She nodded.
Zach zipped away to toss them in a Dumpster, then returned to her.
Lisette finished tucking her weapons away and handed him his.
“Thank you.”
She smiled and grabbed the vampires’ sticky clothing.
“What?” Zach asked as he helped.
“Nothing. It’s just . . .” She straightened. “I like that you let me be me,” she said with a shrug. “I like that you think I’m strong.”
“You are strong.”
“But you also appreciate my femininity.”
“I more than appreciate it,” he said with a leer.
She grinned. “Yet you aren’t overprotective like my brothers and Seth, all of whom can drive me up the wall sometimes.”
“Oh, but I am. I cringe every time a battle arises. And my inner Neanderthal awakens whenever I think you’re in danger.”
“Your inner Neanderthal?”
He nodded. “I believe you met him when I ordered you to never defy me again.”
She winked. “Your inner Neanderthal gave me multiple orgasms.”
And wanted to give her more.
“And if you really were Neanderthal-ish, you would have found some way to keep me at David’s and gone hunting without me these last few nights.”
“I knew you would never forgive me if I did,” he admitted. “And I didn’t want to—I don’t know—stifle you.”
She crossed to him and rose onto her toes to kiss his cheek. “You see? You let me be me.”
“Because I love you as you are. Even when you scare the crap out of me by putting yourself in danger.”
“Sweet-talker.”
He brushed a kiss across her lips, then a second and a third. “You are so tempting.”
“Do you want to call it a night?”
“Yes.”
“But?”
“We need to find a newbie vampire to tag. It’s taking too long. And I was serious when I said I want this shit to end.”
She nodded, face full of regret. “Me too. Let’s get going then and tag one of these bastards before another immortal gets tranqed.”
“Where do you want to search next? UNCG?”
“I think Krysta and Étienne are hunting there tonight.”
“Duke?”
“Sounds good.”
Looping an arm around Lisette’s waist, Zach drew her up against him. “Too tempting by far,” he said with a smile and teleported them.
As soon as the darkness faded and Duke’s campus materialized around them, a foul breeze struck, carrying with it the scents of blood and death.
Zach stiffened and looked around.
Whimpers sounded in the distance, accompanied by growls and laughter.
He jerked his chin to the north. That way.
Lisette nodded, face grim.
Zach took off, streaking through the campus at speeds he knew Lisette could match, always conscious of her at his back.
In the loading dock behind a building Zach wasn’t familiar with, half a dozen vampires crouched in the shadows. Zach drew daggers and peered around the corner, motioning for Lisette to stay behind him.
Like jackals, the vampires feasted on two females, lips locked on every major artery. The girls appeared to be college students. As did the two males, who had been disemboweled and tossed aside like discarded toys. One was dead. The other died seconds after Zach’s arrival. The heartbeats of the females, if they lived, were too faint for Zach to hear above the snarling and bragging and bullshit spouted by the vampires, one of which bore the appearance of a newbie.
How many? Lisette asked in his head as she drew her shoto swords.
Half a dozen. Only one looks to be of the new breed of vampires.
Let’s do this then.
Zach and Lisette stepped from behind the building.
The newbie vampire saw them and rose.
The other vamps followed his gaze and dragged to their feet.
“Who the fuck are you?” one demanded, his mouth and chin slick with blood.
“Is he an Immortal Guardian?” another asked uneasily, and bent to pick up a discarded bowie knife.
“Immortal Guardians don’t walk around shirtless, dumb ass,” the first sneered.
The newbie vampire ignored them and reached behind him.
Zach shot forward, his daggers finding flesh before the vamps even had a chance to react to his first step. As maddened vampires sank to the ground amid a river of blood, the newbie vampire drew a tranquilizer gun from behind his back.#p#分页标题#e#
Zach dropped a dagger and grabbed the vamp’s wrist, forcing the barrel of the gun up.
Behind him, Lisette huffed, “Damn it! You didn’t leave any for me!”
Zach said nothing, just stared into the eyes of the newbie, who reached for a tactical knife on his belt.
As the vampire drew his knife, his body relaxed. His fingers uncurled and dropped the weapon. When Zach released the vamp’s other arm, it fell to his side, still clutching the tranquilizer gun.