“I am, aren’t I?”
The hunter nodded. “I went to your funeral.”
“Thank you for that.” Gideon cast a quick look in my direction and then at the other two surprised hunters on either side of him. “I assume it was a good turnout?”
“Of course.” The hunter nodded enthusiastically. “Very fitting for a great man like yourself.” He looked at me. “We cornered the Slayer of Slayers. Do you want to do the honors?”
“No. As I said, Sarah is my friend. Or at least—” his eyes narrowed on me “—I thought she was. I’m not so sure anymore.”
My nightwalker was very excited to see Gideon again. She wanted to run to him and throw her arms around him. I firmly muzzled and restrained her.
The hunter frowned then. “I don’t understand. You’re friends with a… a vampire? That doesn’t make any sense. What happened? Were you injured in the fire?”
“You could say that.”
“Your body wasn’t recovered. You were presumed dead. You must come with me and we can tell everyone—”
Gideon’s arm moved and I saw a glint of silver under the moonlight. The hunter clutched his throat and made a sick, gurgling sound as Gideon slit his throat. Dark blood welled between the hunter’s fingers.
“Actually,” Gideon said evenly, “I’d prefer you didn’t tell anyone about my little secret if you wouldn’t mind.” He arched his arm and the next-closest hunter got the blade embedded in his chest. “That goes for you as well.”
Both men fell to the ground dead.
Since I wasn’t currently wearing my chain, the fear and shock I should have felt at witnessing these murders felt distant to me, as if I was watching this on television. But this was real. Gideon had killed two out of three of the hunters without even blinking.
In front of me was a great deal of blood that filled me more with hunger than fear. I raised my black eyes to the man in front of me.
“Aren’t you going to thank me?” Gideon asked.
“For what?”
“For saving your life again?”
Thank you, Gideon, my nightwalker chimed inside me.
But I said nothing.
They hadn’t threatened him. One hunter had even wanted to help him.
“Just a moment.” Gideon held up a finger. “There’s one more for me to deal with, isn’t there?”
But the third hunter wasn’t there anymore. I heard the slap of hard-soled boots as he ran away down the street. However, there was another man standing in his place. This one wore a red mask.
“Your hunter is getting away,” Red Devil Thierry said. “Shouldn’t you be in murderous pursuit?”
Gideon smiled broadly. “See, Sarah? I had a funny feeling that if I followed you from my hotel tonight as I did last night there might be a chance I’d catch a glimpse of the elusive
Red Devil again. But this is more than I’d hoped for.”
I reached into my pocket with a shaking hand. I knew I had to get my chain back on while
I still had some semblance of control. I couldn’t feel it. Frantically I scanned the alley.
There it was. On the ground a half dozen feet away. It must have slipped out when I tossed the hunter away from me.
My gaze tracked back to Gideon and Thierry, who studied each other intensely. For the first time in several minutes, my fear completely slipped through to the surface. My heart let out one small, barely noticeable thump.
“This doesn’t have to happen,” I managed. “Not here. Not tonight.”
Gideon bent over and pulled his knife from the dead hunter’s chest. “It was a little earlier than I’d planned, but I can adapt.”
“I’m told you have a grimoire.” Thierry still spoke in that low, raspy voice.
“Has naughty little Sarah told you all my secrets?”
“You will need to give me the grimoire and then leave her alone. Permanently.”
“I need to, do I?” Gideon glanced at me. “Just look at her, though. How could you possibly want to break her curse? She’s so powerful like this. Can’t you feel it? She’s better than a normal vampire. So unbelievably powerful. It would be a waste to snuff out all of that possibility.”
“Give me the grimoire,” Thierry persisted.
“I’d be happy to give it to Sarah if she still wants it. But first you need to die.”
Thierry grabbed him by the front of his shirt and glared at him. “You first.”
Gideon easily twisted around and out of Thierry’s grip like the trained, athletic hunter he was. I watched, half entranced, half panicked at what would happen next.
“Stop this,” I said, taking a step toward them. “Please. Nobody has to get hurt here.”
“Stay back,” Thierry said.
“Thanks to Sarah’s blood last night I’m feeling much better than I was before.” Gideon clutched his knife tighter. “That’s why I sought you out—the infamous Red Devil. My last kill as a fully human hunter. Let’s make it a good one, shall we?”
Thierry didn’t have a weapon, but he lunged at Gideon anyhow, his fist connecting with the hunter’s jaw. Gideon’s head snapped to the side. I knew Thierry was very strong, a strength that had grown over all of his centuries. How did Gideon think he had any chance against him?
But Gideon was fast, and he easily ducked the next blow. The silver of his knife flashed bright a moment before it made contact with Thierry’s chest, sinking in deep enough to make Thierry gasp in pain. He shoved Gideon back from him.
Thierry glared at him. “You missed my heart.”
“True. A bit unsatisfying.” Gideon glanced at the knife. “However, considering this silver blade is coated in dead blood I think I’ve done enough.”
“Go to hell, hunter,” Thierry growled.
Dead blood. I searched my memory for what I’d learned through my recent vampire research. The blood of a dead human could be used as a poison against vampires. But the hunter had only just died minutes ago. The blood on the ground was still fresh enough to be appetizing to me. I thought “dead blood” had to be much older than that.
Blood. My nightwalker self moved closer to the surface of my consciousness. So much delicious blood.