“I’m sorry to have bothered you.” She went to turn away but the vampire at the door grabbed her arm, the pressure of his grip firm enough to have the nerves she had tamped down rising back up again.
She shook it off. All vampires were strong. They were fast too.
But they had a vulnerability that evened the playing field.
They were highly allergic to silver.
It had sickened her the first time she had killed one with her sword and watched as the silver it contained had corroded flesh and bone, causing it to fizz and hiss as it melted.
Now, she was used to it.
“Come in. Until the danger passes. You’ll be safe here.” He smiled, revealing straight white teeth with no hint of fangs.
She wasn’t the only one who was good at acting.
The shimmer of red in his eyes said that he wanted her blood, and the way he cast a black look at his comrades warned he didn’t want to share. If provoked, would he fight his own friends so he could be the only one to taste her vein?
She filed it away as a back-up plan.
One she wasn’t going to need.
He ushered her inside, all charm and warmth as he continued to smile at her. He shut the door, the heavy thud of it closing an ominous sound she tried not to interpret as a death knell.
She shuffled along beside him, casting fearful glances back over her shoulder from time to time for good measure. The door was closed, but it didn’t look as if he had locked it. That was good. If things went south, escape might be possible.
A fifth vampire strode from a corridor off to her left and paused, his gaze immediately settling on her. “What do we have here?”
“I was hurt—” she started.
“We’re going to take good care of her.” The man holding her arm smoothed his hand along it, upwards towards her wound, a faint crimson glow lighting his eyes as he looked down into hers. “You will feel better before you know it.”
She nodded, certain that she would as she casually slipped her right hand behind her and under her jacket.
The blond moved a step forwards, shadowed by the dark-haired man and the brunet. She shivered under the intensity of their gazes, sickened by the hunger that blazed in their eyes as they looked at her as if she was a five-course meal they couldn’t wait to devour.
The fair-haired man edged closer.
Caterina pulled her sword from her sheath and had it buried in his gut before he could react, ramming it up into his heart. He hissed and shrieked, his fangs long white daggers as she yanked her blade free and leaped back a step, placing some distance between her and the others.
The vampire went down, clawing at his chest as blood soaked his T-shirt. She didn’t watch as he crumpled into a heap, kept her eyes on the others as she circled them, tightly clutching her silver sword.
She ditched her black leather jacket, tossing it as she assessed her enemies. It was easier to fight in just her black tank, and she had the feeling she was going to need the freedom of movement it gave her.
The sound of footsteps on stones filled the thick silence, alerting her to the fact that there were more than these five vampires in the nest. She braced herself, expecting them to come join the fight. Seconds stretched into what felt like hours as she faced off against the remaining four vampires.
The others didn’t appear.
Things were looking up.
The blond and the brunet vampire moved to flank her and she did her best to keep her focus split between all of them, aware that even a slip in it would be her downfall. The dark-haired male remained in front of her together with the other one.
He licked his fangs.
Caterina narrowed her eyes on him, silently showing him that this wasn’t going to go down the way he thought it was—the smouldering pile of vampire remains on the flagstones to her left was testament to that.
She yelled to unleash the pent-up rage inside her and spun, digging the heel of her thick-soled leather boots into the paving as she brought her blade around in a low arc. She grasped the hilt of the sword with both hands as she came to face the vampire nearest the exit and shoved forwards, burying the point of the silver blade deep into his chest before he could stop her.
Caterina dropped hard as the air moved behind her, years of fighting honing her reflexes until they acted as an early warning system. The blond vampire’s fist arced where her head had been and she swung her leg out, bringing it around in a low sweeping kick. Her calf connected with the vampire’s ankles and she followed through, sending him slamming onto his back. She didn’t stop. She used the momentum to propel herself upwards and brought her sword around at the same time, aiming it at the neck of the vampire she had stabbed in the chest.
She hid her grimace as it sliced through his throat and scraped across bone, and she didn’t pause to watch as the vampire slumped into a heap near the remains of the fair-haired one.
Caterina twisted and ducked as the dark-haired vampire attempted to grab her, hurled herself forwards into a roll and came to her feet near the blond. She kicked him to keep him down and faced off against the brunet.
He snarled and flashed fangs, and she was quick to dodge when he slashed at her with his claws, ducking backwards and then to her right. His growls deepened, anger lacing them as she continued to evade him and jabbed at him with her sword, seeking an opening. He knocked her blade away each time. She lunged at him, determined to land a blow. He leaped back a step, brought his hand up to his mouth and ran it across his fangs. What was he doing? Blood rolled down his hand and he flicked it at her. She flinched away as it hit her in the face, and cursed herself for letting him distract her.
The blond made the mistake of getting up.
Caterina whirled to face him and stuck her blade in his gut. Excitement trickled through her as the number of foes dwindled to only two and she meant to leave the blond to die from silver exposure, but couldn’t stop herself from lashing out at him again, pulling her blade from his stomach and slashing across his thigh to deal another fatal blow.
She knew it was a mistake the second she did it.
The air shifted behind her, the dark-haired vampire little more than a blur even to her trained eyes as he moved like lightning. She tried to turn, her movements sluggish compared with his, time seeming to slow as panic spiked in her veins, sending another sharp burst of adrenaline into her blood.
The vampire grabbed her hair, balling it in his fist, and yanked her head back so hard she saw stars. A cry burst from her lips as she bowed forwards, afraid he would break her neck, and the fear she had been denying roared up on her as he bent his head.
A vicious growl pealed around the courtyard.
She froze as ice skittered down her spine in response to that feral sound, the fear she had felt of the vampire growing tenfold as the man stilled behind her and the other vampire looked towards the arched exit.
Caterina looked there too.
Another vampire returned to join in the fight?
The darkness itself seemed to shift before her eyes, the ground quaking beneath her boots as the shadows suddenly parted to reveal the dark visage of a formidable warrior as he barrelled towards her and the vampire. Silver flashed in his hand as his eyes narrowed on the man holding her and the vampire came to his senses.
He spun with her, using her as a shield.
Her eyes widened as the newcomer threw his hand forwards, letting the silver knife he held fly. It came right at her as she flinched, sure this was it and her life was over.