The Last True Vampire(86)
It didn’t mean he wouldn’t put them down if need be.
He caught one of Siobhan’s guards in the ribs with the dagger, cutting just deep enough to immobilize him. Another Mikhail took down with a kick to his knee. The third went down in a blur of motion as he snatched the male in his grasp and lifted the male’s body high over his head, bringing the guard to the floor with enough momentum to create a fissure in the old tiles.
That left one lone opponent, and he was a burly son of a bitch.
Mikhail spun the dagger in his palm, choking up on the hilt. He hadn’t felt so alive in centuries as he circled the dhampir whose hawkish gaze assessed his every move. “Your affront to my queen will not go unpunished, vampire.”
Cocky. And a little misguided. Siobhan was no more a queen than the slayers were human, but Mikhail wasn’t about to mince words at this point. “And her affront to me will not be tolerated.” He attacked with blinding speed, sending the dhampir immediately into retreat. The male fought like an animal, snarling, swinging out with wild thrusts, the dagger held tight in his right hand while he parried Mikhail’s attack with the dagger in his left. A surge of strength shot through Mikhail as the sun finally dipped below the horizon. It was time to go to Claire and end this nonsense between them once and for all.
Mikhail spun, catching the dhampir on the backswing, and the male went sprawling to the floor like a felled tree. The male flipped onto his back and rolled his legs up, propelling his body from the floor in a graceful arch. With a wide sweep of his leg Mikhail caught the dhampir before the male could get his footing and sent him back to the floor. Mikhail brought his fist up high and rammed it into his opponent’s gut, knocking the air from his lungs.
The male rolled onto his stomach, scrambling to his knees as he fought for breath. Mikhail’s lungs didn’t require oxygen and perhaps he’d shown the dhampirs in the course of their fight that they could benefit from the transition. Truth be told, he didn’t want any of them—including Siobhan—as enemies. But until they came to their senses and cast off their prejudice and sense of entitlement he had no choice but to consider this coven hostile.
He stalked across the vast room to where Siobhan lay against the far wall. Still dazed, she stared up at Mikhail, her eyes flashing with angry fire. “I took you in,” she seethed. “Sheltered you from the sun and watched over your mate. And this is how you show your gratitude?”
“My gratitude is shown by the fact that you’re still alive, Siobhan.” Mikhail tucked the procured dagger into the empty sheath at his thigh. “Don’t forget it is I whom you answer to, not the other way around. Pray I continue to show you my benevolence. I’ll send someone to retrieve my confiscated weapons, and in the meantime I suggest you think long and hard about your future.”
She pushed herself up to sit and graced him with a sweet smile. “And perhaps you should do the same, Mikhail.”#p#分页标题#e#
He inclined his head and turned his back to her, strolling slowly from her presence and that of her guards. It was time for Mikhail, the last true vampire no longer, to show those who thought him weak just how powerful he was. And in order to truly do so, he needed his mate by his side.
* * *
Claire paced her tiny living room as her stomach tied itself into an unyielding knot. Mikhail was likely being tortured right now by Sortiari assassins and she had no idea who to turn to for help. Despair pooled in her gut until her entire body ached from the worry she felt. Since dropping the mental and emotional barrier she’d constructed to block her connection to Mikhail she’d hoped that if he could get free from his captors he’d find her easily. The detective who’d questioned her had Claire freaked the fuck out. She wasn’t safe. None of them were. And it was time to circle the wagons if they had any hope of surviving Mikhail’s enemies. If she’d had only herself to worry about, Claire doubted she’d be quite so worried. But the little guy growing inside of her deserved all of the protection he could get. And she couldn’t keep him safe without Mikhail’s help.
Not for the first time, Claire cursed her lack of a phone. Even if she did manage to find the number to Mikhail’s house in the hopes of tracking Alex or Ronan down, how in the hell was she supposed to get ahold of them? Using the pay phone down the street would leave her too exposed. If the Sortiari knew where she worked, it wasn’t a far cry to assume that they knew where she lived.
God, Claire. How could you be so stupid? An unspoken rule of the hustle: Always cover your tracks.