LITMIR.BIZ

       Chapter 5

       “They’re back, and we need to go,” Dale messaged, vying for Derek’s attention, which was riveted to the cruiser getting ready to pull away from the curb.

      He and Dale were on the rooftop of the pub, peering at the scene below after taking this slight detour from their agenda, though it could be a costly detour if they didn’t get moving toward any new vamp problem that turned up.

      He just had to be sure she was safe.

      Derek turned around, nodded to Dale and walked to the opposite edge of the roof, where the shadows were deeper and there was no hint of human presence. It was a shame, he decided, that the owners of these buildings didn’t upgrade their lighting systems. Bloodsuckers hated lights almost as much as they hated noise, and would have been much easier to spot without all that pooling darkness.

      “Marshall will take care of her. You know that,” Dale added, following along in Derek’s wake.

       “Yes.”

       “She’s not your type anyway, Derek.”

      “Most assuredly not,” Derek half-heartedly agreed.

      But the woman had some kind of hold on him that he could not shake. Or didn’t want to.

      She had smelled so damn good. Her skin was like velvet. Yes, she wasn’t a Were. They had nothing in common. Yada yada.

      His head came up. There was a scuffling sound to his right and an unnatural wave in the shadows below where he stood. The sudden distraction broke into Derek’s inner discourse on the pitfalls of human-Were relations. It seemed that Dale had been right. Bloodsuckers were gathering here.

       Hell...

      Derek knew there’d be no way to slow down these numbers unless they could find and deal with their queen. Without a Prime or Master, most vampires couldn’t survive on their own for long. The undead didn’t possess the brains and the skills to keep up their attacks. A Master was just that—the mastermind behind the nest. The core that kept a nest growing.

      There might have been one sure way to find this one, but he wouldn’t go that route, since it would entail bringing back the immortal Blood Knight, who had faced this queen down years before. The same f-ing immortal that had driven a Harley away from Seattle with McKenna Randall on the seat behind him.

      Immortality aside, some women seemed to prefer bad boys in black leather.

      “Five,” he sent to Dale as he peered into the dark. “Five more parasites down there.”

      “Is that all?” Dale messaged back.

      Derek looked at his partner. “Piece of cake?”

      Dale nodded and leaped onto the brick ledge next to Derek. “Right behind you.”

      “I wonder,” Derek sent back, “why it is that I always have to go first.”

      “Shinier badge,” Dale said as they jumped.

      They landed in the alley side by side and on their feet. Derek’s announcement of their presence was a deep, guttural growl that served to halt the moving trail of shadows now hugging the building beside them. He really was tired of fighting vampires without ever seeming to stem the tide, but if he and his pack were to give up, who would take over?

      Beyond the alley, several police and fire sirens wailed in earsplitting decibels that might have caused these vampires to think twice about emerging from behind the pub, if in fact they maintained thoughts about self-preservation. As it was, the swirl of moving darkness pressed on.

      Derek caught one of them with his claws and dragged the bloodsucker backward. The sucker didn’t have much time to protest or put up a good fight, and was reduced to a cloud of flying dust seconds later.

      The vamp in front of that one paused, whirled and hissed like an angry cat through chipped fangs that no longer could have punctured human flesh. Derek tossed that one back to Dale and held his breath as the filthy, foul-smelling ash rained down.

      That little deletion left three remaining vampires. If he and Dale took care of them quickly, he could get a last look at that woman before the officers took her away. One final glimpse was all he needed to settle his nerves and maybe even the question of why he wanted that last look so damn badly.

      He barreled through the vamp lineup like a football lineman and turned to head them off before they reached the street. With Dale bringing up the rear, the three vamps were squeezed between them. It wasn’t much of a party, and the fighting, which didn’t last long, wasn’t pretty. Black blood dripped from Derek’s claws. Ash swirled everywhere like dark, discolored snow.

      Wasting no time, Derek stepped onto the street, careful to keep to the shadows that no longer stank of vampire presence. He leaned forward to view the cruiser that was making its way into traffic. His heart was beating faster than normal and his boots were already starting to move him in that direction...until a claw snagged his belt.

      Dale’s message came through loud and clear. “I wouldn’t recommend taking that next step, boss. And I think you know why.”

      Well...maybe he did know why.

      And maybe he didn’t have to like it.

      Riley stared out the window of the police cruiser until her chills had subsided, but hadn’t gotten anywhere in terms of finding her rescuers. When she thought she saw something, it turned out to be nothing more than a passing flash of tanned flesh seen against a dark backdrop, and could have been anyone.

      She didn’t speak to the two cops in the front seat. It angered her to think that she had nearly been a victim of a violent crime, and that she might have placed herself in danger by following a whim.

      “Turn right, here,” she finally said as the cruiser approached the parking spot where she had left her car. “This is it.”

      No longer feeling quite so weak or frightened, Riley opened the door and got out on steady legs. Her hands didn’t shake when she brushed her hair back from her face.

      “You’ll be okay?” one of the officers asked.

      “Yes. Thanks for your help.” She fished

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