Page 3 of Kiss of Light

“Through the tunnels, of course. My bar is very cosmopolitan. Open to everyone.”

“Cut the crap. Vamps don’t hang out in shit-holes like this. Are they trying to sabotage the contract?”

“Nah. As far as I can tell, they’re joining the hunt. I’ve agreed to let them use the bar as a base. And what do you mean, shit-hole?”

“Are they sticking to the code?”

“Code?”

“No blood from the source without asking.”

Mike shrugged as he wiped down the bar.

“I don’t know about that. But they’ve agreed not to feed on my doorstep. So it’s not my problem.”

Tala glanced at the vampires uneasily. The code was a strict rule laid down by Prince Vassago, the Vetali ruler.

Once it had become known the human world was full of walking meals, many vamps had relocated from Vetali territory. Alarmed that a mass feeding frenzy was about to be unleashed, the Prince had decreed that blood could not be taken from a living person unless permission was expressly given.

Killing a human was a crime punishable by death.

Some Vetali didn’t like that. Some Vetali believed Vassago was protecting a less important species at the expense of his own people. And some were angry enough that they wanted to get rid of him as their leader.

It would explain why a load of vamps had shown up at a hunter bar. They were working the same contract she was.

The contract to find Prince Vassago’s son and heir, Count Darian Lemar the Third.

Shit fuck bollocks.

She’d given her word to Shadeed that she’d keep Lemar safe. And in a normal hunt, she’d have no problem.

But this was a long way from normal.

She’d never gone up against vampires before. Vetali were stronger and faster than she was. And what’s more, they couldn’t be possessed. She couldn’t control them, like she could almost everyone else in this bar.

It’s what made her an excellent tracker. But against a pack of vamps, all bets were off.

Silently, she downed her whisky. She did have one advantage right now, and she intended to use it.

She, unlike them, could travel in daylight.

She sent a quick text. When the answering ping came, she slipped off her stool and headed for the door.

Two

“We’ll be at the airport in twenty minutes,” Denny told her as he skilfully swung the Jeep through the traffic.

She still missed the Porsche. But they’d had to sell it when her last tracking job came unstuck.

“Great, D. But we have another problem. There’s a load of fucking vampires hunting the same mark.”

Denny winced. Not about the vampires, he just disapproved of the F word.

“I don’t get it. The markisa vampire. Why are his own kind after him?”

“Politics, Denny, politics. My guess is they want to weaken the old regime, and what better way than taking out the heir. Plus, the blame falls on Lord Shadeed, even though he has nothing to do with this.”

“Politics.” Denny shook his head. “I thought I’d escaped all that in Uganda. Turns out, it’s the same everywhere.”

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