Page 20 of Angel Of Darkness

She rolled down the ravine, and after a few bumps, she sank into the shelter of the trees. Those jerks wouldn’t have a target now. Not a clear one, anyway. The rasp of her breath seemed too loud.

Vampires weren’t supposed to hide. They were supposed to be the big, tough badasses. But she was still new to this whole vampire business and being a badass had never come easy to her. She couldn’t even get her claws out right then. That damn sun...

Silence.

Nicole blinked. There’d been shouting a moment before. Yells in Spanish to get the “Devil’s whore!” The coming sun hadn’t drained her strength when they’d first attacked. She’d still had enough power that when she’d swung out with her right fist, she’d broken the older guy’s jaw. But then they’d all swarmed her and tossed her into that trunk.

But now...

Silence.

Her nose twitched. She knew that smell. It was a scent every vampire craved. Blood.

A car engine roared to life. She lifted up a bit and saw the vehicle fishtail as it tore down the road.

And there were two dead bodies in the middle of the highway.

Nicole glanced to the left...

“You should have listened to me.”

Keenan. The hunter she couldn’t shake.

He tossed a wooden stake onto the ground. It rolled toward her. “Guess what Romeo wanted to shove into your heart?”

Not Romeo—Carlos. That was the name he’d given her. “You...killed him?”

“No. He got away with some of his men.”

Some. Yes, a look at the bodies had told her that some also hadn’t been lucky enough to escape. “You killed them.”

His lips twisted. “I didn’t have to. Your humans were piss-poor shots. When they were aiming at you, they took out their own men.”

She didn’t believe him. Not really. But...Her gaze trekked back to the dead men. The blood pooled beneath their bodies.

There had been so many shots while she ran.

“I didn’t touch them,” he said, and her stare snapped back to him. “There was no need. They killed each other. Humans are good at that.” He lifted his hand toward her, palm up. “Every second you stay out here, you grow weaker.”

Weaker—almost human. If those men came back, she’d be in deadly trouble.

“You have my word, I’m not here to kill you.”

“What’s your word worth?” That hand of his was tempting. How long had it been since she’d actually been able to trust someone else?

She pushed to her feet. Swayed. And realized something was very, very wrong.

Nicole blinked and glanced down at her arm. Bleeding. Wha?—

“They shot you.” Fury thickened his words.

She hadn’t even felt the sting of the bullet. But her arm was coated in blood.

One surefire way to kill a vampire? Blood loss.

“Not the first time I’ve been hit.” She could heal from a bullet wound, provided she didn’t bleed to death first. Her left hand rose and pressed against her shoulder. The bullet had gone right in and right out.

I didn’t take enough blood from him.

---