Page 57 of Bloodhunter

The vampires caught the scent of that pure hunter blood and sniffedthe air. Now they not only wanted to kill the hunters, but they craved hisspilling blood.

Shane brought his gun around and began pulling the trigger,but he was losing blood fast and in seconds, he fell to his knees.

I needed help, or we were both going to die. The vampireswere terrified of Silverlight and that gave me an advantage—they knew one slicethrough any part of their bodies would give them the true death—but theirnumbers were large and I, though a hunter, was inexperienced.

Shane Copas was down, and that was my fault.

More vampires poured into the area, attracted by the scentof hunter blood, and as Shane lay on the cold ground, bleeding out, thevampires began to overtake me.

I cut and hacked and sliced, standing over my partner,trying to keep the vampires from getting to him, but I couldn’t hold them allback.

Shane began to die.

A thin female vampire snagged Shane’s jacket and tried todrag him away, despite the silver crucifix around his neck flaring to life andburning off half her face. She persisted, shrieking from pain, and I cut offher arm. She fell on top of him, and she died burning.

Half out of my mind, I screamed for the one person I knewcould help him. The one person I knew could helpme.

And when I called for him, I realized that had been exactlywhat he’d wanted all along. For me to need him.

“Amias,”I screamed.

And the master answered.

He was suddenly in my face, and vampires scattered in hiswake, and though Silverlight went for him, I held her back.

“Save him,” I begged, and with the tip of my blade, I caughtthe silver chain around Shane’s neck. Broken, it slithered to the ground anddied.

For a heartbeat Amias held my stare, his eyes bright anddeep and full of emotion—gratitude, relief, delight, mostly delight—and then heleft me to defend myself and he flew to the injured hunter.

The vampires had fallen back beneath the force of themaster’s will, perhaps from shock at his appearance, definitely from respectand fear, but it would only last while he was there.

And when Amias slung Shane over his shoulder and slippedaway, they were happy to let him go without a fight. The master had the fallenhunter, and they wantedme.

I whirled Silverlight through the air. “Come on, then,” I screamed.“Come and get me. Come andgetme!”

And because they hesitated, I got tired of waiting, and I wentto get them.

Silverlight led the way, and she was raging. She’d beendeprived of Amias, and she hadn’t liked that. She hadn’t liked that at all.

I sliced through milling vampires whose confusion at theappearance of the reclusive master had caused them to waver. But then their hungerand their innate urge to kill a hunter won out, and the battle began anew.

Blood splashed into my face, coating my skin and obscuringmy vision, but Silverlight saw for me until I could blink away the blood. Thefight became more brutal. As did I.

The sword and I began to push back the vampires—and that wassaying something, because they were not weak or slow, those vampires. Theyweren’t like the vampires on TV, but they were stronger and faster than anyhuman. Silverlight was more than a match for them, even if I was not.

Not yet.

But someday, I would be.

When the number of vampires began to dwindle and the fallen,bloody bodies began to smoke, and then to disappear, the remainingbloodsuckers’ fear for their lives prevailed over their need to end mine.

They ran.

And when the night, black and silver and soft yellow beneatha watchful moon, became too quiet and dark and heavy, I slid my cell from mypocket. I held it in my bloody hand for ten minutes before I gained the courageto call Angus.

“Trin. You okay?”

“Angus.” My voice broke into a sob. “I fucked up, Angus.”