“Trust me, Alexa. It will be good for me to help you kick some vampire ass. Just say when, and I’ll be ready.”
Ah. It made sense now. Kylarai saw a chance to sink fangs into some vampires, and she wanted to take it. Since Arys and I had bonded through blood, Ky had been less than enthusiastic about my relationship with him. If tearing a strip out of Claire and Maxwell made her feel any better about it, then so be it. I was suddenly relieved. She could handle this.
It would be several hours yet before sunrise drew near. Perhaps it would be smart to lay low until then. I had no such intentions.
“I have some things to do. I’ll call you later. Be ready by dawn.”
Chapter Seventeen
A vampire lover with something to hide, a wolf mate with his own dirty secrets and a birthday in less than a week. If I lived to see my twenty-seventh birthday without losing my last shred of sanity, it would be a miracle. By that time I might be hard pressed to find a reason to celebrate. If I didn’t self destruct by then, I’d drink to that.
The bloodlust that had me currently stalking the slums was just the icing on the proverbial cake. I was giving in on my terms. Hunting down my own victim had to be better than letting the hunger choose one for me. By starving the bloodlust, I only weakened myself. I was through with that shit.
I knew exactly what I wanted.
A few blocks away from Chinatown, the real street people showed their faces. A couple of crackheads harassed a prostitute for money half a block away. I watched from the shadows as she lipped them off while threatening them with a can of pepper spray. She was young, too young to be selling herself for drug money. Perhaps what she was about to see would be enough to get her off the streets.
I didn’t want her nor the junkies ambling away, chased off by the sight of the pepper spray. Some vampires might not mind some illegal narcotics in the blood, but to me it just stank of toxicity. I was counting on stereotypes to deliver me a victim I could sink my teeth into.
The need to satisfy the hunger was constant, but I was content to wait. It would be worth it. I didn’t have to wait long before a simple beige sedan rolled to a stop beside her. Excitement thrilled through me. Any john that was willing to pick up a streetwalker as young as her was fair game as far as I was concerned.
She leaned down near the driver’s window to speak with him. He looked like your everyday guy. Short, dark hair and glasses, he was clean-cut with a professional appearance. He could have been a doctor or a banker, a regular professional with a regular life. But here he was, stopping off for a piece of underage action on his way home. So now, he was mine.
After exchanging a few words, she walked around the car to the passenger side. With preternatural stealth and speed, I attacked. I sprang at the car like a rabid cat, easily dragging the driver out. His eyes widened in sudden fright as he drank in the sight of me snarling down at him.
The girl shrieked and jumped away from the car as it rolled along, still in gear. It came to a stop against a nearby light standard. The john put up a good fight. He flailed like a victim in a horror movie during those last few seconds before the axe falls. I loved it. Every panicked motion and high-pitched, pathetic scream fed the hunger burning inside.
The prostitute was forgotten as her shrieks echoed in the distance along with the click of her high heels. A small, twisted part of me said, take it slow, but I couldn’t resist. I tore into him with a frenzy of fangs and claws. His blood was hot against my face, and I sighed when it hit my tongue.
Everything in me that was vampire cried out in victory while my wolf was strangely content with our choice of victim. I barely left him in one piece. Wolf fangs did a hell of a number on the throat of a human. He was a mangled mess when I decided I’d had my fill.
Fed by his fear and my lust, my ears buzzed with high-running energy.
My body vibrated with exhilaration and an erotic heat swept me. Looking at the remains of my victim, I knew I had to act fast, but part of me didn’t give a damn if anyone else happened to come along. Really, what were they going to do about it?
That kind of thinking was going to get me in shit. With a euphoric giggle, I dragged the body over to the car and stuffed it in the trunk. Yeah, this one was going to give a detective something to ponder. I should have at least dumped him in the river, but there was no time for that. This was exactly the kind of kill that would have had Veryl jumping down my throat. Somehow, I had the feeling Shya wouldn’t feel the same way.