“Wrong move.” I charged him, ducked a blow and went for his knee, just a quick jab. Then when he was off-balance, I went in for the kill—one brutal blow to the groin. He fell over sideways with a guttural groan. I pounced, stuffed my hand in his pocket, and retrieved my agate. “Try not to throw up,” I whispered into his ear. “You wouldn’t want to be stuck with a cleaning bill.”
I stood up, scanned the awed faces, and winced. So much for undercover stealth. My eyes met the redheaded vamp’s. An amused expression flashed over his face for just a moment before he winked and vanished out a side door.
“Son of a…” I darted back onto the stage and bolted for the door back into the dressing room. Hunting a vampire was one thing, but doing it in stripper gear was entirely another. I hurried over to where I’d left my clothes and let out a curse. My dress and jacket were gone, but my phone was resting in the sole of my ankle boots. I stuffed my feet into them, grabbed the phone, and without further thought, I took off after the vamp, still wearing my barely there turquoise tube dress.
For once, Bourbon Street was mostly deserted. Even intoxicated party-types weren’t much for braving the rain. Luckily for me, the storm had died down to a drizzle. Still, I was barely dressed and freezing my ass off. No matter. I had a vampire to catch.
I stopped just outside the club, tightened my grip on the agate, and pictured the redheaded vamp in my mind. Warmth spread from the agate, and a tiny buzz tickled my palm. He was definitely still around, closer than he should’ve been, considering I’d been made. Any other vamp would’ve hightailed it out of the neighborhood. Or at least one who knew what was good for him.
This one didn’t. He was close. I moved to the right, and the vibration in the agate intensified. A pleased smile claimed my lips. After Willow had retired, I’d been determined to figure out some sort of vampire-detection tool. And thanks to a drop of Willow’s blood and one of my spells, we’d managed to do just that. Because of her and that spell, I’d become the most successful vampire tracker in New Orleans.
My boots clamored on the sidewalk as I moved at a steady clip, making no move to indicate I knew exactly where the vampire was hiding—across the street, one building over, on the second story. I kept moving, certain he was watching me. I had two choices: one, stride right into the building, giving up any element of surprise, or two, circle the block and see if he followed me. If not, I’d find a way up onto the roof and go from there. I was just about to opt for door number two when the damned vampire strode right out onto the balcony and whistled.
He actually whistled, intending to get my attention.
What the hell was this? Some elaborate game of cat and mouse? Arrogant prick. Not one to back down, I stopped dead in my tracks and stared up at him. “You ready to get your ass kicked?”
“I can hardly wait.” He flashed his fangs and jumped up, climbing to the next level and then onto the roof. He took off running, hopping from roof to roof, but his movements were slow. Much slower than a normal vampire’s. He was taunting me.
And really pissing me off. Whatever game he was playing, I wasn’t at all interested. The tube dress was doing nothing to keep me warm, and my stomach was starting to rumble. I’d had enough. Moving to the middle of the street, I raised my arms in the air and shouted, “Come get me vampire. I’m waiting for you.”
He stopped, laughed, and stepped off the roof, his body floating effortlessly to the ground. His eyes flashed a brilliant green as he moved toward me.
Holy fuck. What he really that stupid? Or… son of a bitch. I held the agate straight out in front of me and cried, “Siste!”
Brilliant white light lit up the street and slammed into the vampire’s chest. He stumbled back, paused for just a moment, and then resumed moving forward.
“Balls,” I muttered, not at all surprised he’d been mostly unaffected by my sun agate. Normally a blast like that would put a vamp out for hours, giving me enough time to call in the cleaners from the Void. But his obvious self-confidence combined with the strange cat and mouse game he was playing meant he wasn’t afraid of me. And there was only one other vampire in New Orleans who didn’t give me a wide berth at all times—Eadric Allcot. If this vampire was as powerful as the leader of Cryrique, I had my work cut out for me.
“Phoebe Kilsen,” he said. “It sure is good to see you out here tonight.”
“Oh? And why’s that?” I asked, judging the distance between us, surprised that Bourbon Street was suddenly deserted. Or maybe I shouldn’t have been, considering a witch and vampire were facing off, both of us displaying powerful supernatural forces. If I could just get close enough I had confidence my paralyzing spell had enough oomph to at least give me a chance to neutralize his ass.
He glanced down at his watch. And when he looked back up at me, his expression was sinister. “It means that pretty soon that phone clutched in your hand is going to ring, and then your world is going to crumble.”
What the hell was he talking about? I didn’t have much of anything to lose. My job was just a means to an end. That left the people in my life. Dax could take care of himself, which meant— I let out a sharp breath and said, “Tal and Willow.”
Satisfaction flashed in his eyes. Suddenly I couldn’t breathe. Tal and Willow. This piece of shit had something planned for the only two people I loved. An ache formed in my gut and quickly morphed into pure rage as my phone rang, the sound eerie in the quiet night.
The vampire’s throaty laugh made something snap inside me, and instead of reaching for the phone, I lunged for him. My fingers barely scraped his cold skin before he leaped out of my grasp, landing a good ten feet away.
Knowing it wouldn’t incapacitate him, I flung my hand out again and aimed the agate at him. This time I felt the word deep in my gut and repeated, “Siste!”
The light blasted him, bringing him to his knees. And when he hit the asphalt, I was already on him, both hands wrapped around his throat. Pure hatred radiated from his eyes as he stared up at me, motionless.
“Never mess with a Void witch or the people she loves,” I snarled and squeezed harder, not that it would do any good. He was a vampire for Christ’s sake. It wasn’t like he needed to breathe, and crushing his windpipe was completely useless. But it made me feel better to inflict any bit of pain on the piece-of-shit vamp.
“You can’t kill me,” he ground out, his words barely audible.
“Maybe, maybe not, but I sure as hell can make you suffer.” Then in one swift movement, I grabbed the dagger from my thigh and stabbed him right in the gut. He went limp and fell over, completely paralyzed.
I scrambled off him and reached for my phone. It had stopped ringing, but a text had popped up. It was from Dax indicating to call him ASAP. I hit his number and the second he answered I said, “It’s Tal and Wil. They’re missing, aren’t they?”
His voice was tired and weary when he forced out “Yes.”
3
The wait for the cleaners to arrive was pure torture. The moment I ended the call with Dax, I placed a call to the Void, requesting backup. They needed to apprehend the vamp, and since my dagger and I were the only things preventing his rising from the dead, I couldn’t leave until they arrived.
Pacing, I worried my bottom lip. Who could’ve taken Tal and Willow and why? The why was pretty simple. Willow had a special power that could turn vampires into daywalkers. Every vampire hive in existence wanted that ability. Allcot had been doing his best to keep her secret under wraps since Willow had accidentally discovered her ability by turning one of his vamps. But secrets like that had a way of spreading like wildfire.
He’d made it known Willow Rhoswen belonged to him and that anyone who came after her or her family would suffer a fate worse than death. I wasn’t quite sure what he meant by that, but knowing Allcot, it involved some sort of heinous torture.