Page 30 of Silent Stalker
He smirked.
In the spanof a single night, Central Park had transformed from a natural refuge in the city to a warzone. Starved, abused vampires hunted for anything unfortunate enough to move, and their bodies bore evidence of recent beatings. Rather than leave and return to the safehouse, Ben and his team stuck around, observing with us from the relative safety of the sidewalk across the street from the park.
“There’s at least twenty of them, maybe thirty, and there are likely more hunting deeper in,” he said, flexing his hands.
I pulled two stakes from out of my boot and handed them over. “Think really nice thoughts about how you really would like the vampire to recover. Focus on the fact they’re victims. It might help.”
Then again, if twenty or thirty went for us at one time, with roughly four-on-one general odds, and that was only if they decided to play fair rather than swarm someone, our survival would need to come first.
On second thought, I retrieved three more stakes and handed them over. “If you aim for the shoulder, that might work. The stakes seem to know when to be nice, so honestly, I’m going to let them sort that out while I just focus on stabbing them in the shoulders.”
Ben took the stakes, tucked three of them under his arm, and held one in each hand. “In any other situation, I would be trying to teach you why this would be an incredibly stupid idea.”
“No lessons needed on why this is an incredibly stupid idea. I realized that trying to deal with this is an incredibly stupid idea.” I gestured to the body of someone who’d been unfortunate enough to be swarmed by the starved vampires. “I just hope it was quick for that poor bastard.”
“It was. His neck was snapped during the attack,” Ben reported. “When the cops tipped us off, they’d had witnesses calling in. There were five vans, and the vampires had been staked until released. The smart bystanders went inside. The idiots stood around to watch the show and didn’t live to regret their choice.”
Damn. “What sort of sick bastard stakes vampires and then just tosses them out of vans?”
“Someone like your maker would be so inclined,” Ben pointed out.
I checked over my stakes, made sure there were plenty where I’d instinctively grab for a weapon, and eyed the starved vampires, who focused most of their attention searching for prey in the park. “Why aren’t they just crossing the street, anyway?”
“Instinct.” Ben pointed at Emerick, who had adopted the classic pouncing cat pose, the tip of his tail twitching. “They sense another predator nearby. Bloodlust makes a vampire strongly attuned to their base instincts, and he’s quite good at waking those responses. With luck, some will be like Luca and grovel. The ones further declined will attack. That they were staked before being dumped means they’re more likely to attack.”
“No complaining if I break my nose or get the snot beat out of me tonight, Emerick. You can nurse me to health after we solve this problem, but I don’t know if anyone is really ready for something like this.”
“We’ll all end up with bruises,” Ben confirmed. “We just need to make sure we limit it to that. Giovanni is already ready for patients, and we’ve alerted the other broods. The guests I was supposed to be moving are now with the brides, and I wish anyone luck trying to get to them there. I contacted the mistresses, and they took over the transfer. They’re on high alert, and they have defenseless men to protect.”
I raised a brow. “What are the odds those poor, defenseless men are going to end up married by the time this is over?”
Ben shrugged. “Luca’s a good candidate, and the mistresses know it. It just means the ladies will get a chance to show their stuff a little earlier than expected. Mistress Avalon, in particular, was delighted with the pickup request for our guests this evening. Point to us.”
“If these vampires don’t kill us, that damned ball will.”
“You will be a jewel above all other jewels by the time the ball arrives, so don’t worry. I thought you would prefer if they were as safe as we can make them.”
“I do prefer they’re safe,” I conceded. “I’m just resenting any reminders of that damned ball. I’m going to have to wear some frilly dress.”
“Would you prefer if I remind you of the need to meet with your father soon regarding the issues of our uneasy alliance and the paperwork you’ve been trickling his way?”
While I didn’t want to kill any of the vampires, if I didn’t vent some of the frustrations boiling beneath my skin, I’d go mad. I took a few steps to gather speed before pouncing in the direction of the nearest vampire. The stake in my right hand glowed and filled me with its warmth. As I wanted my victims to survive, I plowed into my target, using my weight to drive the stake into the vampire’s shoulder deep enough it would stick in his flesh.
Like with my previous targets, the stake opted against killing my prey, allowing him to continue to breathe while otherwise paralyzing him.
The next two vampires fell before the rest focused on me and the three vampires I’d eliminated from the fight. Snatching another pair of stakes, I crouched, ready to take on however many came my way. If they wanted to drink my prey, they’d have to go through me first.
While more animal than human, the thirsting vampires retained enough intellect to realize I’d laid claim over the meal they wanted. The nearest lunged for me, and I twisted, jammed my left arm into his toothy maw, and I stabbed with my right hand, aiming for his shoulder. I missed, jamming the tip through his bicep.
While not his shoulder, it would do, and I dug the sun-kissed wood in deeper.
As paralyzed vampires couldn’t release their prey, I yanked my arm free, hissing at the tearing pain and the heat of my blood trailing over my skin. Emerick joined me, hissing at the collapsing body.
If the oversized cat with an attitude wanted to posture over someone I’d already incapacitated, he could. I focused on my next target, one of many determined to remove me as an obstruction to their next meal. In the future, the next time someone invited me on a hunt, I would demand a guarantee of a fair one-on-one fight.
Unlike Luca, who had retained his preternatural swiftness, most of the vampires I battled moved more like a bad movie zombie, unbalanced and slow. The few capable of swift retaliation earned a stake to a shoulder. One or two landed a bite, which I tallied to my lack of experience dealing with live prey versus ambushing and killing my next meal before I could be attacked.
Had I planned to stake them and drink them dry, I would have finished the job with a great deal more grace and a lot less bloodshed and pain on my part.
