All The Time in The World<\/a><\/p>\nA Grimm Prequel\u00a0<\/address>\nStandalone<\/address>\n\u00a0<\/address>\n~*~<\/address>\n Hunter’s Choice<\/a><\/p>\nA Hunter’s World short story<\/address>\n ~*~<\/p>\n A Present for Christmas<\/a><\/p>\n Just click<\/a> for more info<\/em><\/p>\n \u221e<\/p>\n A Stroke of Dumb Luck<\/a><\/p>\n This story is also available for download from major ebook retailers.<\/p>\n Enjoy this prequel to my series, The Colbana Files.\u00a0<\/em>If you like it, you can check out my alter-ego, J.C. Daniels<\/a>…or just buy BLADE SONG, the first book, now only $2.99<\/em>.<\/p>\n Amazon<\/a> | BN<\/a> | iBookstore<\/a>\u00a0| Smashwords<\/a> | Kobo<\/a>\u00a0| Indie Ebooks<\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n My sword arm is mighty.<\/p>\n I will not falter.<\/p>\n I will not fail.<\/p>\n My sword arm is mighty.<\/p>\n I will not falter.<\/p>\n I will not fail.<\/p>\n My . . . ass is fucked.<\/p>\n I knew it as sure as I knew my own name: Kit \u201cMy Ass Is Fucked\u201d Colbana.<\/p>\n There was no way I was getting out of this, and I knew it. I hadn\u2019t stood much of a chance anyway, but what in the hell was I supposed to do? Just walk away?<\/p>\n Actually . . .<\/p>\n \u201cStop,\u201d I muttered. Yeah, walking away might have been the smart thing to do.<\/p>\n But it wasn\u2019t really an option for me. I might not be a pureblood aneira, I might be a mongrel, and I might be a sorry excuse for one of those fabled warrior women\u2014but so what if most of them looked down their pretty noses at me. I didn\u2019t turn my back on people who\u2019d asked me for help. If I died for it, then I died for it.<\/p>\n Mama would be so proud.<\/p>\n The tunnel was dark.<\/p>\n I hated the dark.<\/p>\n Memories of things best forgotten tried to scramble up from the depths of my mind and sink nasty, grimy claws into me, but I pushed them aside. Couldn\u2019t think about that. Not right now, not if I wanted to reach the rat leader\u2019s lair before sundown.<\/p>\n Well before sundown. I knew what was going to happen at sundown, and fear tried to wrap a sweaty, meaty fist around my throat. In a deliberate attempt to block it out, I summoned up one thing guaranteed to knock that fear into place\u2014anger.<\/p>\n The memory of Colleen\u2019s terrified face was just enough to do it.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s Mandy, Kit. She\u2019s with her boyfriend, and I couldn\u2019t talk her out of it. She wants him to change her, buys into all the propaganda and thinks it will fix her.\u201d<\/p>\n Fix her. Ha. You can\u2019t fix a girl with leukemia by giving her a rat bite. Or a wolf bite. Or a cat bite. Most likely, the virus would either kill her or wouldn\u2019t affect her at all. Only six percent of the bitten actually caught the virus. Sex was a more likely way to catch it, and man, I hope she wasn\u2019t planning on getting laid\u2014not with them. Not with the rats. Hell, catching the virus would probably kill her sooner than the leukemia.<\/p>\n If Mandy had been with the wolves or the cats, I wouldn\u2019t worry so much\u2014they were freaky enough, but they had a pretty strict set of rules they followed, and the girl wouldn\u2019t get hurt. Actually, the alphas would probably have her cute little butt escorted right back to Colleen\u2019s house, which was where a fifteen-year-old girl belonged at night.<\/p>\n But the rats\u2014hell. The rat pack was a problem in Orlando. A very big problem. Drugs. Theft. Other unsavory things, but nothing that could be pinned on them. It was all just suspicion at this point. Most of us wanted them gone, but until they broke enough rules, the Assembly would ignore them. Which meant we didn\u2019t have the justification to exterminate the entire pack.<\/p>\n Okay, personally? I thought there was plenty of justification.<\/p>\n Only I wasn\u2019t exactly the best choice for the job. If there were a true aneira around, sure.<\/p>\n But for now, we\u2019d have to wait for the other shapeshifters to get tired of cleaning up the messes the rats made. Either that or . . .<\/p>\n A whisper of ice danced along my spine.<\/p>\n I shivered and resisted the urge to glance around.<\/p>\n Resisted the urge to see if I was being followed. I\u2019d already killed three lesser rat scouts, and man, oh man, did I hope I could get out of there before that was discovered. Technically I had no legal reason for being down here and no legal reason for killing them, although if this ended up in front of the Assembly, I\u2019d have a good argument.<\/p>\n If I got out of this alive. And that entirely depended on whether I could make it to the lair before the dead bodies were discovered . . .<\/p>\n The rats liked to rest up before the full moon\u2014and they liked to party hard with pharmaceutical help, so it was possible.<\/p>\n Up ahead, I saw just the faintest lessening of the gloom.<\/p>\n Gripping my sword, I swallowed.<\/p>\n Let them be sleeping . . . please . . .<\/p>\n If they weren\u2019t sleeping, I was more than likely going to be dead in another couple of minutes. I\u2019m sorry, Colleen. I tried.<\/p>\n The good news was . . . if I died, something would finally be done about the rat pack.<\/p>\n Too many people knew where I was going\u2014I\u2019d made damn sure of that, and if I disappeared, if something happened to Mandy . . . well, the rats were screwed.<\/p>\n I\u2019d put in calls to the liaisons for the wolf and cat packs, as well as some others. My not-so-loving family, for one. They might not adore me, but they\u2019d be madder than hell if I ended up dead and nobody had responded to my request for assistance. I\u2019d also put in calls to others who had a voice in the Assembly.<\/p>\n Basically, I\u2019d spoken to just about anybody who\u2019d be able to rain hell on the rats if I ended up dead. And the alphas of the other packs, too, since by rights, they should have been here. Shifters were territorial bastards and always tried to handle their issues on their own. They damn well should have sent somebody.<\/p>\n Hell, I\u2019d even been counting on it\u2014had been hoping one of them would have the decency to handle it\u2014after all, a human teenager in the rat pack on the night of the full moon was the very definition of not good. They should know this. But my calls had been either ignored or channeled over to voice mail. Why in the hell were alphas and witches and vamps using voice mail?<\/p>\n I reached the end of the tunnel and pressed my back against it.<\/p>\n It was silent, save for the low, soft sounds of people breathing and the occasional snore. Man, was I lucky enough that they were all asleep?<\/p>\n Only the alpha\u2019s most trusted would be allowed in his lair, and Eddie didn\u2019t trust many\u2014didn\u2019t like too many, either.<\/p>\n Ideally, he should have some of his people on guard. The skin between my shoulder blades itched, and this time, I let myself look back down the tunnel\u2014nothing.<\/p>\n Gripping my sword, I eased just the barest bit into the lair. It stank of piss, blood, sex, and sweat.<\/p>\n I wasn\u2019t part rat, and the smell was an assault on my senses\u2014how could they stand it?<\/p>\n Just inside the doorway, with his back pressed against the way, I saw one of the guards. He hadn\u2019t seen me . . . yet. He wouldn\u2019t, either.<\/p>\n I wasn\u2019t full-blooded aneira, but there was no denying I was at least part aneira. One of a legendary race of skilled assassins.<\/p>\n Why were they legendary? That mighty sword. That \u201cI will not falter, I will not fail\u201d mantra.<\/p>\n And the fact that they could will themselves completely invisible for short periods of time. Long enough to take my blade\u2014an enchanted blade that had been passed from mother to daughter for centuries\u2014and push it inside the rat-shifter\u2019s heart. As I did, I covered his mouth with my hand, muffling his scream.<\/p>\n If anybody woke, they\u2019d see the struggle\u2014the shifter\u2019s body arching up, the few drops of blood smoking.<\/p>\n But they wouldn\u2019t see me.<\/p>\n And yes\u2014because that is my luck\u2014somebody woke, although the guard died very, very fast.<\/p>\n I heard the confused \u201cWhat the fuck?\u201d just as I pulled my smoking blade from the dead man\u2019s chest.<\/p>\n Shifters really weren\u2019t that easy to kill. Not without silver or an enchanted sword. Plus, his being stoned had helped. It also helped that everybody else in the room was sleeping the sleep of the equally stoned.<\/p>\n I couldn\u2019t count on that luck holding, though. I pressed my back against the wall and eased my way around the room as somebody crawled out of the pile of bodies and made his way over to check on the fallen guard. He was tipsy, staggering back and forth, and as he passed by, I caught the pungent stink of Torque coming off him.<\/p>\n Hell, no wonder none of them were stirring, if they were all sleeping off the effects of partying with Torque.<\/p>\n It was a shifter-made drug, designed to keep up with their metabolism. It was like ecstasy and heroin combined\u2014and an overdose of them at that. When humans got their hands on it, it did bad, bad things.<\/p>\n Hell, it did bad, bad things to shifters. They really couldn\u2019t afford to lose control, not when they were so much stronger, so much faster than the humans. But the kind of people who liked to do drugs didn\u2019t care about that.<\/p>\n And the kind of people who\u2019d let a sick, scared fifteen-year-old into the lair of the rat king weren\u2019t going to be all that concerned about what kind of condition her mind was in.<\/p>\n \u201cHey . . . bro . . . Mont, you okay, man? Told you it was a bad idea to do that third one.\u201d The man snorted and giggled as he knelt down by the dead guard. \u201cEddie is gonna piss if he sees you sleeping. C\u2019mon, you don\u2019t wanna spend the moon in the cage. . . . Hey. Mont. Wake up. . . . Mont?\u201d<\/p>\n I heard his voice break. Kind of like a little boy\u2019s.<\/p>\n Guilt clawed at me, but I ignored it. I didn\u2019t like killing, but a couple of dead rat shifters meant nothing compared to Mandy. In my gut, I suspected she would be dead if I didn\u2019t get her out of here. Leukemia had weakened her system so much\u2014the virus would kill her, I knew it.<\/p>\n Fuck you all for not having the decency to help one screwed-up kid, I thought, thinking about the others I\u2019d called, those I\u2019d reached out to for help. Rage started to burn away the fog of guilt and fear. They were so much better equipped to handle this, so much more prepared. They weren\u2019t something barely more than human with a knack for turning invisible.<\/p>\n Fuck this. And fuck them. I\u2019d find Mandy, and I\u2019d get her out of here.<\/p>\n No sooner had that thought circled through my mind than I saw the pale, strawberry gold of her hair streaked with bright, cotton candy pink. She was snuggled up against the pale, skinny chest of some guy with a scraggly goatee and hair that needed to be washed. Even from here, I could smell the drugs in her.<\/p>\n That would be her Lothario, then. Man, I ought to kill that bastard, too. I reached up, touched my bow. There was enough light in here. I could see well enough to use my bow, and the arrows were silver-tipped, hollow-pointed. A family design, you could say\u2014filled with something that would kill the weaker shifters and slow the stronger ones for days. Silver nitrate.<\/p>\n Should I?<\/p>\n Could I?<\/p>\n In the back of my head, I heard a mocking, chiding voice. You are such a poor, sad excuse of an aneira\u2014why were you sent to us? In the days of old, one as weak as you would have been strangled with your own cord.<\/p>\n It was the voice of my Aunt Helene. My mother\u2019s sister.<\/p>\n She would have stood there and killed every last one of the shifters, and hell, Mandy, too. A kindness\u2014she is already dying, it would end her suffering.<\/p>\n I swallowed the bile churning up the back of my throat and moved to stand closer to Mandy, thanking whatever weird quirk of fate had her and her boyfriend lying off to the side instead of in the strange doggie\u2014or rat\u2014pile most of the others were in.<\/p>\n Now . . . how in the hell did I get her up and out of here?<\/p>\n That was when the drugged-up shifter finally figured out his sleeping buddy wasn\u2019t sleeping.<\/p>\n He started to wail. That was all it took. In the moments it took for the other shifters to wake, the first one\u2019s grief bled over to fury and he started to shift.<\/p>\n Fuck.<\/p>\n I backed away and sheathed my sword.<\/p>\n Okay, so maybe I couldn\u2019t shoot a bunch of sleeping shifters. But if I had to, I could shoot them while they were awake.<\/p>\n My heart knocked against the wall of my chest, and I could see several pairs of beady eyes swinging my way.<\/p>\n Calm down\u2014<\/p>\n I am aneira. My blood is noble. My heart is strong. My aim is true. I am aneira\u2014<\/p>\n Five seconds into the stupid little mantra and my heart rate leveled out, but I couldn\u2019t count on them not noticing me if I stayed on the other side of the room. They\u2019d pick up on the strange, single heartbeat.<\/p>\n Then again, I didn\u2019t want to get any closer, because my bow and arrows weren\u2019t as useful at close range and we were already too close.<\/p>\n Once more, a whisper of cold wrapped around me\u2014all around me, it seemed. Pressing tight, almost a physical touch. It was enough to make my heart slam once more against my ribs.<\/p>\n IamaneiramybloodisnoblemyheartisstrongmyaimistrueIamaneira\u2014<\/p>\n That cold, viselike pressure eased just a bit.<\/p>\n Oh, holy fuck what was this?<\/p>\n I felt a pressure against my mind.<\/p>\n *Little warrior.*<\/p>\n It was a fucking voice.<\/p>\n In my head.<\/p>\n In my total and utter shock, I almost screwed up completely\u2014almost let go of the magic that made me invisible. At the very last second, right as my hands and feet were wavering into focus, I snapped myself together. Shit.<\/p>\n *Be at ease, little warrior. . . . I mean you no harm. But do you want to live or not?*<\/p>\n Well, that wasn\u2019t a hard question. Living was good, in general.<\/p>\n *Then stop panicking. For the love of all that\u2019s holy, do not get any closer to the rats. And stay here.*<\/p>\n Then, just that easy, that cool touch was gone.<\/p>\n And so was the voice in my head.<\/p>\n Stop panicking\u2014that was good advice.<\/p>\n Not getting closer to the rats\u2014that sounded good, too.<\/p>\n But staying here? No. Especially not as there were two slinking close, too close, their bodies a strange mix of human and rat. I drew my bow, notched an arrow. Aimed, released. The first one was barely on the ground and convulsing before I did the same to the second rat.<\/p>\n Then I moved.<\/p>\n All hell broke loose about the same time.<\/p>\n None of the rats were sleeping now. Those who hadn\u2019t changed were in the process, all save for the rat king.<\/p>\n Eddie Avila was standing in the middle of the lair, his arms hanging loose at his sides and an icy look of rage on his narrow, handsome face.<\/p>\n I knew Eddie.<\/p>\n We both hated each other\u2019s guts.<\/p>\n If he suspected I was in here, he wouldn\u2019t hesitate to kill Mandy.<\/p>\n I had to do something before that happened.<\/p>\n Planning\u2014not my strong suit. I\u2019d been taught sword fighting, hand-to-hand, and although I was nothing compared to the real aneira, I could fight. I just couldn\u2019t form a plan of attack\u2014they\u2019d kicked me out before I\u2019d gotten around to that part of my training.<\/p>\n Please don\u2019t let Mandy pay for my screw-ups. That\u2019s all I wanted, right then. If I died, fine. But not the kid. Her life had already been hard enough.<\/p>\n To focus their attention away from the girl, I started taking down rats at random.<\/p>\n In between the fourth and the fifth, I felt that cold wrap around me again. *What part of \u201cstay\u201d did you not understand?*<\/p>\n I didn\u2019t know how to answer. If I just thought, would he hear me?<\/p>\n *Yes.*<\/p>\n I had the strangest sense that he sighed. I didn\u2019t hear it, but I felt it.<\/p>\n *Be grateful none of them can read minds, little warrior; otherwise, you would have died in the tunnel.*<\/p>\n Great. A mind reader. I sighted on another shifter. Aimed. Before I could loose the arrow, the cold tightened\u2014wrapping around me until I couldn\u2019t have moved to save my life. Or Mandy\u2019s. *Stop killing them. You\u2019ve already taken out ten of his men\u2014I\u2019m going to have my hands full keeping Avila from killing you over that.*<\/p>\n There\u2019s a girl here. A human. If you know a damn thing about Avila, you know what will happen to her when the sun sets tonight. It\u2019s a full moon.<\/p>\n *I know. I received your message. And if you would have just waited a few hours . . .*<\/p>\n He\u2019d received my message?<\/p>\n Who the hell . . . ?<\/p>\n But before I could finish that question, Eddie bellowed out, \u201cEnough!\u201d<\/p>\n The power in his voice, the command, was enough to have every last one of his people cowering. They were bound to him, by blood, by oath. The madness and the fury I saw in his eyes might have been enough to make me cower if I hadn\u2019t been so worried about Mandy.<\/p>\n As he started to prowl the lair, his eyes paused here and there to linger on the bodies of the dead.<\/p>\n That was when I realized the arrows were visible.<\/p>\n And he recognized them, too.<\/p>\n Eddie grabbed one and ripped it out of the chest of the dying man. The man screamed, but it was lost in the sound of Eddie\u2019s roar. \u201cYou fucking cunt\u2014where are you?\u201d<\/p>\n A cold trickle of sweat rolled down my back. What in the hell did I do now?<\/p>\n The temperature in the lair bottomed out.<\/p>\n The rats didn\u2019t notice, but I sure as hell did. Trying not to let my teeth chatter, I found myself staring hypnotized at the space right in front of Eddie. The space that had been empty just a few seconds ago . . . but wasn\u2019t now.<\/p>\n Now it was filled with plumes of smoke.<\/p>\n No, not smoke . . . mist. It was mist, and that mist was rapidly becoming man-shaped.<\/p>\n A shape that now looked terribly, terribly familiar.<\/p>\n The trickle of sweat rolling down my spine might as well have been a flood.<\/p>\n If that was who I thought it was, I was so terribly fucked.<\/p>\n Jude.<\/p>\n I\u2019d met him before, and there was no mistaking him. He wore his pale blond hair pulled back into a short tail at the nape of his neck. His body was deceptively lean, and power hung around him like a cloak.<\/p>\n The vampire master did not like being pulled into the politics of petty, lesser creatures. And compared to them, all creatures were petty and lesser . . . at least in the eyes of vampires.<\/p>\n Yes, I\u2019d put in a call to him, but it had been a last-ditch desperation sort of thing. . . .<\/p>\n Of course, I was desperate.<\/p>\n \u201cHello, Eddie,\u201d Jude said, his voice polite, friendly.<\/p>\n Eddie, still holding one of my arrows in his fist, stared at Jude. Even from where I was standing, I could see how pissed he was. His eyes, normally brown, had gone black and beady\u2014rat\u2019s eyes. But when he spoke to Jude, his voice was almost as polite and cool as Jude\u2019s.<\/p>\n \u201cJude. I wasn\u2019t expecting you.\u201d<\/p>\n Jude cocked a blond brow. \u201cI\u2019ve got to say, that surprises me. You should have been expecting me, or the alphas from the shifter packs, at the very least. You have a guest here who shouldn\u2019t be here. Not today, of all days.\u201d<\/p>\n If I were Eddie, I would have been shaking in my boots. But Eddie didn\u2019t look worried. Didn\u2019t even look disturbed. He gave Jude a toothy smile and said, \u201cThe girl came of her own free will. If she wants the bite, who am I to say no?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cShe told you she wanted the bite?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThe bite. The fuck. We gave her that . . . and more . . .\u201d<\/p>\n Fury erupted through me. Too late, I realized that was what Eddie had been hoping for. But I didn\u2019t think about that until I\u2019d dropped my invisibility. \u201cYou child-raping son of a bitch,\u201d I snarled as I shimmered into view.<\/p>\n Eddie smiled in hot, feral satisfaction, but it only lasted a split second\u2014the arrow I\u2019d loosed right before I let myself be seen was now buried in his crotch.<\/p>\n Rats lunged for me, and I braced myself for the impact.<\/p>\n Two seconds later, hard arms came around me and I was airborne.<\/p>\n *You little fool\u2014he hasn\u2019t touched her. He said that just to anger you.*<\/p>\n \u201cWell, it worked,\u201d I snarled, struggling to free my hands.<\/p>\n \u201cBe still,\u201d Jude said.<\/p>\n \u201cI need my hands,\u201d I said. The rats were boiling too close to Mandy, and she was still sleeping in her drugged daze. Shit, what had she used?<\/p>\n Eddie was screaming\u2014all but howling down below us. I glanced up and saw that Jude had somehow found a perch, of sorts. He was gripping something that jutted from the ceiling\u2014an iron pipe? I couldn\u2019t tell. He didn\u2019t seem at all concerned with my weight, or with the fact that we were dangling twenty feet in the air above the wererats. The rats were all but foaming at the mouth now.<\/p>\n After tearing the arrow out of his crotch, Eddie dropped to the ground and curled into a ball. I have to say, the sight of it pleased me. A lot.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m going to gut you, you little cunt. I\u2019m going to gut you for this,\u201d he panted, glaring at me.<\/p>\n I bared my teeth at him. \u201cYou\u2019ve been saying that for years, sugar. Hasn\u2019t happened yet.\u201d<\/p>\n Jude murmured, \u201cWell, precious, unless you\u2019ve put an arrow in his crotch before, he probably has new resolve. Now, help me out here and be quiet.\u201d<\/p>\n I felt the press of his mind again, and although it felt alien as hell, when he pushed inside my head, I let him. *How old is the girl?*<\/p>\n Fifteen. She\u2019s fifteen years old, and she has leukemia. Her boyfriend knows it, too, because her mother made damn sure to tell him.<\/p>\n *Fifteen\u2014*<\/p>\n Suddenly, it was a whole lot colder in there.<\/p>\n And we were on the floor. I don\u2019t even remember how it happened. We were on the floor, and the guy who\u2019d been lying by Mandy was suddenly flying through the air. I heard a sickening thud as his head struck the concrete wall. As he slid down, I caught sight of blood and other wet things, but I didn\u2019t look too closely. If his brain hadn\u2019t been completely scrambled he\u2019d live, but if Jude decided to go after him, he might not want to.<\/p>\n I wasn\u2019t going to worry about the shifter, though. I was too busy worrying about the vampire in front of me.<\/p>\n Suddenly, I was wishing fervently that I hadn\u2019t called Jude.<\/p>\n That pale, pale skin of his was glowing. So were his eyes. I don\u2019t know what color his eyes normally were, but right now, they glowed red as hellfire and they were focused on Eddie. It seemed Eddie suddenly realized he had a much, much bigger problem than the arrow I\u2019d put in his crotch. He would survive the poison, but he might not survive Jude.<\/p>\n \u201cThat girl,\u201d Jude said, his voice a low, silken drawl. \u201cHow old is she?\u201d<\/p>\n Eddie jerked a shoulder in a shrug. \u201cWhat the fuck do I care? One of my rats wants to bring somebody to the party, they can. Pussy is pussy, right?\u201d<\/p>\n Jude bent down and grabbed Eddie by the throat. Eddie tore at his hands and snarled. As Jude lifted him, he started to shift. Jude grabbed Eddie\u2019s crotch. Still using that same silken voice, he warned, \u201cIf you go rat on me, I rip it off. And if it happens while you\u2019re in human form, we know it won\u2019t grow back, boy. So . . . how hurt are you? Can you shift fast enough?\u201d<\/p>\n Eddie paled, and the black fur that had been creeping over his flesh started to recede. \u201cLook, you got a problem with the girl being here, just take her. Take the girl, take the cunt, and go.\u201d<\/p>\n I stroked a hand down my bow. I was getting very tired of him calling me a cunt. But at the moment, I was too scared of Jude to say anything.<\/p>\n I watched as Jude\u2019s hand tightened around Eddie\u2019s throat, tighter and tighter until his fingers actually penetrated the skin and Eddie\u2019s blood flowed in red rivulets. \u201cShe\u2019s fifteen, Eddie. Fifteen, and she has a disease.\u201d<\/p>\n From where I stood, I could see both Jude\u2019s face, and Eddie\u2019s. I watched as Jude closed his eyes, watched as he breathed deep. When he opened his eyes, they were still glowing, but there was a sadness there under the anger. \u201cIf you had bothered to look, just once, you would have known she was ill. If I can smell it in this vile pit you call a lair, then you would have smelled it as well.\u201d<\/p>\n Eddie gurgled out something, but the words were garbled, unintelligible. Disgusted, Jude dropped him to the ground.<\/p>\n Thanks to the poison I\u2019d pumped into him with my arrow, he was slow to heal, taking almost five minutes before he could speak. When he did speak, his voice was rasping and harsh as he said, \u201cIf she\u2019s sick, it doesn\u2019t matter to me. If she wants the bite, she wants the bite.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cHer being fifteen does matter, though.\u201d Jude glanced at me, and then at the girl, who still slept. \u201cI think I\u2019m going to do the rest of us a favor and just challenge you. You\u2019ve broken too many laws, and it\u2019s time you were dealt with.\u201d<\/p>\n Yes. Were we finally going to be done with this piece of shit?<\/p>\n The color leached out of Eddie\u2019s face, but then he narrowed his eyes and looked at me. \u201cFine. But as the cunt killed ten of my men without provocation, she\u2019s to face me first\u2014her offense is more grievous than mine.\u201d<\/p>\n Well, fuck.<\/p>\n I didn\u2019t let that bastard see the fear curling through me. I put my bow away and drew my sword. The blade glinted in the dim light as I lazily spun it in the air. \u201cCome on, rat-boy. Forget the challenge . . . we can dance here.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cOh, no, cunt. I want this done right and proper\u2014and when you\u2019re on your hands and knees, begging for your life, I might let you have it\u2014after I\u2019ve made you my little cunt,\u201d Eddie sneered.<\/p>\n I barely saw Jude move. Then Eddie was peeling himself off the floor, staggering a bit. \u201cWe\u2019ll renegotiate the terms.\u201d Jude\u2019s tone was bored, but his eyes were icy. He stared at me, all but daring me to say anything.<\/p>\n Oh, I wouldn\u2019t dare. He scared the shit out of me.<\/p>\n Eddie, despite the blood pouring from a gash in his temple, smiled. \u201cI\u2019m not surprised, Jude. What are the new terms?\u201d<\/p>\n The amount of blood a shifter\u2019s throat could put out was amazing. It painted a red arc across the dingy room. I was still gaping as Eddie\u2019s body toppled to the side. His head was still attached, barely.<\/p>\n But his eyes . . . they were lifeless.<\/p>\n \u201cYou die now.\u201d Jude\u2019s voice rang through the room with resounding finality. Blood splattered his face, but he didn\u2019t seem to notice. \u201cIt seems easier, I think.\u201d<\/p>\n Shit. Holy shit.<\/p>\n \u201cI never did care for his attitude,\u201d he murmured. At the sound of his voice, I tore my eyes away from the dead rat king and stared at the vampire.<\/p>\n He reached into his pocket and withdrew a snowy white handkerchief, then wiped the blood from his face.<\/p>\n Okay, so he had noticed the blood.<\/p>\n I heard something snarling, hissing, somewhere near my feet.<\/p>\n \u201cMove over beside me, if you please,\u201d Jude said, his voice still calm and level. Like we were talking about something trivial at afternoon tea.<\/p>\n Staring at the center of his chest, I moved toward him. I could feel the hot, panting breaths of angry rats at my back. Big angry rats. The moment I was next to him, he shoved me behind him and started backing toward Mandy. \u201cYou\u2019re a lot of trouble; do you know that, little warrior?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI have a name,\u201d I muttered.<\/p>\n \u201cDo you?\u201d<\/p>\n I curled my lip at him. Hell, we\u2019d met four different times. It had been mandatory that we meet at least once. Since I wasn\u2019t entirely human, I\u2019d been forced to \u201cannounce\u201d myself to the other nonmortals when I moved to Orlando. As the oldest being in the city, and certainly one of the most powerful, Jude was one of the unofficial people in charge.<\/p>\n Yes, we\u2019d met. And yes, he\u2019d been told my name\u2014I just wasn\u2019t important enough for him to remember, I guess.<\/p>\n And it was easier to think about that sort of thing than the fact that we had about nine shifters heading right for us. He could handle them. Mandy and I couldn\u2019t.<\/p>\n \u201cSo, little warrior, what is your name?\u201d<\/p>\n I frowned at his broad back. \u201cIt\u2019s Kit.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cCan you lift the girl, Kit?\u201d<\/p>\n I could. As I was crouched down, I caught sight of the furry tide of death rolling closer and closer. Black, angry eyes stared at me.<\/p>\n They all wanted me dead.<\/p>\n \u201cYes, they do. But that\u2019s too bloody bad for them,\u201d Jude murmured. \u201cGet the girl now, Kit.\u201d<\/p>\n His voice, so calm and cool, did something to ease my fear somehow, and I managed to brace Mandy\u2019s body with mine and stand, staggering. I\u2019m stronger than humans, but not by much. I wouldn\u2019t be able to hold her and run.<\/p>\n \u201cYou won\u2019t need to. Just give her to me; then be ready.\u201d<\/p>\n I wasn\u2019t ready. Nowhere near . . . but it didn\u2019t matter. Seconds later, both Mandy and I were airborne.<\/p>\n Even while he was flying us through the tunnel, somehow cradling Mandy\u2019s body in his arms, with me perched on his back, I still wasn\u2019t ready.<\/p>\n The rats were chasing us, but they couldn\u2019t keep up with a flying vampire.<\/p>\n \u201cI cannot take you all the way home\u2014I can travel in the light only in mist form, and I cannot fly you. But you have a car. I\u2019ll make sure you\u2019re not followed.\u201d<\/p>\n When he landed, I was hard pressed not to kiss the ground, nasty sewer and all.<\/p>\n I glanced at the ladder leading out and then at Mandy. Hauling her up would be fun. Behind us, I heard snarling and hissing\u2014the rats, already gaining on us.<\/p>\n Thanks to the wonders of adrenaline, I got Mandy in a modified fireman\u2019s hold and managed to get up the ladder.<\/p>\n It wasn\u2019t until I saw the brilliant orange glow of the setting sun that I realized I was going to live through this. And so was Mandy.<\/p>\n \u201cOf course you\u2019ll live through it.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cDamn it,\u201d I snapped, glancing down at him. \u201cWould you stop that, already?\u201d It was damned unnerving, being around somebody who could so easily peer inside your mind.<\/p>\n He chuckled. Then he shot me an unreadable look. \u201cWe\u2019ll meet again, little warrior.\u201d<\/p>\n Then he launched himself out of my line of sight, no doubt toward the oncoming furry tide.<\/p>\n As screams of pain filled the air, I half carried, half dragged Mandy to my car.<\/p>\n Somehow I\u2019d lived through it. A stroke of dumb luck. But I was alive. Mandy was alive.<\/p>\n Thank God.<\/p>\n Then I glanced at the gaping pit in the ground. \u201cThank you, Jude.\u201d<\/p>\n Amazon<\/a> | BN<\/a> | iBookstore<\/a>\u00a0| Smashwords<\/a> | Kobo<\/a>\u00a0| Indie Ebooks<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<\/h3>\n
![\"free](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.shilohwalker.com\/website\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/04\/photo2-150x150.jpg?resize=150%2C150\")
<\/a><\/p>\n![\"free](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/img2.imagesbn.com\/images\/138270000\/138278915.JPG?resize=180%2C270\" "\\"A")
<\/a><\/p>\n