God, what had the town been called? She shrugged as the name eluded her memory.
Second tumbleweed on the left and straight on until morning type of town, total Hicksville… If the agency hadn’t called her off the trail to go join the hunt for a rogue angel, she’d have had these three under lock and key a month ago.
She automatically checked the chains hooked onto the loops of her belt. A buzz of power vibrated against her fingers as they brushed the restraints. The chains were intricately woven Fae-steel, enhanced with magic to make them far more powerful.
Fae-steel could hold almost any paranormal out there, essential for a woman with a delicate build like Cassia’s. Yeah sure, she was a vampire, but contrary to human belief, vampires weren’t the biggest badasses walking the dark. Some of the creatures Cassia dealt with in the course of her job were far nastier, so she needed every edge possible.
Cass was a bounty hunter, one specializing in paranormals. Bounty hunting was a dangerous game at the best of times, even if you dealt strictly with humans. When you didn’t, you needed serious kick-ass weaponry… or a death wish.
A third vampire emerged from the shadows, engaging the lone female -- the mark -- in conversation. Cass felt the blast of charm as he dazzled his victim and started to draw her towards an alleyway. The two other vampires followed.
“Thank you, handsome. Dead end alley. That makes my job easier,” Cassia muttered, and pushed off the wall. Her heels clicked against the tarmac as she followed, single-minded on her objective despite the tantalizing scents in the air. Human blood, contained within skin and veins but so close to the surface, called to her. She ignored the rumble in her stomach. Work first, then a snack. She could get lucky later and find someone in the club who wasn’t opposed to supplying both her needs; blood and sex.
Her long strides ate up the tarmac as she crossed the road, hugging the leather biker jacket close about her slender form. Her shiver was automatic and almost authentic. Cass didn’t feel the cold. It was an act, and one she was good at.
Some vampires couldn’t fake human. It was all in the details. Most lost the ability once they’d been “dead” a while. A couple of decades later, vampires forget things like breathing and that humans couldn’t go statue-still for an hour as they thought about something.
Cass, though, had been playing human far longer than she’d been one. It helped that she was a turned vampire. Some born-kyn never worked it out, never really understood the minute differences in human and vampire behavior.
Then there were the ones who knew the differences and knew the rules -- there were a fair set of those when you were turned: Don’t harm when you feed. Be considerate to your donor. Clean the skin up and don’t leave a mark, Cass listed as she turned the corner into the alleyway. Some people knew the rules and broke them anyway.
Like the three musketeers here.
She paused a step inside the alley, her eyes narrowing as she took in the scene.
Just as she’d suspected, Charmer, her least favorite of this oily little trio, had his fangs gum-deep in the girl’s neck. His arm was locked around her in a no-nonsense hold, snaking under one arm and crosswise across her body to the other shoulder, and one of his hands forced her head over to one side so he could feed. The others watched from the shadows.
Even from her position at the entrance to the alley Cass could see the girl’s face paling, her hands scratching at her captor’s arm. The muscles of the vamp’s throat worked as he swallowed, his eyes half closed in bliss. A deep sigh escaped Cassia as she flicked her jacket open. “Okay, honey-bun, we can do this the easy way or the hard way.”
The vampire lifted his head, lips stained with blood. “Fuck off and get your own food.” He bared his fangs before biting the girl again, a savage strike that made the girl’s body jerk like a puppet. The other two moved to his side.
Cass didn’t let her worry for the human show on her face or in her voice. “Now that was just unpleasant. No need for language like that, especially in front of a lady.”
She made her move, her hand reaching past the short stakes holstered at her hip and going straight for the warded chain. The bounty on these three was high so she didn’t want to dust the guy. A girl had expenses. The streaks in her hair alone cost a fortune and the specialized vampire tanning booths? She might as well re-mortgage her condo.
The vamp chuckled, his eyes raking her slender figure, and he disengaged his fangs for a moment. “Hold your horses, sweetheart, plenty enough for everyone. If you’re good, I’ll do you while you feed… You look like you need to get laid, help calm you down a bit.”
“Oh, really? How about we don’t and say we did…” Cassia glided across the ground between her and the vamp, the movement taking less than a heartbeat.
“Wha…” Her quarry blinked in surprise. It was obvious he hadn’t expected Cass to move so fast, nor the Fae-steel in her hand. Cass suppressed the small smile on her lips. They thought she was a newbie, a baby vamp barely out of her grave.
She didn’t blame them. The human-like coloring, the tan and the streaks in her hair were all designed to give that impression. Surprise was one of her best weapons -- no paranormal expected a near-human to be hunting them.
Stepping back, he thrust the girl at her. Cass took it in stride, sidestepping to catch the human with her free arm. She sensed rather than saw someone enter the alley behind her. The aura, the buzz against her skin was of power, but it didn’t have the sharp, zippy feel of another vamp. Taking a chance she spun the girl under her arm and pushed her that way. “Here, hold this.”
The girl taken care of, Cass’s attention snapped back to the vamp. He backpedaled, eyes frantic as they moved between her face and the length of chain in her hand. Cass flicked her wrist, snapping the chain out like a whip.
“You… you…” he stammered, reaching the back of the dead-end alley and looking around for an escape, desperation on his face. Cass had seen it all before. A previously docile paranormal could go skitz at the mere sight of a Fae-steel chain, like the dryad she’d brought in the other week.
She’d had a very pleasant conversation with her about the money she owed to certain people, and she’d been very co-operative -- right up to the point where Cass had pulled out the warded chains. Then she’d gone bat-shit on her. It was like the sight of the Fae-steel had brought it all home.
“You expected someone else? Maybe the Easter Bunny? Kinky… Sorry, guys, roleplay costs you extra.” The chatter rolled off her tongue easily as she stalked them.
Cass was far older than she appeared, and she’d been tracking and bringing marks in since before this guy had been born, in either of his incarnations.
Charmer’s gaze latched onto Cass as she stood blocking their path, a lazy flick of her wrist snapping the chain in her hand every so often. All she had to do was get the chain on him and the wards would do the rest. It didn’t matter where; just one closed loop of chain would be enough, then the enchantments would lock and seal the loop into place.
“Bitch,” he snarled and made a break for it. He feinted right but darted to the left instead quick as a snake. Cass was ready for him. Another snap of her wrist and the chain whipped out lasso-like. Catching him around his wrist, the Fae-steel went from fluid to a solid manacle in a heartbeat.
“That’s Ms. Bitch to you.” She yanked on the chain, hauling him to her in a quick movement that belied her appearance as a newbie vamp. New vampires only had such strength just after they were turned, then the high of the conversion drained off and it took years to build up again.
Ignored his struggles, Cass snagged the other two, and reached for the charms set into the chains. A practiced flick of her thumb triggered each of them. She smiled and waved as the magic expanded out from the warded beads and enveloped her captives in glowing orbs reminiscent of a sci-fi transporter.
Beam me up, Scotty. The orbs shrank back to nothing, taking the chains and the vamps with them. They would reappear in holding cells back at base, ready for processing, and in three days’ time, her money would appear in her account. Minimal fuss and no paperwork. “God, I love my job.” She turned to thank her impromptu helper and stopped dead in her tracks.
Still holding the girl she’d thrust into his arms was the hottest looking guy she’d ever seen. Well over six feet, he had a build yummy enough to make her mouth water and the face of a dark angel. Her eyes skipped over him, from the top of his shaven head -- a look she’d never considered hot before -- picked up the silver ring in his brow and flicked down to check out the package before she looked back at his face.
Everything female in her went tight, a yearning she’d never felt before drawing her to him as her vampire side went cold. He was her ideal man. Just one problem…
No way was she f**king a demon.
Chapter Two
She was amazing, more than amazing. Tiny’s heart still raced from watching the no-nonsense way she’d dealt with the vamp. He had a healthy respect for a woman who could take charge of a situation. In Hell women were as capable as men. They had to be. A person had to look out for number one down there, end of story. However, of all the things she could have been, a bounty hunter hadn’t even crossed his mind. He eyed the delicate chains hanging from her belt with trepidation.
Warded Fae-steel with a hunter’s mark, they were the kind of thing even he’d be hard pressed to get out of. Well, he could, but that would require a shit-load more power than the low-level, part demon he appeared to be should have. Using that much juice would ripple across the witching, alerting every warden and demon in the area, not to mention cluing the other staff at the club into the fact he wasn’t who he said he was.
Hell, the amount of power he’d have to use to break those chains would burn an image of his face into the witching for all to see. Like the paranormal version of “Tiny wuz here.” He smiled to himself. Perhaps he should drop his trousers and leave an imprint of his ass instead, flick the bird to the universe.
“Something’s amused you at least. Glad I could provide the night’s entertainment, but hadn’t you best check on sleeping beauty? She isn’t looking so hot.”
Her voice pulled Tiny out of his reverie and he blinked. As the words penetrated the thick fog clouding his brain, he looked quickly at the girl in his arms -- the unconscious girl in his arms. “Fuck.”
“Short and succinct.” The female vamp’s lips curled into a smile as Tiny tried to find a pulse. He swore when he couldn’t locate one. His fingers were too big for delicate work like this.
“Don’t worry. I’m picking up a heartbeat, and her heart isn’t laboring, so he didn’t take too much blood. You might want to get her checked out at the local emergency room to be on the safe side though. Humans can be weird when shock sets in.”
Tiny breathed a sigh of relief as he found a pulse, confirming the vamp’s words.
The last thing he needed was a death on his watch, particularly a vampire kill. His boss Knuckles would go insane. If there was anything Knuckles hated, it was vampires. Tiny couldn’t blame him. The guy had nearly lost his wife to a bloodsucker, so it was understandable.