Cain tossed a concerned look at Faye who was still keeping up with him. “You should have stayed back.”
“I’m nearly as strong as you,” was her reply.
He doubted that. Yes, as a vampire female she was stronger than any human, but she was no fighter. She wasn’t trained, not like him.
But before he could contradict her, his eyes perceived movements in the dark. He focused on it. Thomas had already reached the spot and now cursed, “Christ!”
Cain and Faye reached him two seconds later.#p#分页标题#e#
“Help!” Blake called out as he spotted them, while he was dragging himself out of the murky water, his legs kicking at an alligator whose massive snout with its fangs was snapping at him.
Cain’s head whirled to where he heard water splashing and to his horror he saw Eddie engaged in a fight with another alligator, this one even larger than the one chasing Blake.
Thomas was already lunging toward the alligator whose mouth was veering toward Eddie’s arm as the young vampire lost his footing in the shallow bank of the murky waterway and stumbled backward.
“You stay here,” Cain ordered Faye and jumped toward Blake, grabbing him under the arms and pulling him from the reach of the attacking animal just as its jaws snapped shut, hitting air.
Cain blindly tossed Blake behind him and lunged toward the alligator, his hands having already turned into claws. With them, he dug into the animal’s jaw, one from the top and one from the bottom, and ripped its mouth open. A row of deadly canines gleamed in the moonlight that filtered through the trees.
The animal thrashed, its tail whipping back and forth, whirling up the water and splashing it so high and far that Cain was instantly doused in the dirty liquid. But Cain didn’t let go and continued to spread the alligator’s jaw wider until he finally heard it snap and go slack. He’d disabled the animal’s primary weapon, but its massive tail continued to thrash and was just as much a danger as its teeth.
Cain grabbed the alligator behind its head and pulled. Had he been human, he wouldn’t have been able to move the easily three hundred pound animal even an inch, but with his vampire strength he swung the alligator into the air, making a hundred-and-eighty degree turn. The alligator’s body slammed against a tree with such force that the trunk of the tree cracked.
Having temporarily dazed the alligator, Cain jumped onto its back, ripped its head upward and sliced his claws across the animal’s throat. Blood spilled, the stench of it filling the night air. Cain tore at the head, ripping it off the body. Beneath him, the thrashing stopped. The alligator was dead.
Breathing heavily, his eyes searched for Blake. He found him sitting up against a tree stump, while Faye ripped one of his pant legs open, exposing a wound, where the alligator had gotten to him before Cain had arrived.
At the sound of another splash in the water, Cain whipped his head toward it and saw an alligator drop into the water, seemingly lifeless.
“Fuck!” Thomas cursed and reached for his mate. “Are you okay?”
Eddie breathed heavily, but nodded and waded out of the water, Thomas by his side. “There were three of them. I managed to kill one.” He pointed to a spot on the banks where Cain now noticed another dead alligator. “But then these two attacked, and I tried to keep them off Blake.”
Thomas pulled him into a hug. “Thank God you contacted me.”
Eddie smiled at his partner. “Can’t beat telepathy between blood-bonded mates.”
“You scared the shit out of me.”
“I’ll make it up to you later.” Eddie pressed his lips to Thomas’s and kissed him.
Cain looked away and walked to Blake. He crouched down to him and looked at the wound. “Are you all right?”
A bolt of jealousy hit Cain when he noticed Blake only reluctantly pulling his gaze away from Faye.
“Pain’s a bitch.”
“We’ll take care of it,” Cain assured him. “Can you walk?”
“With a little help.” Then Blake turned back to Faye. “Cain, don’t you wanna introduce us?”
He’d rather not, but given the circumstance, he didn’t have a choice.
“Faye, that’s Blake. Blake, this is my fiancée.” He glared at his human colleague, making sure he understood that she was off limits, but Blake didn’t even look at him and already held his hand out to her.
“Bond,” he said with a smile. “Blake Bond.”
Cain rolled his eyes. Did Blake really have to lay it on that thick again? Did he not realize that his 007 routine wouldn’t earn him any points in view of the fact that he’d only moments earlier screamed like a little girl?