Page 15 of Kiss of Light

“Oh. Well, other things then. Your girlfriend would be disappointed.”

“Girlfriend. Hm.”

A strange look crossed his face. She watched, fascinated, as his fangs retracted and his eyes resumed their chocolate shade. He stepped back from her, his expression thoughtful. She cocked her head.

“What? Don’t want to kill me anymore?”

“Oh, undoubtedly. But that can wait. It’s just struck me that there was only one person who knew where I’d be tonight, and who also had enough notice to alert the bounty hunters.”

He turned and walked to the end of the roof. She holstered her blade.

“Wait. Where are you going?”

“To have a word with Camille.”

He stepped off the edge.

“Shit.”

She ran to the railings and peered over. He was gone. But she knew where he was headed.

There were still too many people on the street for her to shimmer down from the roof. The spectacle of a strange woman appearing out of thin air would cause a stir, even among the inebriated. She’d have to go the long way round.

She ran to the fire exit and bolted down the stairs, taking them two at a time, cursing vampires with every single breath.

Six

Camille’s apartment was twenty blocks south. Tala took off, shimmering to the farthest point she could see and running a few steps before shimmering again.

Shimmering was a useful trick but she could only use it when there were no humans around to see. And she could only move within her own line of vision.

It took her a shade under three minutes to cover the distance, which to her felt frustratingly slow.

When she reached the apartment she saw the outer security door had been ripped off its hinges. She slowed down, putting her back against the wall and catching her breath. Peering through the ruined door, she saw the concierge slumped across the desk.

Fuck.

Silently, she shimmered to the still body. The man’s head lay on the desk, eyes open and terrified. His skin looked grey. Carefully she felt for a pulse. There was none. Gritting her teeth, Tala raised the man’s head so she could see the other side of his neck.

It wasn’t there. Half his throat had been ripped out, the dark red muscles of his jaw hanging into a void. There was a small puddle of blood on the desktop – not nearly the amount there should have been for such a catastrophic injury.

Something had fed from him, and then torn out his soft tissue so no fang marks would be visible.

Gently, she replaced the man’s head on the desk and closed his eyes. He hadn’t even had time to push the alarm button.

She considered doing that now, a repeat of the strategy at the nightclub. It would force residents to evacuate and get them out of the way. But it would also mean police crawling all over the apartments looking for witnesses. She decided against it.

She knew she had to move fast. The next person through the door would undoubtedly call the cops.

She took the stairs to Camille’s floor. The exit emerged at one end of the corridor, and she carefully peered round the corner.

A vamp was standing guard outside her door.

He was a big fucker. With his wide physique and bald head, he looked like he could body-double for The Rock. The odds weren’t in her favour – except for one important factor. He had his back to her.

She drew one of her trusty blades and took a breath.

Then she shimmered right up behind him and jumped on his back. Her legs wrapped tightly round his waist like a limpet and without preamble she dragged her blade across his throat.

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