Page 18 of Peacemaker

“We?” I dusted myself off as Leo held up a hand to hold off the frightened humans. Shane had disappeared, likely more afraid of the clingy humans than he’d ever been of a vampire.

My werebull charged toward me, tossing his wickedly sharp, oddly changed horns, his dark hugeness causing me to lose my breath for a second. He shifted before he reached me, then gave me a wink and a grin. Still, his stare was sharp as he raked it over my body, checking me for injuries.

“Are you hurt?” he asked.

“Not even a scratch.” But I was worried.

Something was wrong. The vampires were wrong.

Captain Crawford strode toward me, two cops at his back. The city was painfully loud with the disturbing cacophony of piercing, wailing sirens and shrill voices and hysterical, sobbing humans as we stood in the aftermath of that unexpected vampire attack.

“I’ll see you at home,” Angus told me, then took off. Being a naked supernatural in a city that had just been hurt by nonhumans was not a good idea. I watched him go, then my gaze caught on something else.

Someone else.

Clayton.

He stood under a streetlight, his body stiff, his fists clenched, and my heart lurched. I’d seen him in that very pose when he’d belonged to Miriam Crow.

I started toward him but Crawford grabbed my arm. “Trinity.”

I dragged my stare from Clayton and put my attention on the captain and the cops who stood beside him. They were still scared—their eyes were too wide, their bodies twitchy, and they sidled a little closer to me as they kept a watchful eye to the shadows.

“They’re gone, Captain,” I told him.

“Thank you,” one of the cops said. “You saved our lives.”

Crawford nodded. “She did,” he agreed. “She and her hunter.”

“And the supernaturals with me,” I told them. “I’m not your only protection against the vampires. Or whatever those things were.”

“That was some insane shit,” the other cop said, his head constantly moving as he watched for vampires. “Attacking like that…”

And something good came of the vampire attack. I had leverage once again. The city would certainly realize it still needed me.

“What the hell happened?” Crawford asked. “Those weren’t sick vampires.”

“I don’t know,” I said. “I don’t know where they came from or why they were healthy.” Or why they were different.

“Most of our vampires were either destroyed or in hiding,” one of the cops told me. “You helped kill some of them. Did they just rise up from the ground, healed?”

“Not just healed,” the other cop said. “Mutated. Did you see their teeth?”

I shook my head. “I’ll find out what I can. Maybe there won’t be more of them, but until we know for sure, the humans should stay inside when the sun goes down.”

“Most of the victims were wearing silver,” Crawford noted.

“Silver wasn’t stopping these vampires,” I said. “It didn’t affect them at all.”

“That’s impossible.” But he’d seen. He knew it wasn’t impossible.

“You mean they’re immune?” one of the cops squeaked. “To silver?”

Crawford blew out a hard breath. “A couple of the homes had vampires inside, Sinclair. How do you explain that?”

“They can mesmerize humans. Maybe they commanded the humans to invite them in.”

One of the cops put a fist to his mouth, and the other one muttered darkly.

“Yes,” I said. “It’s just that easy.”

“Why didn’t they do shit like this before?” Crawford asked.

“Maybe because before, the vampires and the supernaturals were able to live in a sort of…peace with the humans.” My voice was cold and hard, and I didn’t care. They should know they were being judged. They should know that tonight was their fault. “Now, the humans are persecuting the nonhumans more than ever—and they aren’t going to take that shit. Not just the vampires, but the supernaturals. You guys are going to get a war you might win, eventually, but it will cost you.”

I was making things up as I went, but they didn’t seem to know that.

No one said a word.

I lifted my chin and stared them down. “You think about that, Captain. You carry the events of this night back to Mayor Delaney, and you ask him if he thinks it’ll be worth it. The city needs me, after all, doesn’t it? But I won’t be rushing in to save the humans if those humans are trying to destroy supernaturals.”

I strode away, and I could feel his stare following me as I went to talk to Clayton.