job.
"As if I would tell the likes of you," she hissed.
Whatever. I couldn't care less if she told me. I shrugged, using the movement to mask my true intentions as I braced myself for the throw.
The knife flew from my fingers, embedding itself in her eye socket. The vamp fell to her knees with a shriek of agony, her fingers clamping around the hilt of the knife.
A quick pounce, and I was on her, giving the blade a vicious twist before yanking it out in a gush of dark blood and yellow fluid. The ruined eye plopped out onto her cheek, held there only by the optic nerve. So much for icy beauty.
Her scream nearly deafened me, and the blood and eye goo made the skean dhu slippery in my hand. I tried for her throat, but my hand slid, the point of the blade grazing skin and glancing off her collar bone without doing any real damage. Enraged, she gave me a push, heaving me off her so hard I flew several feet across the parking lot. My head connected with the side of my car with a sickening thud, the knife skittering away under the vehicle. The pain and resulting nausea was instantaneous; I had barely enough time to lean to the side before I heaved up what little was in my stomach. Gods, this was the second time I'd lost my lunch during a fight. Good thing I hadn't been eating much lately.
That gave vamp lady enough time to get to her feet. She towered over me, her good eye snapping with anger, hatred, and something else. Something I'd seen once before.
Holy shit, the vamp had a soul.
"So, this is the mighty hunter of Portland, Oregon?" she taunted, her red-painted lips turned into an unattractive snarl. "What a pathetic little piece of trash."
She gave me a swift kick in the gut with her stiletto, which only served to make me puke again. I lay there completely helpless as wave after wave of dry heaves drained me of strength and left me vulnerable.
With a snort of what sounded like disgust, she squatted down next to me and grabbed a handful of my hair, yanking back my head so she could see my face. "Are you finished?" Yep, definitely disgust.
My voice was scratchy and raw, and I swear there were two of her swimming around in front of me. "Not hardly."
With one smooth move, I slid my second blade from my boot and thrust it into her abdomen just about where her diaphragm should be. She stared at me in shock as I ripped the blade downward, using the weight of my body to force the blade through muscle and sinew. With my strength nearly gone, gravity and body weight was all I had left.
Blood bubbled from her lips as she fell to her knees in the gravel. She stared in horror as her innards spilled out, glistening black in the glow of the headlights. She tried to stuff her guts back where they belonged, but I'd done too much damage. A stab wound was one thing, but once the insides were out, there was no coming back. The skin might heal over the mess, but the vamp would be trapped inside a non-functioning body. Nasty. Plus, I'd perforated something vital because the stench was nauseating. If I hadn't already puked my guts out from the blinding headache, the smell would have done it.
"Bitch... " It was hardly more than a whisper, but there was so much anger behind it, I might have been frightened if I'd been thinking straight.
I sank to the ground, my strength completely depleted. I stared up at her as her blood and other gunk poured over me, my knife blade still buried in her belly. I felt the Darkness that lived inside me raise its head. It liked causing pain, and I was causing vamp lady a lot of pain. In my current condition, there was no way I could control the Darkness, so I had to make this fast. I had one question. "Who gave you a soul?"
"Bitch... " Stronger this time. "I'm going to kill you."
"I doubt it. Now answer my question." I gritted my teeth against the throb of pain in my head, reached over, and gave the knife a vicious twist.
She shrieked in agony, trying to pull my hands away from the knife, but she was as
"As if I would tell the likes of you," she hissed.
Whatever. I couldn't care less if she told me. I shrugged, using the movement to mask my true intentions as I braced myself for the throw.
The knife flew from my fingers, embedding itself in her eye socket. The vamp fell to her knees with a shriek of agony, her fingers clamping around the hilt of the knife.
A quick pounce, and I was on her, giving the blade a vicious twist before yanking it out in a gush of dark blood and yellow fluid. The ruined eye plopped out onto her cheek, held there only by the optic nerve. So much for icy beauty.
Her scream nearly deafened me, and the blood and eye goo made the skean dhu slippery in my hand. I tried for her throat, but my hand slid, the point of the blade grazing skin and glancing off her collar bone without doing any real damage. Enraged, she gave me a push, heaving me off her so hard I flew several feet across the parking lot. My head connected with the side of my car with a sickening thud, the knife skittering away under the vehicle. The pain and resulting nausea was instantaneous; I had barely enough time to lean to the side before I heaved up what little was in my stomach. Gods, this was the second time I'd lost my lunch during a fight. Good thing I hadn't been eating much lately.
That gave vamp lady enough time to get to her feet. She towered over me, her good eye snapping with anger, hatred, and something else. Something I'd seen once before.
Holy shit, the vamp had a soul.
"So, this is the mighty hunter of Portland, Oregon?" she taunted, her red-painted lips turned into an unattractive snarl. "What a pathetic little piece of trash."
She gave me a swift kick in the gut with her stiletto, which only served to make me puke again. I lay there completely helpless as wave after wave of dry heaves drained me of strength and left me vulnerable.
With a snort of what sounded like disgust, she squatted down next to me and grabbed a handful of my hair, yanking back my head so she could see my face. "Are you finished?" Yep, definitely disgust.
My voice was scratchy and raw, and I swear there were two of her swimming around in front of me. "Not hardly."
With one smooth move, I slid my second blade from my boot and thrust it into her abdomen just about where her diaphragm should be. She stared at me in shock as I ripped the blade downward, using the weight of my body to force the blade through muscle and sinew. With my strength nearly gone, gravity and body weight was all I had left.
Blood bubbled from her lips as she fell to her knees in the gravel. She stared in horror as her innards spilled out, glistening black in the glow of the headlights. She tried to stuff her guts back where they belonged, but I'd done too much damage. A stab wound was one thing, but once the insides were out, there was no coming back. The skin might heal over the mess, but the vamp would be trapped inside a non-functioning body. Nasty. Plus, I'd perforated something vital because the stench was nauseating. If I hadn't already puked my guts out from the blinding headache, the smell would have done it.
"Bitch... " It was hardly more than a whisper, but there was so much anger behind it, I might have been frightened if I'd been thinking straight.
I sank to the ground, my strength completely depleted. I stared up at her as her blood and other gunk poured over me, my knife blade still buried in her belly. I felt the Darkness that lived inside me raise its head. It liked causing pain, and I was causing vamp lady a lot of pain. In my current condition, there was no way I could control the Darkness, so I had to make this fast. I had one question. "Who gave you a soul?"
"Bitch... " Stronger this time. "I'm going to kill you."
"I doubt it. Now answer my question." I gritted my teeth against the throb of pain in my head, reached over, and gave the knife a vicious twist.
She shrieked in agony, trying to pull my hands away from the knife, but she was as
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