Page 2 of Death Deals

But Eli had assured me Kay was fine. He wouldn’t lie to be about something like that, right?

Even though I told myself yes, he wouldn’t, over and over, my insides were churning with nerves. Maybe I’d just swing byOh! Kay’sand peek inside. Just to make sure my worrying was for nothing.

I shouldn’t, but I was spinning around and heading back down the street before I could stop myself.

When I passed the darkened alley between two closed stores, a chorus of voices and yelling hit my ears. I paused, peering into the shadows, and made out the blurs of movement—too fast to be human—and the sounds of fighting.

In the next second, a man flew across the lane, skidding across the ground before landing in a puddle at my feet. His face was bloodied, his nose broken and crooked, and his eyes closed. Staring down at him, I recognized the blond hair and regal, sharp features of his face, and my stomach lurched.

Andre DeMonte. The French vampire owner of the strip club, Red, and one of Cole’s business “friends.”

What in the world was he doing here? And more importantly, was he… dead?

Just as the thought hit me, his eyes snapped open and he jerked up to sit.

“Shit!”

I leaped back.

Another prickle along the nape of my neck.

I turned just in time to see another vampire zigzagging through the alley toward us with a massive curved blade in his hand. Since vampires moved faster than any other living or nonliving creature I’d ever seen, his form was nothing but a smear against the darkness.

Andre was on his feet in the next second. With my reaction time slow compared to a near-immortal, he pushed in front of me and ducked from the attacking vamp’s swing easily. Then he punched him hard in the chest.

It’d happened so fast, I hadn’t even registered what had happened until I heard ribs crack. Broken.

His attacker stumbled back, his breaths coming out in quick gasps.

Vampires were something else. Contrary to popular belief, vampirism wasn’t transferrable through bite or blood. It wasn’t a virus or venom. It was a DNA mutation, something in their genes that allowed them to awaken once they died. But their second chance at life had to be sustained by the living blood of others. Most didn’t even know they were vamps until they woke up after some misfortunate circumstance.

They were a fascinating supernatural type, but of course, extremely deadly to cross. And since all three vampire families were involved in illegal dealings, that made them dangerous on another level, too.

Andre glanced over his shoulder to look at me, one brow raised in recognition. His nose readjusted, the bones cracking as they mended themselves, and any cuts on his face smoothed over.

I gasped. He remembered me.

That wasn’t a good thing, though. The last time we’d met I had fought him and his other vamp friends, then blasted him through a second-story window before running off with Kay. We weren’t exactly on the friendliest of terms.

In my defense, they were trying to eat me.

When Andre turned back toward his opponent, the vamp spun around and dashed down the alley, retreating to where the echoes of more fighting were coming from. Andre followed, disappearing into the darkness.

Vampires brawling in the middle of the night? That couldn’t be good.

Since the DeMonte, Perez, and Omari families were all involved in high crimes, they were always quarreling over things like money and turf. Their hatred tracked back for centuries, but what had started it in the first place was a mystery. So, vampires fighting in the streets only meant one thing: a clash between the powerful, immortal families. Something I didn’t want to stick around and get caught up in.

I had to get the hell out of here.

Before I could book it down the sidewalk, my gaze whipped up to see a vamp bounding off the top of the building’s roof, his mouth opened and his fangs flashing. Aimed right for my neck.

He landed on top of me, throwing me onto my back. My head hit the pavement first and my vision darkened. I came to a second later only to see his fangs diving for my neck.

Panicking, my light flared and shot out from my palms, sending him soaring through the air. He hit the building’s brick face and crumbled on the ground. As I scrambled to stand, hands grabbed me from behind. Hot breath brushed against the side of my face smelling heavily of blood.

I spun, grabbing the assailant by the face and neck, and crouched, flipping him over my shoulder as I came down. A stampede of footsteps echoed to my left, but before I could turn to look, the vamp on the ground snatched me by the shirt and yanked me onto him. I rolled awkwardly but he was on top of me in the next second, ripping at my clothes and snarling.

Another vampire, a woman, knelt on the other side of me, wrenching my arm toward her mouth. Someone clutched my legs, too, and pinned them to the ground. I struggling against their holds frantically. More stomping sounded, coming from the alley. More vampires.

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