Page 56 of Bloodhunter

He glanced at me, as though he felt it—as though mybloodlust was coming from my pores. Or maybe he had the same bloodlust. He wasa hunter, after all.

Then the vampires—despite two people standing back to back,one with a shotgun and one with a lethal sword, both with stakes, silver, andholy water—attacked.

We were hunters.

And as much as the hunter lusted after the death of thevampire, so the vampire lusted after the death of the hunter.

It all came down to which of us was the strongest, fastest,and luckiest.

“There are a lot of them,” I murmured, and my voiceshook—but with excitement. Not terror.

“Give Silverlight her head,” he said. “She’ll take care ofthe rest.”

“I know. Still, there are only two of us.”

“Four.”

“What four?”

“You, me, Silverlight, and Betty.”

“Betty?”

“My shotgun.”

Then the vampires were upon us, and Betty spoke, her voiceechoing through the night as she cut down half a dozen of the advancingvampires.

“Wow,” I said.

“Silver shot,” he replied, proud.

And I thought maybe he wasn’t hating on me quite so much.

Then there was no more time for talking. Only for killing.

When Silverlight sliced through vampire flesh, it was asthough I not only held the blade, Iwasthe blade. I swam through blood,hacked through bone, twisted into hearts. I had no fear.

“We call you Death.”

I was hyperaware of everything. Every sound was magnified,every sight was more vivid, every scent was more fragrant.

I found Gray’s scent again, with that extra boost, but hewas not, at that moment, high on my list of priorities.

Also with that hyperawareness, I felthim,Amias,watching from the shadows.

Why did he watch? I didn’t know.

But his proximity helped me. Not because he made me feelsafe, but because he made me feel savage. I killed with a viciousness I wouldsurely regret later, because it changed me. It made me one of them—one of the revolting,ferocious, killing vampires.

And then, Amias stepped from the edge of the woods. He stoodthere, in plain view, a challenge, a threat.

Atarget.

Shane pointed the shotgun at him and started to pull thetrigger. And I didn’t hesitate. I screamed a denial and launched myself betweenthe gun and Amias. It was a terrible, instinctive reaction I had absolutely notmeant to do, and Shane’s eyes widened as he watched me use myself as a fuckinghuman shield for the vampire Ihated, and in that awful distraction, avampire caught him around the neck. His blood spurted into the air as thevampire punctured an artery, and for one long second, the fight halted.

Time slowed down.

I landed on the ground, rolled, and came up swinging,horrified at what I’d done, what I’d caused.