Page 48 of Let Sleeping Vampires Lie

Yep. Definitely not deer.

“Six against two isn’t fair,” I replied. “For you.”

Con’s blades shifted into a ready position. “Cass.”

“I know,” I said, rolling my shoulders. My heart rate picked up, not with fear, but something sharper. Familiar. Battle felt easier than feelings.

“Alive if possible,” I added.

“No promises,” Con said.

The enhanced humans moved first.

They didn’t charge like untrained fighters. They flowed, fanning out to limit our escape routes, using the graves as cover, testing our reaction time. Two darted left, two right, two came straight down the center.

They really did move like ghosts.

Fast. Silent. Precise.

My spear hummed in my hands, hungry for contact.

“Ready?” Con asked.

I smirked, adrenaline cutting through the emotional fog like a blade. “I was born ready.”

And the graveyard erupted into chaos.

Gravel sprayed under my boots as the first enhanced human lunged. He came in low, knife flashing, aiming to gut me in a single, efficient strike.

Too predictable.

I pivoted, planted my heel, and let Serenity’s shaft slide through my grip until the tip dropped. The blade met his forearm with a quick crack. Metal slid against bone, then bit deep. His knife clattered to the ground as he hissed, stumbling sideways.

Before he could recover, Con slipped past me.

His right blade sliced across the attacker’s throat in a smooth, economical motion. No wasted movement. No flourish. The enhanced human dropped without a sound, eyes already empty before his knees hit the earth.

One down.

The others didn’t flinch.

They adjusted. Closed in.

A second one came at me from the right, moving faster than any normal human had a right to. Enhanced muscle. Enhanced reflexes. He kicked off a headstone and vaulted over it, bringing his boot toward my face in a spinning arc.

I ducked, spear snapping up to parry. His boot impacted the haft, sending a shock up my arms. I used the momentum, twisting and driving the butt of the spear into his ribs. I felt something crack. He grunted, stumbling back, but didn’t fall.

These weren’t throwaway grunts. They were trained.

Across the row, Con intercepted two at once. One went high, the other low, trying to flank him. He stepped between them instead, turning their angles against each other. His left blade caught a descending strike, his right elbow smashed into the second attacker’s jaw, sending teeth flying.

The first one recovered faster than most vampires would. He dropped his weapon and tried to grapple instead, reaching for Con’s wrist.

A big mistake.

Con twisted. Bones snapped like branches. The enhanced human screamed, but it was cut short as Con drove his other blade into the man’s sternum, burying it to the hilt.

Two down.