Page 19 of Blood Bound (Blood Mafia 3)

A guy walks out from behind one of the buildings, dragging Tyra behind him. Her knees are scraped and blood drips down her legs. Her short hair is sticking up in different directions and one of her eyes is swollen shut. Her knuckles are bright red and cracked.

At least she fought like hell.

“Tyra,” Demi whispers, glancing around for the others.

There’s no sign of them.

Grayson was with them.

Is he dead?

“What are you doing, Gerry?” Nicole asks, taking a step forward.

“Ah-ah.” Gerry points the gun at Nicole. “I don’t want to spoil the surprise.”

He’s outnumbered with the few hunters who stand in support with Maria. The others look confused when Daniel shoves Tyra to the ground.

She raises her hand to protect her face, crying out when the rocks bite into her skin. The scent of fresh blood is heavy in the air. Too much blood to account for her wounds.

Someone else has died. I just don’t know who. I don’t recognize the blood.

Two more hunters emerge from where Daniel had been hiding, one’s hand is covered in blood and he holds Zander by the scruff of his neck. He presses a gun against Zander’s back. The hunter’s panicked gaze finds Tyra on the ground. He growls but the guy holding on to him shakes him and tells him to shut up.

X is kicking and struggling in the arms of the other hunter. He smashes the butt of his gun against her head and she falls. The guy catches her under her arms and drags her to lie next to Tyra. She’s stopped fighting. The hunter maneuvering Zander around kicks the back of his knees and Zander collapses next to X.

I don’t see Grayson anywhere. My stomach churns with unease. Luckily for him, the hunter whose hand is covered in blood didn’t kill Grayson. The red coating his hand is Zander’s if the dark red staining his shirt is any indication.

Mateo and I share a look; his jaw is working double time and I shake my head slightly. This situation is nearing the breaking point, but now is not the opportune moment to intervene. We can’t move first. Otherwise it’ll look like we attacked. We have to be provoked into action.

Daniel takes a dagger with a jagged blade from the small of his back and kneels in front of Tyra.

“No,” Demi says. “You can’t kill her. She didn’t do anything wrong!”

His eyes flash red. Daniel’s lips pull back and he bares his teeth at Demi. “Watch me.”

Daniel slices Tyra’s throat open before jamming his knife into her chest. With supe speed, he cuts her open and breaks through bone to pull her heart out. Then he flashes away.

“Fucker.” Demi growls before rushing after him, leaving us all behind.

“Stay here, make sure nothing happens to Zander and X.” Mateo flashes after her.

“No. No.” X wails, sobbing and smacking her forehead against the ground. “Fuck you, Gerry. I’ll fucking kill you, you bastard.” Her voice cracks and she struggles against the guy pressing his knee into her back. She’s no match for his supe strength, but that doesn’t mean she stops fighting.

She screams in frustration, and her heartbreak fills the air in palpable waves. A few of the hunters standing around glance away from the scene, unable to stomach it. One of the younger looking hunters turns and vomits.

Zander’s staring at the scarlet liquid pouring over the gravel. His mouth is half-open as he watches Tyra bleed out. The hunters behind Maria gasp or yell in outrage.

Maria is clenching her eyes shut and shaking her head. “What have you done?” she asks Gerry. “What the hell have you done?” Maria’s voice is thick with emotion.

“What I had to do,” he says.

“Bullshit.” Nicole runs at Gerry, catching him by surprise. She slams her palm into Gerry’s wrist. He drops the gun. Nicole snatches it midair, a second before Gerry can, and she shoots him point blank in the head. His body drops.

Hunters are screaming all around us.

Looking at the vampires behind me, I point to X and Zander. “Get the hunters.”

Nicole faces her people, holding the gun up. “Who’s next?”

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