Page 7 of High Stakes

His breath held the tang of coppery blood, his teeth still tinged red at the gums. “He has his ways,” he insinuated.

“Why me? There are other hunters.”

“He told me to tell you he couldn’t find you until now, but that doesn’t mean he wasn’t looking.”

Maru circled behind him and motioned for me to hold out my hand. I lifted my free one and caught my stake as he threw it back to me.

Message dispatched, the vampire let me go and glanced nervously at the exit.

Raising my brows, I waited for a beat. “That was it? That’s your message?” I taunted.

“He said you would show me mercy,” the vamp groveled.

I scoffed. “He was wrong. And just so you know, you died for nothing. Enoch could’ve sent a letter to tell me that.” I patted the communicator at my side. “Or sent a text.”

The vampire growled and loosened his knees, crouching and ready to fight. “I’m not dying today.”

“Wrong again.”

Maru lunged at him, and while the vamp was busy thwarting Maru’s attempts to stake him, I slipped up behind him and shoved mine through his back, driving it in hard with both hands to make sure it went in deep enough.

The vampire sucked in a final breath and collapsed to his knees, his skin fading to a sickening shade of dark gray. His skull hit the concrete with a dull thud.

Maru snapped, “What was that back there? You let him knock the stake from your hand? You know better than that! That—will get you killed. That mistake…” He took a breath. “Victor might pull you from the program now.”

“I know.” I was angrier at myself than Maru could ever be.

“He could’ve bitten you!” he shouted.

“I know that, too. Damn it, Maru, I know. I screwed up. I’m sorry. It won’t happen again.”

“It better not,” he snarled. “Because you’re better than that. You have been for years,” he chastised.

“Shit. They saw the whole thing,” I whispered quietly, glancing at the cameras in every corner of the room.

He put his hands on his hips. “They saw it, but they didn’t hear what he said. It’s just video in here, no audio. With the trucks coming in and out, it’s too loud to hear most of the time. Don’t tell them what he said, Eve. He was taunting you. That’s our story.”

“Why?”

Maru pinched his lips together. “Just trust me on this.”

I nodded. “I trust you.”

Maru removed the stake from the vampire’s back and wiped it off on his pants. “Let’s open the bay door. They’ll need to clean this up and secure the dock again.”

As he started walking toward the lock-down button to turn off the alarm, I called out, “Maru?”

“Yeah?” he asked over his shoulder, slowing his steps and then stopping.

“He knew my name.”

“Everyone will know your name by this time tomorrow. But you’re right. We have a leak, and it’s hard to tell what else Enoch knows because of it,” he answered grimly. “I’m glad you’re traveling soon. You’d better land and stake Enoch. You can’t hesitate for even a fraction of a second. And you better not let him knock the damn stake from your hand, because if that happens and Enoch doesn’t kill you, I will!”

While he stalked to the wall and pressed the button to lift the door and stop the alarm that still blared throughout the compound, I walked to the bay door. It was sealed, locked down tight. A guard, someone who probably sat here in silence most nights, lay next to his stool. I pushed his eyelids closed and stood up, but then cool fingers wrapped around my ankle.

Heart racing, I stumbled back into a crouch, stake held at the ready. Had he been turned?

A sickening gurgle came from his throat and his eyes pleaded for help. He wasn’t turning. He was dying.

---