his parents while Nathan had been made to stand by helplessly and wait for news of their demise.
But...no longer. He was an elder now and at the helm of The Vampire Coalition. He spent almost every waking moment burning with hostility and loathing for the creatures that had taken his parents away from him and his brothers. He wanted vengeance, no matter how long it took or how many fallen that he had slay to feel a sense of peace again.
Nathan slipped around the corner of an alley, entering the street. Two gang members that appeared to be looking for trouble eyed him with sleazy smiles. He scowled, daring them to approach, almost looking for a fight. He had already fed, but he'd enjoy thrashing the two punks just trolling for innocent victims to rob...or worse. Unfortunately, they averted their eyes and walked on. He was just cursing his bad luck that they had avoided him when he felt it.
Fallen.
They were close, and the evil sent an electric wave down his spine. He started moving quicker than the human eye could see, tracing the feeling of malice and mayhem. What were the bastards up to now?
He halted abruptly as he took in the scene before him. He had found the fallen...and they weren't alone. His temper flared and his eyes were nearly black with rage as he saw that they were tearing at a young woman who struggled between them. The fuckers had shredded her shoulders from holding her with their razor sharp claws. She had slashes all over her body, leaking blood that left a ruby puddle at her feet, but the woman still was kicking and fighting, yelling obscenities that would make a nun blush.
Nathan yanked a short blade from his belt, unwilling to use anything longer that might hit the woman between the two monsters. The woman saw him appear behind the fallen that was torturing her, but he held a hand up in a silent signal. She quieted as he drove the knife into her tormenter's heart. The fallen crumpled to the ground, squirming like a worm on a fisherman's hook.
The creature that was holding the woman let go of her body and she too crumpled to the ground.
Nathan's eyes flashed with enmity as he met the red-eyed stare of the fallen. He knew he had to dispatch the slime quickly and get help for the female...if there was still even a slim chance that she could be saved.
He dodged an aggressive attack of slashing claws as the two of them did the death dance. It was one he planned on winning. Fury and adrenaline fueled his attack on the hairless, sunken-featured monster, waiting for an opening.
Nathan stepped close and brought his arm under the fallen's wrists, deflecting his claws as he simultaneously drove the knife into the freak's chest, rupturing his heart. The fallen hit the ground. Nathan withdrew his knife as he fell. He'd be damned if he'd lose a perfectly good knife. He cleaned it with his magic as he re-sheathed the blade at his waist.
Both of the fallen disappeared, leaving only a pile of dust where they had once stood, tormenting a defenseless woman to death.
Crouching next to the unknown woman, he assessed her injuries.
"Fuck!," he uttered aloud as he surveyed the slashes and severe loss of blood. She was breathing shallow and her heart was still beating in a fast, thready rhythm.
Nathan scooped up her body in his arms.
Mage!
He could feel the magic zinging through her body. If she was mage, she was a little stronger than the average human, but she wasn't immortal. He scowled, knowing she couldn't go to a human hospital. The mage had their own healers and their physiology was somewhat different than a human's.
Liam. I need you.
He sent the urgent call out for his healer brother before gathering the unconscious female close to him and dissolved into the night.
Chapter 2
Nathan transported himself to the master bedroom of his home
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