Page 4 of Tin God

Temur’s Blood slowly shook his head. “I was only trying to feed her. She was hurt; she needed to heal. She needed time to grow strong.”

“A pity.” The hunter never looked at the sobbing vampire on the floor. “Her protector revealed himself, and now he will die. If you had remained here, I might never have heard of you.”

“No!” the weeping vampire shouted, her voice strong though her body was useless. “You can’t! You can’t take him from me!”

She cast one glance at the creature.

The young vampire was eye-catching. It was no wonder some immortal had become fascinated by her. She was as tall as a man with broad shoulders and striking red hair the color of flickering flames. The planes of her face were as pale and sculpted as the snowcapped peaks around them, and her eyes were striking, a brown so dark it was nearly black, and rimmed with pale red lashes.

“What color were your eyes?” the hunter asked. “Before you turned.”

“Wh-what?”

“Your eyes.” It was a curious thing. The hunter’s eyes were grey, but she didn’t know what color they’d been before her turning. She didn’t remember anyone ever noticing them or talking about them. Perhaps they’d always been a storm grey, but she didn’t recall.

“Blue,” the vampire whispered. “They were blue like the sea in summer.”

“I am sorry for you.” She turned back to look at Temur’s Blood. “Say goodbye to her.”

“No!” the woman begged. “Please. Please.”

Temur’s Blood stared at her; though he remained motionless, the wind picked up, battering the wooden house with angry gusts.

The hunter raised an eyebrow, but his element could not defend him, not when her power was so much stronger. She was old. Very,veryold.

Temur’s Blood whispered, “Promise me that you will not hurt her. I will not fight you. I know I cannot. Only promise me that she will be safe from your vengeance.”

“I will only kill her if she tries to kill me,” the hunter said. “I vow it on my children’s blood.”

“You will only kill her if she tries to kill you.” He looked at the weeping vampire. “Zasha, remember. You cannot take revenge. However long you live, you must not. You must allow her this debt.”

“No!” the fire vampire screamed. “Purev, no!”

She smelled the smoke and knew that the young vampire’s magic was already reaching out, repairing the strands of energy the hunter had broken. It would only be a matter of moments before she was a danger again.

Temur’s Blood closed his eyes, put his hands together at his chest, and bowed deeply. “Am I the last?”

“Yes.”

“Will it be enough for you when I am no more?”

The hunter cocked her head. “I do not know.”

He kept his head bowed, but his eyes looked up. “Let it be enough.”

The hunter lifted her blade, struck the neck of Temur’s last child, and sliced his head from his neck while the young vampire on the floor lay screaming at her to stop. The body collapsed like a pile of flimsy sticks, and the head rolled to rest against the stacked firewood under the broken window.

Screams turned to choked sobs, and the smell of smoke filled the air. The woman’s clothes were starting to burn.

Wind and snow were gusting into the storage room through the broken window, but neither of those would kill the young fire vampire. In fact, they might just save her.

The hunter turned to look at the sobbing vampire. “I made a vow not to kill you, and I will not.”

“I don’t care,” she choked out. “Kill me.Kill me!Please, I don’t want to live without him.”

She shook her head. “Then your suffering is at his hand because I made a vow.” She walked down the hallway, through the cozy front room where a fire burned in a stone hearth and a pot of something savory was slowly burning where it hung by the fire.

The hunter moved the pot away from the flames, the acrid smell of burned food almost covering the smell of burning wool that came from the back of the house.

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