Sparks. For the first time in her life, she understood the romance novels as she was hit with the urge to get closer to this man, to touch him like she’d never touched another. To slip that coat from his shoulders and run her hands over him before rising on her toes to kiss him. The possibility of those arms wrapping around her and drawing her close had her taking a step forward.
A woman bumped into her, knocking her back and tearing her attention away from the man. Kadence blinked as she was jarred back to reality. Her gaze ran over the humans before she retreated from the dance floor to hover on the edge. She refused to look up again for fear she would be lost to the strange pull that man had over her. She’d come here for a reason, and she would not be deterred from it.
It had seemed odd the man wore sunglasses inside, but that faded when she realized some of the other men and women also wore them. Must be some human fashion thing, she decided.
“Hello, sugar,” Declan purred from beside Ronan. “I think she might make a very tasty treat.”
Ronan didn’t have to look at him to know Declan had also spotted the woman. In a crowd of nearly a hundred humans, she stood out as clearly as the full moon from the stars. Declan leaned forward to inspect the woman more closely.
“Don’t,” Ronan snarled, half tempted to throw his friend over the railing.
He had no idea where the impulse came from. He was not an easy man, but he was tolerant. He’d learned centuries ago that giving into anger and having a temper were pointless. However, the way Declan looked at the woman, as if he could see straight through her clothes, had Ronan ready to punch him.
Declan’s head turned toward him. “Claiming her for yourself tonight?”
“We have a mission,” Ronan bit out. The thick sunglasses may be shading his eyes, but he knew Declan was aware that he remained focused on the woman.
“After the mission then?”
Ronan tore his attention away from her to look at Declan. His friend’s casual air vanished; he straightened away from the railing and took an abrupt step back. Ronan didn’t have time to contemplate Declan’s reaction to him before the rancid stench of garbage wafted through the air. His gaze returned to the dance floor as he searched for the source of the smell.
The crowd of people flowed away from the corner as Joseph glided out of the shadows from the entryway. Yet even as the humans moved away from him, some of the women and men practically tripped over themselves to get closer to him.
A vampire’s innate ability to lure someone closer drew the humans to Joseph like a bee to nectar. Their instincts told them this was no nectar, but a Venus flytrap set to spring and devour them whole. Unfortunately for these humans, Joseph’s lure won out over their flight-or-fight instincts.
Ronan looked to the woman only twenty feet away from Joseph. His lips skimmed back when the woman’s gaze locked on Joseph strolling through the crowd. Unlike the other females, she didn’t saunter toward the vampire. Instead, her hand went to something at her side.
Ronan’s eyes narrowed at her unusual reaction. The black-haired, male hunter emerged again at the edge of the dance floor, drawing the woman’s gaze to him.
Kadence wanted to kick herself when Nathan spotted her from the other side of the dance floor. She’d finally succeeded in breaking free of the stronghold, finally made it here, and she’d been busted within five minutes of walking into the club. So much for being a stealthy hunter.
She’d completely blown it, and now she would never have another opportunity to be free again. Nathan would make sure of that. If the monster didn’t die tonight, she’d never be able to witness it.
Going by what she’d been told about him and the odor coming from him, she’d known the minute the vampire who killed her father came into eyesight. She’d also forgotten about everything else as her blood thrummed with the need to see the monster slaughtered.
For a second, Ronan watched as the hunter and woman locked eyes, and then the male was moving toward her so fast that the humans didn’t register his passing. The born hunters may not be vampires, but they certainly weren’t entirely human either.
Ten feet before the hunter reached the woman, he stopped in the middle of the dance floor. His head swiveled and his nostrils flared as his gaze locked on Joseph. The hunter’s eyes darted between the woman and Joseph before he closed the distance to the woman.
Ronan couldn’t hear what they said to each other over the thumping music, but when the man snatched the woman’s arm, she yanked it away from him and planted her hands on her hips. A low growl rumbled up Ronan’s throat. Joseph was right there, yet he found himself thinking about breaking the hunter’s hand for daring to touch her when she obviously didn’t welcome it.
For daring to touch her when it was all that he wanted to do.
The woman’s hands moved through the air as she spoke; the man’s followed suit as they faced off. Then, the crowd parted and Joseph moved within feet of them. Joseph’s attention remained on the women at his sides as he walked by the male hunter. The man and woman stopped speaking as they focused on Joseph. Their faces filled with a hatred Ronan suspected ran deeper than a hunter’s normal animosity toward vampires.
When Joseph was out of sight, the man took hold of the woman’s arm and led her over to join the three other hunters standing beside the dance floor. The woman moved with the same lethal speed as the man, confirming her as what she was. Ronan shoved aside the disappointment slithering through him at the realization the woman was completely off limits.
“A female hunter,” he murmured.
“I thought they were a myth,” Declan stated.
“Apparently not,” Ronan said as his gaze returned to Joseph. It didn’t matter who or what the woman was, all that mattered was ending this tonight. He only hoped the hunters stayed out of his way.
He’d prefer not to have to kill them too.
“Let’s go.”
He stalked toward where Killean and Saxon stood at the top of the stairs. Lucien, one of his best fighters, was on his way to meet them, but Ronan didn’t think he’d make it in time for this battle. Lucien had reluctantly agreed to take over the running of the training facility after Joseph turned Savage. Ronan had expected to destroy Joseph sooner, so he hadn’t bothered to move the training facility out of New York or find someone else to run it yet, but that would change if Joseph wasn’t brought down tonight.
Stepping off the last stair, Ronan paused to survey the crowd before following Joseph’s stench through the club. Any vampire who killed a human took on the aroma of trash and decay. If they didn’t kill again, eventually the smell faded away. The more a vampire killed, the more rotten they smelled. Roadkill mixed with feces and month-old bodies sometimes became preferable to the odor some Savages emitted. However, only a purebred vampire could detect the odor.
Joseph had been having more fun than Ronan realized, judging by the scent of him.
Winding through the crowd, Ronan caught another glimpse of the black-haired, male hunter on his left. His gaze instinctively sought the woman, who now stood with one of the other men. That man had his hand around her slender bicep while she glowered at him.
Kadence considered kicking Logan in the nuts to break free of her fiance’s hold, but she was afraid if she made a move now, she would scare the vampire they hunted away, or worse, get Nathan killed. Logan’s displeasure beat against her. She didn’t care that he was mad at her; he would have to get used to her not doing what she was told once they were married.