Page 5 of Immortal Unveiled

Hamish reached him and stopped, his eyes focused on the two vampire hybrids. “Doesn’t look like nothing to me.” He made a motion to march past Manus, but Manus grabbed his shoulder and held him back.

“Don’t. They need to have it out.”

Hamish raised an eyebrow. Then he slowly nodded. “’Bout time, I guess.” He leaned one shoulder against the wall, crossed his ankles, and exhaled. “So, who’s winning? Should I be putting my money on one of them?”

Manus shrugged. “Your guess is as good as mine. They’re pretty equally matched, if you ask me.”

“Pretty good form too,” Hamish noted. “Light on their feet.”

Manus gazed at the two Scanguards bodyguards. “Hmm. Not bad. A bit unrefined. But trainable. Give ‘em a few decades, and they’ll be almost as good as us.”

“Yeah, almost,” Hamish said, smirking. “Shame they’re using up their precious energy on each other rather than on creatures that really deserve it.”

Both hybrids’ heads suddenly whipped toward Hamish, and they stopped in mid-punch. Their eyes narrowed.

“Did they just say almost as good as them?” Grayson asked, exchanging a glance with Ryder.

“I heard that too,” Ryder said, tilting his head and tossing Hamish and Manus an assessing look. “Wanna rephrase that, guys? You should know by now that vampires are physically stronger and faster than you.”

Manus grinned. “Yeah, vampires. But last time I checked, you were only half vampires.”

“Yeah, half-breeds,” Hamish tossed in, barely suppressing a chuckle.

“Maybe we should give them a taste of our strength,” Grayson suggested, “since they don’t seem to know what we’re capable of.”

Manus knew only too well what vampire hybrids were capable of. They were as strong as their vampire fathers or mothers, yet their human genes made them less vulnerable. Though they could be killed by silver bullets or a stake through the heart, the rays of the sun couldn’t hurt them. But instead of acknowledging that, Manus turned to Hamish.

“They’re way too easy to rile up, don’t you think, Hamish?”

“Yeah, barely a challenge,” his compound brother admitted.

Outraged huffs reached Manus’s ears. He turned his head to look at the two youngsters. “You guys done now? Or do you want to go another round?”

Both tipped their chins up in defiance.

“Good,” Manus said. “Then let’s see what Pearce has got for us today. Can’t stand around and play all day.” He turned and walked toward the command center. “And put your fangs away.”

He didn’t wait for a reply but continued walking, and seconds later, he heard the two guys follow him and Hamish retreat in the other direction. Manus opened the door to the command center. Pearce, their resident IT genius, sat in front of a bank of monitors. He turned his head briefly and nodded.

“About time. You oversleep or something?”

Manus marched toward him. “Nope.”

“Hmm. Got some work for you.”

The door closed behind the two hybrids.

“Yeah, an assignment?” Grayson asked eagerly.

Pearce glanced over his shoulder. “Oh look, the kids are here—” He stopped himself when he noticed their bloodied noses. “Run into some demons on your way here?”

Manus slapped Pearce on the shoulder. “More like run into some egos.”

Pearce chuckled and turned back to his monitor. “Figures.” Then he mouthed to Manus Who won?

I did, Manus mouthed back and winked at his colleague.

Pearce rolled his eyes, then he pointed to a file he’d just pulled up on the screen. “Got something for you.”