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I let the anger fill me and carefully punch the tips of my fingers through my gloves, to give myself the benefit of nails and grip while maintaining the fabric’s defense. Then I pull open the door.
This will be the last time I come face-to-face with Liam, and even if he manages to wound me, he will be the one who falls. Scarlet always did wake up before either of us could die in her visions, so I hold onto that detail as I stride up to the gate and the Jagter waiting on the other side.
The sky is already beginning to lighten overhead, as if in anticipation of the coming sunrise. We have at best fifty minutes before lethal rays of direct sunlight slice through this very yard.
A cold smile lifts Liam’s chapped lips as his hauntingly familiar green eyes lock onto me. When I am near enough, he says, “It’s not every day I run into a vampire I’ve failed to kill.”
The closed gate is all that separates us now. He could attack through the bars just as easily as I can leap over them, so it is little more than an obstacle in our way. But it slows him down.
“If you’ve come to chat,” I say, “you’ve come to the wrong house.” I make no effort to hide my fangs. He knows what I am, as I know what he is. We’ve fought before, and today, one of us will die. It will be him.
Liam ignores me and slides his calculating stare to the vampire at my side. “You look much more interesting.” He reaches into his open coat pocket, and moving slowly, slides out a piece of wood that has been carved to a fine point. The wood is a dark blend of red and brown and carries with it a subtle, natural fragrance that is unmistakable. Liam’s stare has not left Aziel. “Am I going to need this for you?”
I bite back my growl.
Aziel does not. “Don’t bark at me, boy,” he says. “If you think I’m intimidated because you got your hands on one little stick, then you aren’t as educated as you pretend.”
Liam smiles wider before promptly letting out a shrill, piercing whistle. An undeniable signal.
I move, leaping over the gate and coming around the Jagter. I don’t expect to be successful in ripping out his throat with my first strike, but forcing him to twist aside and tuck away his taunt is an acceptable start. While he’s distracted with me, Aziel disappears to take part in fending off the rest of the assault.
Liam’s fight is with me. Now that we know he carries a rare Brazilian rosewood stake, it’s more crucial than ever that Aziel not be the one to confront this foe. That’s fine. I want his head, anyway, because ending this Jagter will mean ending the latest series of nightmares that plague the woman I love.
Liam manages to land a kick with his steel-toed boot, forcing me back enough to give himself room to draw his machete. “Thanks for the warm-up, bloodsucker, but I’ve got a bunch of monsters to slay today. So I can’t draw this out.”
I’m on bended knee, giving the cracked femur a moment to heal and feigning my pain as Liam moves in for his killing strike. The leg does hurt, but it’s minimal and fading. I’m more concerned about making sure this killer never gets the opportunity to lay a hand on Scarlet. That will be one nightmare that remains only a nightmare, no matter what I must do.
So I use myself as bait and let my prey come closer.
Chapter Nineteen
Scarlet
I Can Take Care of Myself
“Do we really need to stay here?”
I glare at the vampire barring me from leaving the room. Rowan is what people would call ruggedly handsome. Dark hair and dark eyes with a chiseled jaw. You would expect to find him tending a dive bar somewhere off a dark alley with all his tattoos, not running the finances for an entire coven. But as they say, looks can be deceiving. The man is smarter than anyone I’ve ever met but now he is standing in my way and I’m liable to kick him in the nuts.
I feel the anger and trepidation flow through my mate as he faces the assailant outside. I can hear the ring of gunfire and it only serves to piss me off even more. My heart is out there fighting an enemy that is hardly fighting fair. No one in the coven uses guns.
“If I let you out of here I am signing my own death warrant,” Rowan explains, imploring me to understand and behave. “Kyson will rip my head from my shoulders with his bare hands.”
A visible shiver works its way through his body and I have a feeling he isn’t exaggerating. I’ll have to ask Kyson about that once he returns to me. But a niggling feeling has fear shooting through me even as I try to remain calm. He never promised he would return.
“I deserve to know what is going on,” I grit out.
“He deserves to know you’re safe so he can focus,” Rowan counters.
“And if it was your consort out there?” Lisette cuts in. “Would you be happy just sitting in a room and waiting?”
Pain flashes across Rowan’s handsome features. “That’s not fair.”
“Yes, it is. What counts for one, counts for everyone. You know we’re right.”
Lisette holds my hand tightly in hers, waiting for this man to decide.
“You’re human,” he mumbles. “Defenseless.”
