Page 71 of Bloodhunter

Chapter Twenty-Five

I had to be careful—vampires full up on blood would bestronger than ever. But they’d also be careless. One human body to sharebetween two scavengers was a feast they had likely, depending on their ages,never before experienced.

They’d stumbled behind a huge, empty brick building, climbedinto a dumpster, then pulled the lid over them.

I motioned quietly to Clayton, then pointed. He nodded andstarted toward the dumpster, moving like a silent shadow.

I reached for Silverlight. The sword slid from the sheathwith a barely there snick and then expanded with a light so intense it wasalmost a sound.

She attached seamlessly, her light traveling up my arm andover my shoulder, and half a second later, Clayton flipped the lid over theside of the rusty container.

I was ready for them when they leapt screaming from the darkdepths. Silverlight sliced through one as Clayton slapped the other one withthe silver chain. It spun around the vampire’s neck like a lasso and began toincapacitate him immediately.

The chain had burned halfway through his throat before Iwithdrew the sword from his dead friend; Silverlight went immediately for thesilvered vampire, but I sheathed her before she could fight me for him.

I needed one of them alive.

And I also needed him to be capable of speech, so I draggedthe chain off his throat and down his body, leaving it to rest over his heart.

Clayton held the flashlight while we waited for him torecover his vocal cords. I hunkered down beside him, watching the glisteningrawness of his throat slowly darken and close.

When he spoke, his voice was almost too hoarse tounderstand. He tried to lift his hand to the silver burning into his chest, buthe was simply too weak, and the silver was too strong. “It hurts a lot,” headmitted, matter-of-factly, and with an absolute absence of hope.

I blinked, and reached for the chain before Clayton took my wrist.“Answers first,” he said gently.

Killing vampires was one thing. And maybe a couple of weeksago, torturing one of the assholes would have given me pleasure. But now…

Now it didn’t.

I cleared my throat. “Answer my questions and I’ll releaseyou. If you lie to me, I’ll walk away and leave you here with this chain untilthe sun comes to finish you off. Do you understand?”

“Yes,” he said. “Ask.”

He was young. Very young. Most of the old vampires had dealtwith torture, either by humans or by their masters. This one wasn’t hardened,and he wasn’t tough. He just cried quietly from the agony and the fear, thehuman’s blood leaking from his eyes in crimson tears.

“I don’t want to die.” His dark stare pinned me in place.“I’ve seen people return from the after. I don’t want to go to where there’ssuch desolation.”

“God,” I whispered.

It didn’t help that he reminded me of my little cousinWilliam, who’d died in a pool of blood, died because I hadn’t saved him. Ihadn’t even told him goodbye. But I’d led Amias to him. I’d done that.

“Trinity,” Clayton said, sharply. “Ask your questions.”

Maybe this was my job. Maybe this was what I was. But maybeI didn’t want it anymore. I didn’t seem to be very good at it.

I cleared my throat and tried to remember what vampires haddone to me. What they’d done to my family. What theywere. “Tell meabout the human you just ate.”

He didn’t hesitate, another trait of the young. An oldervampire would have died to keep his secrets, not because the secrets were worthkeeping, but because he was a vampire. Vampires didn’t give in to humantorture.

“The demon killed her,” he said. “We watched him. When hefinished, we fed. She was already dead. We didn’t do anything wrong.”

Simple, quick, and to the point. And exactly as I’d expected.I leaned closer. “Where does the demon live?” Because that was the informationI really needed.

He coughed, and blood spurted from his mouth, splattering myface.

I recoiled and wiped my face on my sleeve, but the blood seemedto burn my skin. “Tell me. Where is he? I know you know.”

And when he hesitated, I put my palm on the chain and pressed.I cringed, but I did it.