The stake hit the ground.
The thrall. The thrall was good. It was one thing I might like to keep.
I felt a strange warmth and confidence swelling inside me as I walked toward the men.
"Sarah, what the hell are you doing?" George breathed from behind me.
I looked over my shoulder. "Go back to the club, George. I'll be okay."
"I'm not leaving you."
"That's sweet, but I'm going to have to insist." When he didn't make a move, I raised my voice. "Now. Please leave."
"I'll go get Thierry." With a last fearful look, he turned and ran out of the park.
I looked at the hunters again, and I put a hand on each of their chests to feel how quickly their hearts were beating.
"Her eyes," one said shakily.
"Are they black?" I asked. "Yeah, they do that lately. Luckily since I don't have a reflection it's not really bothering me too much. Now, if I may ask the question again, what am I going to do with you two bad boys?"
They eyed each other. "Well, you could let us go."
"Or you could kill them," another voice said over my shoulder.
I raised an eyebrow but didn't turn around. "Long time no see."
The Red Devil came to my side. "I've been watching."
"Enjoying the show?"
"Actually, yes. I had heard that you were the Slayer of Slayers, but to see it with my own eyes is something I never expected."
One of the hunters whimpered. "The Slayer of Slayers? You?"
The other hunter whimpered. "We should have gone to Vegas!"
The Red Devil turned his scarf-covered face to the men. "Why are you in town? I was under the impression that all hunters were south for your leader's funeral."
"Not all of us are," one said. "A lot of us are glad he's dead."
"He was really bossy," the other added.
"Shut up," I said. And they shut up.
I could so get used to this if I had to.
Just the thought made me grimace. I didn't want to have to get used to this.
"Kill them," the Red Devil said. "They would have killed you without any conscience. The least you can do is return the favor."
I frowned at that. Kill them? I knew I was acting all nightwalker at the moment, but I had no intention of killing anybody. Not even a hunter.
"I don't think so," I said.
"No?" Red said. "But you're the Slayer of Slayers. You slay slayers. Isn't that right?"
I clenched my fists tightly and looked at the hunters. "The two of you, listen to me. I want you to turn around and leave this park. And don't look back or I'm going to do very bad things to you. And I don't mean that as a come-on."
They both nodded and had that glazed look that I noticed was a trademark of my new thralltastic mind control ability.
But they didn't move.
I frowned. "Turn and leave. Right now."
One of them finally did. With a glazed expression, he turned and ran out of the park without waiting for his friend. But the friend continued to stand there. His face was tense and strained as if he were lifting some heavy weights.
"He's attempting to resist," Red said. "Some humans are resistant to vampire control. The weaker the mind the easier it is."
"So this one doesn't have a weak mind?" I said, and turned to look at Red. "I find that hard to believe."
"Watch out."
The hunter had taken the opportunity to grab the stake off the ground and arc it in my direction, directly toward my almost completely healed chest wound.
I caught his arm but still felt the tip graze my skin.
"I'm going to kill you," he growled.
I glanced at Red.
He cocked his head to the side. "I think I'll simply observe from a safe distance."
"Great."
Although I had extra strength now, which was definitely helpful to hold him off a bit, the guy was a trained hunter. He twisted away from me and tried to come at me from a different direction.
"You're dead, Slayer of Slayers!" he bellowed.
He lunged at me. I curled my hand into a fist and punched him in the stomach hard enough to knock the wind out of him. He doubled over and tried to breathe. I snatched the stake out of his hand and with a kick to the face—not exactly kung fu but sufficient to knock him off balance—he landed hard on his back on the snowy ground.
I clutched the stake and glared down at him. Every nerve ending in my body felt as if it was sparking and crackling with energy.
"Please don't kill me!" the hunter begged.
I knelt and pressed the stake against the creep's chest hard enough to make him flinch.