Freya
They’d figured out we were present the moment the gunfire sounded.
The blur I’d spotted in the alley had been a vampire on patrol, zipping through at a faster speed than the others had been. I’d killed him, leaving his body on the ground for the Nulls to find. We were wanted by the AEA, anyway. Giving the Next Life Company more work to maintain the secrecy of our community wasn’t going to make usmorewanted.
My portal had taken precious seconds to create, bringing us inside the penthouse where we found a bleeding and injured Nolan.
At that point, my vision had gone red.
Leaving Nolan in Oswald’s capable hands, I’d ignored my mate’s mind-spoken warning to not be rash.
I would be rash. They’d shot him. Guns were a terrible invention most of us tried to stay away from. Let Nulls have their mass destruction. Most of us favoured a more hands-on approach. Fucking typical that Kylan’s goons wouldn’t play by those general rules.
Inside the room, I closed the door behind me to let Sky’s magic continue to work. It kept us contained, making less noise. Noise didn’t matter much when everyone knew we were here, but I’d spotted Shan and Emmett on the rooftops outside, no longer hiding. They’d draw fire out there so long as we didn’t make too much of a ruckus. Let them believe we were fleeing.
We would. After I’d killed the man with the gun.
Altair was fending off three men, all of whom were armed with swords. None had guns out because of the close proximity of their comrades. I doubted they had good enough aim to avoid hitting someone they didn’t want to hit. Sky was invisible, unseen and waiting for the right moment to strike.
Putting two fingers to my lips, I whistled sharply.
Four pairs of eyes fell on me. Altair was smirking despite the three-on-one predicament. He’d probably had it handled, but I wasn’t going to let them get away with a quick and clean death.
I didn’t know which one had hurt my mate, so they were all going to be subjected to the same fate.
“Joining the party, little Omega?” Altair asked.
He darted back from the men, metal sliding on metal as their weapons separated.
“One of these assholes shot Nolan.”
Altair looked worried for a second, then grinned. He’d probably concluded I would be more unhinged if Nolan had been seriously injured. “One of them showed up late. Want me to tell you which one?”
I shook my head. “I don’t fucking care.”
“Perfect. Total destruction. My favourite.”
“Mine too,” I muttered.
Holding my wand up, I pointed it to the nearest attacker and spoke a spell. He fell to the ground, convulsing and fighting against my hold. I was more powerful than I’d been in recent history, though. His resistance wouldn’t be enough to throw me off.
“You take the bald one,” I told Altair as the two men rushed me. “Don’t kill him.”
Wand still held in one hand, I used my other one to pull out a tiny throwing knife and toss it. It hit him right between the eyes. Altair swept the feet out from under the bald one before he got close to me, and they grappled hand to hand on the ground. He was obviously thrilled by the intensity.
The vampire stalled to pull out the knife, throwing it back at me with significantly less skill. His injury would be painful, but puncturing the brain wasn’t enough to kill him. Only puncturing the heart or cutting off the head severed the soul’s connection to a vampire’s eternally regenerating body.
I grabbed another knife from my belt. He reached me before I could throw it, but I jammed it into the side of his thigh. He tried to cut me with his sword but I held up two fingers and he froze. I only maintained it for a few seconds, long enough to remove the weapon from his possession and sink it into his stomach. Then I dropped the magic and he reached down to push me away.
I took the blade with me as I left, slicing a clean line across his stomach.
He fell to the ground with a hiss, curling in on himself to avoid tearing the wound further. If he moved wrong, he’d spill his guts. Literally.
Altair had the bald one in a headlock, his face turning blue as he fought for air. “Don’t let him pass out.”
“You’re sadistic. Part of me wants to be aroused, but mainly I’m horrified,” he said with a grin. “I don’t know how your mates deal with you.”
“I’m not sure either, but they manage,” I said.
