It felt good, the icy coldness helping to clear the cobwebs from her head. It was a dark night but she wasn't too worried; street lamps and homes lit most of the way, and there was only one small area that crossed the five-mile loop, which didn't have any lights. She walked briskly before the chill could seep through her coat and settle in her bones. She briefly considered teleporting, and then decided against it—too public, even if the area was deserted.
She pressed on. Halfway through it, she was just starting to regret her decision to take on the subzero temperatures and the wind chill, when out of the corner of her eye, Victoria thought she saw a quick movement, and a chill that had nothing to do with the weather ran up her spine.
She walked faster, wrapping her arms around her body, glancing behind her once or twice but seeing nothing out of the ordinary. The hairs on the nape of her neck were at stiff attention, and suddenly she regretted not taking Gabriel up on his offer of a ride. Movement to her left caught her eye again and she froze, her body tense with coiled fear.
It was a man, a short thin man.
A menacing snarl curled from his throat. Before she could think, he sprung toward her with lethal precision. Victoria felt the blood roaring in her ears and summoned her energy, sledge-hammering it toward the man's body. He flew back twenty feet and crashed into the base of a maple tree but was on his feet in seconds snarling hideously.
Victoria's focus sharpened and the blood rushed in her veins, giving her strength and clearing her brain of everything but self-preservation. The amulet at her breast pulsed hot as her blood pushed her fear into a dizzying frenzy. Another quick movement on her right made her spin around, and in the darkness she could make out another shape, a feminine shape. As her eyes adjusted, she saw a beautiful woman with long, white-blond hair.
All Victoria could think was that somehow she knew that face, but the memory eluded her. The woman dropped into a crouch and feinted, ready to attack, and Victoria braced herself, feeling the magic responding to her needs, the energy amassing in her fingertips. The blast rocketed past the woman who spun with inhuman speed to avoid the blow. Victoria shifted to the left keeping the first attacker in sight and realizing that there was a second man, behind her. She didn't have time to hyperventilate. The power surged through her leaving her breathless—she was born for this.
They circled like three sharks that smelled blood in the water. One of the man-things leapt toward her. Words shot through her head and Victoria screamed them without even thinking about where they had come from.
"Ignis cremo!"
The curse's fiery arms destroyed the creature in midair. Its shrieks were hideous as it died, and Victoria's blood soared in response, exultant with its success. On her left, she could see the blond woman staring at her uneasily.
Victoria lifted her chin in cool challenge. The woman's answering stare was venomous, and as Victoria fought to grasp the elusive memory of who she was, she didn't notice the other man-thing springing toward her from the side. Razor-sharp, serrated fangs tore into the flesh of her right shoulder. Victoria screamed, but before she could react, the thing fell onto the ground and started convulsing in terrible agony and clawing at its face. She stared in horror as its mouth and face blistered off, the rest of it smoldering to slow ashes before her eyes.
Blood congealed into her sweater and coat, its tackiness coating her skin, pungent like corroded rust. Her shoulder stung as if there were powered glass underneath but she ignored it, her burning eyes scanning the area. With some relief, she realized that the woman had disappeared. Her vision clouded as her knees buckled. The earth was cold and wet, and her eyes grew heavy as she lay back on the grass at the side of the road, looking at the black sky and feeling the blood dancing in her veins. It was resonant with victory, but she felt drained. The pain in her shoulder faded to a dull throb as she felt herself slipping into unconsciousness.
Christian ...
VICTORIA WAS FLYING. There were tight bands around her arms and her thighs, holding her close. Dizzily, she turned her face and saw the familiar angular profile. He had come for her, just like she had known he would. Her throat stung from the effort of the words.
"Killed v ... v ... vampire ... oh God ... I killed it ... them ..."
Sleep, chérie.
And she did.
CHRISTIAN SHOUTED FOR Anton the minute he arrived at the house with Victoria limp in his arms. Although Anton's special poultice, made for an infected vampire bite, seemed to calm the weeping of the lesions, they still remained angry and raw. Even worse, Victoria was still unconscious.
When she'd called him, Christian had followed her call, the lushly wet scent of her blood like a beacon. Its siren song was nearly impossible to resist. The thought that a vampire had bitten her incensed him, and he fought to keep his rage under control as it simmered beneath the surface. He knew exactly who had sent it, and his wrath made him reckless. He picked up the phone and punched in a number. No answer.