“Oh, I’m afraid he won’t be teaching you anything, girl,” a cool voice said from the darkness. “Except, perhaps, how to die a horrid and painful death.”
I froze, and in that second, two figures melted out of the darkness of the tunnel, smiling as they came to stand before us. I knew instantly that they were vampires; pale skin and hollow eyes aside, I could sense, in a strange, unexplainable way, that they were just like me. In the dead, bloodsucking sense, at least. The woman’s dark, curly hair tumbled elegantly down her back; she wore heels and a business suit that hugged her body like snakeskin. The man was lean and pale, all sharp points and angles, but he still managed to fill out his suit jacket. And he stood over six feet tall.
Kanin went rigid. A tiny movement, and the knife appeared in his hand.
“You’ve got some nerve to show your face here, Kanin,” the female vampire said in a conversational tone, smiling and showing perfectly white teeth. “The Prince knows you’re here, and he wants your head on a platter. We’ve been sent to oblige him.” She stepped toward us, oozing forward like a snake. Her bloodred lips parted in a smile, showing fangs, and she turned her predatory gaze on me. “But who’s this little chick, Kanin? Your newest protégé? How charming, continuing your cursed bloodline. Does she know who you really are?”
“She’s no one,” Kanin said flatly. “She doesn’t matter—the only thing you need to worry about is me.”
The vampiress’s grin grew savage. “Oh, I don’t think so, Kanin. After we remove your head, we’ll drag your little spawn back to the Prince and watch him take her apart, piece by piece. Isn’t that right, Richards?”
The male vampire still didn’t say anything, but he smiled, showing his fangs.
“How does that sound, chicky?” the female vamp said, still smirking at me. “Don’t you feel special? You can have your heart removed and eaten by the Prince of the city himself.”
“He can try,” I shot back and felt my own fangs lengthen as I bared them in a snarl. Both vampires laughed.
“Oh, she is a firebrand, isn’t she?” The female vamp gave me a patronizing look. “One of those disgusting Fringers, I take it? I simply love your affection for hopeless cases. But then, that’s what got you into this mess in the first place, isn’t it?”
Her companion reached into his suit jacket and pulled out a thin, foot-long blade. It was a delicate weapon, slender and razor sharp, made for precision. Somehow, it seemed more frightening than if the vampire had drawn an ax or even a gun.
“Allison,” Kanin muttered, stepping in front of me, “stay back. Don’t engage them. Don’t try to help me, understand?”
I growled, gripping the sheath of my katana. “I’m not afraid of them. I can help.”
“Promise me,” Kanin said in a low, tense voice. “Promise me you will not get involved.”
“But—”
He turned, pinning me with a cold, frightening glare. His eyes had darkened to pure black, hollow and depthless, with no light behind them. “Your word,” he almost whispered. I swallowed.
“All right.” I looked down, unable to meet that unnerving gaze. “I promise.”
He reached down and grasped the hilt of my katana, drawing it in one smooth motion as he turned to face his attackers. “Go,” he told me, and I backed away, retreating behind a cement pillar as Kanin gave the katana a wicked flourish and stepped forward.
The female vamp hissed and sank into a crouch, stretching the fabric of her suit. I saw her nails then, very long and red and sharp, like giant talons, digging into the pavement. She hissed again, looking more like a beast than anything remotely human, and sprang forward.