Page 1 of Death Dance

ONE

In my defense, I have a severe allergy to rapists.

Rather than go on a date with my husband, I hunted a miscreant. Skipping out on our wining and dining would drive Emerick wild, as would the knowledge I had, for the first time since my turning, managed to stay up beyond dawn. My choice of breakfast had something to do with my determination to stay awake through the day.

Brandon Smith-Howards enjoyed raping his victims before draining them dry, and as such, I had no interest in fighting him. A sleeping vampire couldn’t lay fang nor finger on me.

Like I had before domestication, I drained the bastard of every drop of vile blood before separating his head from his body. To keep him from rising again, I removed the stake and poured holy water into the hole, which bubbled and frothed.

A silver radiance enveloped the corpse, and when it faded, all that remained was bone and ash. Then, as though the very ground recoiled at the thought of harboring his remains, his bones dissolved away to nothing, leaving me with only his head as proof of the kill.

Emerick would not appreciate me hauling home a miscreant’s head, but I needed to prove the bastard was dead and gone. I already possessed the evidence of his guilt, having saved two of his victims.

I’d captured footage of the attacks on a pair of body cams, and I’d already submitted the evidence to the police.

Pleased with my hunt, I emerged from the bastard’s hiding spot in Central Park to bump into the last vampire I wanted finding me fresh from a hunt: my father.

Then, because my night could get worse, three men with a striking resemblance to dear old dad waited nearby, and they regarded me with raised brows.

“In my defense, I have a severe allergy to rapists, and the only cure is their brutal murder.” I’d heard rumor of my brothers coming to town, but life as the Lowrance brood’s mistress had kept the awkward family reunion at bay. Rising to my feet, I displayed my prize for the quartet to see. “He tasted disgusting.”

Heaving a pained sigh, my father lifted his hand and pressed two fingers to his temple. His efforts wouldn’t spare him.

I had a way of giving the men in my life migraines.

“You do not have to drink them, Pepper,” my father scolded.

“Wasting blood should be a sin. And while I’m questionably domesticated now, a wise woman never turns down free food. Anyway, I did not want this one getting back up, not with his preference of prey. I even stayed up late to take him out.” As I’d done a fabulous job of hunting for him, locating his hiding place, and taking him out, I gestured at the hole. “I triangulated this area to be his hunting grounds, and after I stole two of his meals, I tracked him to here. I gave him two nights, during which I abused some police hotlines to keep the area patrolled so he wouldn’t be able to strike again. I waited for Emerick to go to sleep before leaving this morning, as he’s confident I cannot stay up past dawn no matter what. We’re supposed to go on a date this evening, but I have a feeling I’m going to miss it. We’ll probably survive. Once he finds out I went out in the sun without issue, he’ll even praise me for this morning’s questionable display of independence.”

At first, the sun had scared me, but after an hour of searching for the hole that contained my prey, I’d relaxed and basked in its glow.

I suspected my purpose for being out during the day played a huge role in my ability to withstand the sun.

“Well, yes. You are notorious about sleeping soundly at dawn. I did warn him you would be able to walk under the sun with no problems. He only has himself to blame for your questionable display of independence.”

I snickered; Emerick would lose his mind the instant he woke up and discovered I had given him the slip. The witnesses to my departure had been too stunned seeing me in my leathers and wearing my stakes to stop me, and they likely believed they hallucinated the whole thing. “Did my brothers beat you for your latest transgressions?”

“They tried. They are delightful little monsters. Once they worked their nerves out, as young things must do to be happy, they were content to delay their attempted murder of my person in exchange for meeting you. As you were not home and the guards seemed quite keen on having a babysitter with you, they told me you’d gone off hunting shortly after dawn. As they had the wisdom to ask for my advice, I suggested that they leave their grumpy master to his sleep. If you were trying to be stealthy, I’m going to have to rate your efforts poorly.”

“Stealth was not on my agenda today. Killing this bastard so he wouldn’t rape more women before killing them was. I have done my job well.” I wrinkled my nose, as my victim’s foul taste lingered. “He tasted vile.”

“Pepper,” my father chided.

“I am only partially domesticated, and there is zero point in wasting perfectly edible blood.”

“You do not need to hoard supernatural strengths, young lady. And that is exactly what you are going to do if you keep insisting on draining every miscreant you cross paths with.”

I dismissed his opinion with a wave of my hand. “Complain, complain, complain. If he hadn’t wanted to lose his head and his blood, he wouldn’t have been raping and killing women.”

“She makes a good point, Dad.” One of my brothers, who had come out of the family cloning vat with the greatest success, grinned at me. “I’m Eugene. When Dad said we had a sister, we honestly tried to beat him for lying to us. This old goat only throws boys, and for some reason, most vampires only have sons.”

“Sons are quite vexing,” my father informed me in a solemn tone. “You are prettier, more elegant, and far more cunning than these disgraces ever will be.”

It amazed me that I had no problems determining my father told many lies, and he did so with affection. “Your children might not attempt to kill you as often if you stop annoying them. You’re getting a pass for being an annoyance on grounds of general appreciation of my ongoing existence. I might even get you a nice mug that even acknowledges you’re a decent father some of the time.”

“Don’t even think about it, boys,” my father warned.

All three of my brothers scowled.