Page 120 of Bloodhunter

Silverlight sparked once before she slept, and I slid herinto her sheath without taking my stare from the advancing master.

The supernaturals stood with me, silent, waiting.

Amias had helped save my life once again, and there wasn’tone among us that didn’t believe his death would mean mine.

Amias stopped, finally, and stood close enough for me toreach out and stake, had I wanted to. Close enough to touch.

“What happened?” I asked him, as I’d asked him earlier.

“We were infected,” he said.

“Red Valley vampires?” Shane asked.

Amias nodded, but didn’t take his dark stare from mine. “I wokeup tonight to this. Nearly all of them infected.” He gestured at the dead wholay in bloody mounds upon the ground. The ones Silverlight had killed hadalready disappeared, but the grim piles of empty and still smoking clothingthat remained showed where they’d once been.

There was something in his face, something so stark anddespairing and grief-stricken that I wanted to cry for him.

Then in the very next second, I wanted to punch him.

“Had the woods not been heavy with the perfume of your sexand that magical scent new hunters possess,” he said, “the vampires would not havegathered here, and the humans would have suffered.”

I wasn’t sure whether to blush or to pale, and I remainedsilent as I tried to ignore the looks the supernats were giving me.

“That would have caused some turmoil,” Rhys said,matter-of-factly.

“They didn’t appear to have much in the way of commonsense,” Shane noted, then leaned over and drove a blade through the heart of atwitching vampire.

Amias flinched but said nothing. He knew they had to die.

“How did so many of them become infected?” I asked, crossingmy bloody arms. “And how could they not have known? Wouldn’t they have been awareof being munched on by one of their own?”

“It’s worse than that,” Amias said, tonelessly. “They wereinfected by feeding. Animals are now carriers.Humansare now carriers.If we eat, we become infected.” He lifted his stare to mine. “There will be fewpure humans left.”

“What will happen?” I asked, too tired to comprehend thehugeness of his words.

“We will starve,” he replied. “Or we will feed and get sick.We will be wiped out. It happened before, centuries ago.”

“Natural occurrence that keeps the bloodsuckers from takingover,” Miriam said. “Exterminated by a disease. It’s a good thing.”

Amias didn’t so much as glance at her. “Those of us who livewill need to find pure humans from whom to feed.” He slid his glittering stareto mine. “I am lucky that I already found mine.”

“You haven’t found anything.” I took a quick step back, asthough he might suddenly grow hungry and sink his fangs into my neck. Or maybeI was afraid he’d hit me with his irresistible…lustpower and I wouldthrow myself at him.

“I could eat for a month by licking the blood from yourbattered body,” he said.

And it didn’t matter that I was injured and exhausted and hadjust spent two of the most intense hours of my life in Clayton’s arms.

The master’s voice slid over my skin and stirred things deepinside me, and I shivered with a desire as delicious as smooth dark chocolate.

I might despise him, but the man could make me hot byopening his mouth and caressing me with his words. And that was just wrong.

I swallowed hard and looked away. “The vampires are going todie. All your food is contaminated.” I couldn’t help it. I started to laugh.

“You’re hysterical.” Amias looked down his nose at theothers. “Take her home. Give her a hot bath and something strong to drink.” He startedto turn away, then hesitated. “Sheismine. Someday, I will destroyanyone who touches her.”

Shane narrowed his eyes and lifted his shotgun. “You don’twant to threaten us, vampire.”

Amias wasn’t far from wrong—I was giddy. But I was stronger.A week ago the battle I’d just been involved in would have had me in thehospital.