Annie Nicholas: Hunting Colby

My breath caught in my chest and ached. I’d never known. He’d kept all these feelings hidden from me. How could I blame him? I did work for the guy who’d ultimately recruited him against his will. My master could be so cruel. I had always thought Mutt’s transformation had been voluntary.

Our gazes locked. The anguish in his eyes vanished as a shield came down. He stopped struggling and straightened his suit. “Breeding vampires is against the Nation’s laws, Overlord Cesio. By the power I represent, you are found guilty and will be punished for your crimes.”

Cesio chuckled. “Nicely said.” He turned his head toward me. “Maybe under your guidance he would have turned out to be a good leader, but the young are so easily destroyed, and you’re, what? Thirty years old in total, Mutt?”

“Thirty-two.”

My stomach dropped as I watched a guard pull out a stake. I dove toward him, hands extended, and ordered Mutt to duck. Luck, fate, or the Easter Bunny was on our side. The tips of my fingers reached him first with enough momentum to knock him so that the stake buried in his shoulder instead of his heart.

He grunted with the dual impact but remained standing. His training finally kicked in and he swept both guards off their feet. Yanking the stake from his shoulder, he made quick work at ending their existence.

“I’ll get Cesio. You get everyone else.” I wasn’t stupid. Killing the overlord would take all my skill and then some. I wouldn’t risk someone as young as Mutt. He could gain his experience practicing on the guards.

I rolled with my stake in hand. If I was going down, I’d go down with teeth bared, blood on my lips, and the pride of my pack in my heart.

A growl rose behind me as I faced Cesio.

His eyes went wide as he stared at the thing that cast a shadow over his face. “He’s a shifter? I was told the slayer’s team was all human.”

No matter how tempting, I didn’t take my eyes off my quarry to glance over my shoulder. Tingles made the hairs on my arm stand on end. It should be against the law for me to enjoy Cesio’s fear as much as I did.

Colby had shifted to his beast form.

When it came to hand-to-hand combat, shifters had the upper hand on vampires. Our speed, reach, and strength outmatched theirs. Even though I couldn’t shift, I’d spent a lifetime training with the deadliest warriors on Earth. It made up for my lack in genes.

I tilted my head to the side and tossed at my mate, “Stay back. He’s mine.” Waiting for his denial, I was given a small jolt of shock when Colby stepped to the side and gestured with gentlemanly grace.

I snarled at Cesio as I leaped, stake aimed at his heart.

His backhanded slap across my face split my lip, and the salty taste of blood met my tongue. I had to give him credit. He stood his ground, even when obviously outmatched.

With the momentum of Cesio’s slap, I spun in the other direction. I twisted my wrist so the stake would arc around.

My arm jerked as the impact of the stake hit hard flesh. My hand went numb, but training kept my grasp tight as I leaned my weight into the strike through his back.

Cesio grunted. A small, bloody cough escaped him before he slid to his knees. His gaze traveled to Mutt.

My student tore his way through Cesio’s guards, using nothing but his hands. He maimed, not killed. We’d have to have a talk about that. Nosferatu couldn’t afford to leave enemies alive; otherwise they’d eventually be destroyed.

Colby drew closer to me and watched. “He has good form.”

“Of course he does.”

Another cough caught our attention. Cesio now glared at me. “He’ll never survive.” Then he melted into a pile of ash.

I scooted closer to Colby, not wanting any on my boots.

Silence encased the room. We’d won the battle, but there was a whole nest of vampires outside those doors. How would they react to Cesio’s death? I grasped Colby’s clawed hand tight. “What now, fearless leader?”

He shook his mane and sighed. Stooping, he picked up the stake from inside the ash and handed it to a stunned Mutt. “Keep it in your hand as you lead us out. It’ll serve to remind them who their master truly is and might get us out in one piece.” Colby returned to Red and picked him up in his arms.

Mutt led a parade of human and shifter slayers through the building. No one questioned us. The vampires parted as we moved toward the exit, and whispers followed our wake.

Things like, they really exist? and look at the stake , did he kill Cesio? reached my sensitive ears.

Our driver waited at the door like instructed, and we piled inside. Colby shifted to his human form before entering, and I handed him some spare clothes left in the van. This time, Mutt sat shotgun while I curled against Colby in the back of the van.

His solid presence anchored my building anxiety. We’d left a vacuum in the vampire power structure, and nothing good could come from that. There were the new vampires hidden within the city to find as well. Who knew how they’d feed now? Would the populace take them in and teach them?

Colby stroked my hair and closed his eyes as he rested his head back. “Your heart is racing.”

“So is yours.” I smiled against his chest as he chuckled.

The driver parked the van in front of Mutt’s home. I didn’t bother asking how they knew. Like a rookie, I had worn Colby’s tracer here the last night.

I followed Mutt out, but Colby captured my wrist in his hand. “Stay.”

“I can’t leave him alone after this.” I watched Mutt enter his home with a bowed head. “Come with me. He could use an extra pair of ears tonight.” I ran my fingers over his hand. “And I could use the company.”

He glanced at Red, worry tracing his features.

His friend waved him off. “Go on. I have a whole team to dote on me. I don’t need to look at your ugly puss all night.”

Colby stepped out and slid the van door closed. He watched them depart with a forlorn expression. “We need to talk.”

I sighed, my body heavy with exhaustion. “Let’s go inside and sit.” I wanted to curl up next to him again, take a hot shower, and find some food. In any order I could get them.

“Not yet.” He turned me to face him. “Gwen, I need to be with you. I know that now.” The lines on his face deepened. “But our…alliances conflict.”

I glanced at the open warehouse door. “You want me to leave him.”

“I want you to leave all of them.”

My stomach twisted in a knot and I wanted to throw up. “That’s not fair.”

He gazed at the ground. “I know.”

I’d spent all my life serving the Nosferatu clan. I even liked a few of them. What he was asking would betray who I was. “You’re a jerk.” Shoving him away, I stormed inside the warehouse, ignoring Mutt’s raised eyebrow as he spoke on his cell phone. Who the hell could he be talking to? I dove onto the couch and buried my head under a pillow.

Months. I’d wasted months on Colby. Left my pack, my job, my family. He wanted me all to himself. Selfish son of a bitch. He was a slayer. He kept the vampire population in check, just like my boss did. Why couldn’t they work together?

A large hand ran over my spine.

“Leave me alone, Mutt.”

“He’d touch you like this?” The outrage in Colby’s voice echoed in the warehouse.

I peeked from under the pillow as my mate shot a daggered glare at Mutt’s back. “Stop it.” I shrugged off his hand.

He groaned and lay next to me, squishing me against the back of the couch. “Fine. I asked too much. Can you blame me?”

I stared at his sharp profile. His body conformed to mine and made the tight confines of the couch comfy. “What did he do to you?” I whispered the question and almost regretted speaking it out loud. Secrets and fears between us would only tear us further apart.