lifted him off his feet, surprising him with its strength and ferocity. Then the two of them were tangled together as they slammed to the pavement, becoming a rolling, snapping, hissing whirl of movement and sound. Ty fought the urge to gag as the other vampire’s fetid breath mixed with the stench of rotting flesh, scents that were utterly overwhelming to his heightened senses. His eyes began to water, and the instant his vision blurred, jaws snapped together less than an inch from his nose.
It was enough to give him the focus he needed to finish it.
Ty threw all of his strength into one final roll, pinning his attacker beneath him in a fluid, lightning-quick movement, and used his claws to pin him by the throat to the ground. The move was an old one of his, well practiced, and Ty hissed, triumphant, when the other vampire stilled instantly beneath him. Claws pierced flesh, puncturing the tender skin just enough to cause intense pain but not true damage.
He might have just finished it then had he not gotten a good look at his attacker first. When he did, vicious pleasure turned to sick pity in one sluggish beat of his ancient heart.
“Gods, man,” he hissed before he could think better of it. “Who did this to you?”
He had seen this sort of cruelty before, though it had been centuries. The vampire beneath him was a shell of a human, an animated corpse that had begun to decompose while he still drew breath. Waxy skin stretched taut over jutting bones. What hair remained on his balding head was patchy and fine. The body beneath him felt like a bag of bones, while the eyes that watched him bulged madly. Thin lips were peeled back over yellowed fangs.
No vampire would deny himself to the point where he became a hunger-crazed zombie, falling apart but unable to die, thinking only of food. But he had seen this done to vampires who had displeased their masters, chained in dungeons until they went mad with hunger for the crime of trying to subvert the order of things in the world of night. And, occasionally, those so-called gutterbloods who had been in the wrong place at the wrong time, who had crossed paths with bored, entitled, and incredibly sadistichighbloods, merited the treatment for no other crime but existing.
The practice had fallen out of use, Ty had thought. But apparently not all the way.
“Don’t matter,” the specter hissed, panting. “I smell your blood, kitty. It’ll do. Give us a drop, will you? Just… a drop… ah, Lucifer’s eyes, but it
hurts
!”
Wave after wave of revolting stench rolled off the pathetic creature that lay beneath Ty, but he forced his revulsion to the back of his mind. There was something
wrong
about this man, this attack. And before he put this creature out of his misery, which he would have to do, he wanted answers.
“Tell me who did this to you, and I’ll see that you are fed,” Ty lied softly.
The other vampire hissed out a laugh, part pain, part madness. But the trace of sanity that remained inside him seemed to emerge, if only briefly. “Lies. Pretty lies. He said you’d say that. But it’s too late for me. I done what I was told. I’ll kill you and feed, or die trying.” The face contorted in agony. “I won’t go back in the dark again… not in the dark, not in the chains…”
Ty’s eyes narrowed, even as pity threatened to derail him. Pity had no place in his world, he reminded himself. The strong survived. The weak would always fall. And if a man wasn’t careful, he could go right down with them for nothing more than a moment’s compassion.
“He
who
? You were sent to hunt me?”
The sick grin was accompanied by a giggle that was near to weeping, and sanity departed again, likely for good. “Not you, stupid bugger. Stupid, stupid kitty. But I kept you busy, didn’t I? No more dark dungeons for me,no more hunger. Stupid stupid stupid to leave the pretty thing aaaaaaaall alone…”
Ty sucked in a breath.
Lily
. He’d fallen right into such a
It was enough to give him the focus he needed to finish it.
Ty threw all of his strength into one final roll, pinning his attacker beneath him in a fluid, lightning-quick movement, and used his claws to pin him by the throat to the ground. The move was an old one of his, well practiced, and Ty hissed, triumphant, when the other vampire stilled instantly beneath him. Claws pierced flesh, puncturing the tender skin just enough to cause intense pain but not true damage.
He might have just finished it then had he not gotten a good look at his attacker first. When he did, vicious pleasure turned to sick pity in one sluggish beat of his ancient heart.
“Gods, man,” he hissed before he could think better of it. “Who did this to you?”
He had seen this sort of cruelty before, though it had been centuries. The vampire beneath him was a shell of a human, an animated corpse that had begun to decompose while he still drew breath. Waxy skin stretched taut over jutting bones. What hair remained on his balding head was patchy and fine. The body beneath him felt like a bag of bones, while the eyes that watched him bulged madly. Thin lips were peeled back over yellowed fangs.
No vampire would deny himself to the point where he became a hunger-crazed zombie, falling apart but unable to die, thinking only of food. But he had seen this done to vampires who had displeased their masters, chained in dungeons until they went mad with hunger for the crime of trying to subvert the order of things in the world of night. And, occasionally, those so-called gutterbloods who had been in the wrong place at the wrong time, who had crossed paths with bored, entitled, and incredibly sadistichighbloods, merited the treatment for no other crime but existing.
The practice had fallen out of use, Ty had thought. But apparently not all the way.
“Don’t matter,” the specter hissed, panting. “I smell your blood, kitty. It’ll do. Give us a drop, will you? Just… a drop… ah, Lucifer’s eyes, but it
hurts
!”
Wave after wave of revolting stench rolled off the pathetic creature that lay beneath Ty, but he forced his revulsion to the back of his mind. There was something
wrong
about this man, this attack. And before he put this creature out of his misery, which he would have to do, he wanted answers.
“Tell me who did this to you, and I’ll see that you are fed,” Ty lied softly.
The other vampire hissed out a laugh, part pain, part madness. But the trace of sanity that remained inside him seemed to emerge, if only briefly. “Lies. Pretty lies. He said you’d say that. But it’s too late for me. I done what I was told. I’ll kill you and feed, or die trying.” The face contorted in agony. “I won’t go back in the dark again… not in the dark, not in the chains…”
Ty’s eyes narrowed, even as pity threatened to derail him. Pity had no place in his world, he reminded himself. The strong survived. The weak would always fall. And if a man wasn’t careful, he could go right down with them for nothing more than a moment’s compassion.
“He
who
? You were sent to hunt me?”
The sick grin was accompanied by a giggle that was near to weeping, and sanity departed again, likely for good. “Not you, stupid bugger. Stupid, stupid kitty. But I kept you busy, didn’t I? No more dark dungeons for me,no more hunger. Stupid stupid stupid to leave the pretty thing aaaaaaaall alone…”
Ty sucked in a breath.
Lily
. He’d fallen right into such a
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