Page 6 of Visions in Blood
“Not anymore.”
Sergi attacked first, grabbing the first bodyguard in a blink of an eye as Patrice charged Devon.Her fangs were out, and he caught the glint of something in her hand, Sergi’s warning about her preference for drugs and poison made him think syringe, loaded with something that might or might not kill him.At best, it would leave him vulnerable.She was nothing more than a lazy, untrained vamp, not confident in her natural skills.Being a rogue on a human’s payroll, she’d probably never tested them.
When she reached him, he used his speed to knock the syringe out of her hand before picking her up and hurling her toward the brick building.The sound of her hitting with a loud grunt along with the snapping of bones made him smile.Cressa was ten times the fighter, and he laughed out loud at the thought as he stalked toward Sorrento.The man had pulled a gun, but his hand shook, and the first shot went wide.It was his only opportunity as Devon leaped.The man had turned to run but only made it a few steps before he stumbled over one of his bodyguards and slipped on the spreading pool of blood.The man’s throat had been ripped out.
Sergi was already on the second man, who fought like a wildcat, though it wouldn’t do him any good.
Sorrento scooted backwards on his ass, one arm raised in self-defense.“I didn’t know.It wasn’t meant to harm anyone.I just needed to drum up some business.”
“When you work in the underworld of magical creatures, you play by our rules.”
He had to give the man some credit for making it to his feet.Sorrento took a few steps and gulped in a breath of air, probably wondering if he would make it out alive.Devon nodded toward Patrice, and Sergi didn’t waste a second as he rounded on the dazed vampire, who struggled to gain her feet, one arm dangling at her side.She stood straight, shoulders back as she waited for Sergi’s attack, finally showing what she could have become had she been properly groomed.He’d wanted to save her, but her reputation was too well-known, and he would never be able to trust her.Sergi didn’t make her suffer, using his hunter’s sword to take her head.
Sorrento ran, but Devon reached him long before he made it to the street.He grabbed him by his collar and the waistband of his jeans, picking him up and tossing him toward his muscle car.Glass shattered as Sorrento slammed into the windshield, spewing a grunt of pain.
He dragged the man out of the broken glass, ignoring his screams as he flung the man faceup on the hood.With one quick movement, Devon pierced the man’s throat, grimacing at the toxic taste of his blood before ripping out his jugular.
ChapterThree
“Devon!”
I sprang up, my heart racing.The sheets were tangled around my legs, and I fought to get free, racing for the bathroom.The light temporarily blinded me, but I had to get away from the darkness.I spit into the sink before turning on the water, splashing my face with the cold spray before cupping my hands to slurp it in, rinsing my mouth from the acrid taste of blood—cheap whiskey, garlic, and meat.
When I realized what I was doing, I stumbled back, smacking into the wall and sliding down until my ass hit the floor.
What the hell?
The dream had started like the earlier ones.I was in the garden at Oasis, Devon’s private estate that only his family knew of, and the thick scent of roses clung in the air like an old friend as I raced down the path for the grotto.He had to be there.It had been a week since the last dream, and I hungered for his touch, his warmth, and the strength of his arms wrapped around me, keeping me safe.But when I reached the grotto, he wasn’t there.
Then the vision changed.
The dead eyes of Sorrento gazed into the night—his throat ripped out.Blood covered his chest and pooled under his head, the eye of the cobra tattoo staring at me.
Was this one of those dreams?If so, they’d changed drastically, and I much preferred the erotic ones.I didn’t understand why they changed from one vision to the next.I didn’t have any control over them, and while I wasn’t convinced this was the best idea, I leaned my head back against the wall and closed my eyes, forcing myself to relive the dream.
My body trembled as if fighting my resolve, but I had to know if Devon was all right.It was impossible to believe the dream could have been real.How would Devon know about Sorrento?I shook the thought aside, sucked in a deep breath, and forced all thoughts away except the one.
At first, nothing happened.Then unrelated images flashed by—my mind too busy, too unsettled.I called upon the relaxation techniques I’d learned from an old mentor, but try as I might, her teachings slipped away, leaving me with jumbles of the dream mixed with various bits of images from the last week— training in the gym, my sessions with Anna… Perhaps my subconscious was protecting me from the underlying fear of what I’d see.
If this was about vamps, then I might as well think like one.Simone’s long meditation sessions that I constantly complained about might be the answer.I snorted.If this worked, I’d never willingly admit it to her.
I rolled my shoulders, shook out my arms, and settled in.This time, I imagined a single flame surrounded by darkness.I accepted the images as they came at me, and if they weren’t part of the dream, they disappeared within the scorching heat of the candle.
Five minutes passed before my body relaxed enough to release my thoughts and accept the entire vision.
I dropped into an alley where the only light streamed from nearby windows.Sorrento’s sleek bright-orange muscle car was parked a hundred feet from the quiet street.Everyone knew that car and avoided it whenever possible.Not us.We waited within the shadows, as still as the darkness itself—a standard hunting position.Once they walked past Sergi, the trap would be set.
Adrenaline coursed through my blood, my sense of righteousness eager for the engagement and impassioned to protect one of my own.I sensed them before I heard them.Four people strolled this way, but they were too far away to hear their conversation.Or perhaps I didn’t care.
Their laughter stirred something within me, something I couldn’t describe but raged to be set free.Then everything sped up as they turned into the alley and approached the car.Sergi stepped behind the guards.Sorrento didn’t realize what he’d walked into.Patrice, the bitch who’d drugged me, recognized the danger too late.When I picked her up and threw her against the wall, I heard a gratifying crunch of bone.And I smiled.The vision jumped ahead, and Sorrento ran for the street.I caught his shoulder, picked him up, and flung him toward his precious car.
Amazement pierced the edge of my consciousness when he wasn’t killed by the force of hitting the windshield.The speed at which he’d flown through the air was like being thrown from a car traveling at sixty miles per hour, yet he groaned.With a strength I didn’t know I possessed, I dragged him from the broken windshield, unmoved by his screams of pain.
When I looked down into his bloody face, only one thing burned in my head.He would never hurt Cressa again.And my fangs sank into flesh, the hot blood gushing into my mouth.
My eyes popped open.I instinctively wiped my mouth before dry heaving from the dream blood.My heart pounded with a combination of satisfaction, anxiety, and doubt.Devon was safe.Sorrento—not so much.And I wasn’t sure how I felt about that.
I was Devon’s family now.And he protected his family—at all costs.
