Weapons still at the ready, Krysta glanced at him when he trailed off.
The vampires shifted and exchanged confused looks. At least those who weren’t twitching with the need to attack.
“You know what?” Étienne said finally. “This is pointless. Every vampire here is so insane they’re making my head hurt.” He swung his swords with a flourish and met her gaze. “Now it’s on.”
He blurred, shooting forward with incredible speed. Blood sprayed as carotid arteries sprang leaks in the wake of his blades. Two vampires swung their weapons wildly, then sank to their knees, hands grasping their throats and trying futilely to staunch the flow of their life’s blood. A third engaged Étienne, the battling duo blurring and zipping around like the Tazmanian Devil.
The two remaining vamps faced Krysta with evil smiles. Their orange auras streaked toward her a second before their forms leapt forward. She swung her blades, scoring hits that sparked snarls of fury. And retaliation.
She began a slow trek backward as she swung where their auras directed her. Her thigh stung as one of their blades cut through her clothing and hit flesh. Then her side. Her hip. Her swings and thrusts neither ceased nor slowed.
Something large flew over her head and hit the brick wall to her right hard enough to shower them with dust. The vampire Étienne fought?
One of her opponents slowed and stumbled, dropping the bowie he had swung wildly. Blood poured from his wrist and neck.
About freaking time! It usually didn’t take her that long to find the arteries. She was off her game tonight.
The other vampire jerked backward, then hit the wall beside the other one.
Étienne was on him so fast she couldn’t see exactly what he did. But when he stilled and stepped back, the blades of his swords dripped crimson liquid and the vamp began to shrivel up.
Breathing hard, Krysta lowered her weapons.
Étienne turned to her, eyes glowing a vibrant amber. Ruby droplets speckled his face and glistened on his clothing. “Are you all right?”
She nodded and smiled. “We rock!”
Some of the tension left his shoulders. Shaking his head, he wiped his blades on his coat and sheathed them. “Where are you hurt?”
“What makes you think I’m hurt?” She didn’t want to admit it. If he knew she was injured every time she hunted, he might refuse to hunt with her again in an attempt to protect her and . . .
Well, she didn’t know what would happen next. She’d like to think she would just go back to hunting on her own, but doubted Étienne or the elder immortals would let her.
That galled a little.
Or a lot.
“I can smell your blood,” he said, closing the distance between them. “And you’re favoring one side.”
Thwarted again by his acute senses and attention to detail.
Since she couldn’t refute it, she settled for making nonsensical grumbly noises as she wiped her own blades clean and sheathed them.
“Krysta.”
“It’s just a few cuts.”
“Where?”
“My left thigh, my left side, and my right hip.”
His jaw clenched. Leaning down, he swept her into his arms. Though he was careful not to touch any of her wounds, it still hurt.
“I can walk,” she insisted between teeth gritted against the pain.
“You wouldn’t be able to keep up.”
The world around her blurred. A strong breeze whipped through her hair, tugging it across her face.
When everything came back into focus and her hair fell away, she discovered they stood on top of a building down the street.
“Wow. You weren’t kidding when you said I couldn’t keep up. What—?”
“I didn’t want to take any chances. The mercenaries always seem to show themselves after the fight is over, as though they want to make sure they nab the immortal victor instead of the vampires.”
Alarm rose. “Did you see any closing in?”
“No. Will you watch the battle scene for me while I inspect your wounds?” He gingerly lowered her to her feet. “Are you okay to stand?”
“Yes and yes. I really don’t think the cuts are too deep. They just hurt. And stop looking like that.”
“Like what?”
“Like I’ve suffered a mortal injury or something and you want to go back and kill the vampires again.”
“Here.” He handed her his infrared scope. “I would go back and kill the vampires again if I could. I don’t like you getting hurt. I don’t like you being in pain.”
She raised the scope to her right eye and squeezed her left eye closed. The world appeared before her, normal black combined with weird shades of blue and purple and occasional splashes of yellow, orange, and red.