doing everything in his power not to rush one of the two viable blood sources in the car.
They landed back at a moderately sized house on the outskirts of the small coastal town, a place of refuge on the route between San Francisco to Los Angeles. Besides the generic remodel done a few years prior, it had largely been left as is, nothing more than a daytime sanctuary and place to safely feed.
“Instead of dining in, you took your food to go?” Marie, a middle-level vampire Moss had worked with a lot lately, said as she pulled into the barren garage. She hit the button to lower the door. “And you got one for me? How thoughtful. Which is mine, Moss? The desperate human, or the silky woman with dangerous eyes?”
“If you don’t have a dong, you do not belong, love,” the druid said with a laugh, exiting the vehicle. “I want the male lost to blood lust.”