Kiss of Steel (16 page)

“Goodness,” she murmured. Then added with a blush, “The blood.”

“O’ course.” Despite his pain, he smiled. Then grimaced. “Easy, luv.”

“Your breathing sounds better.”

Another scream arose in the darkness. She couldn’t suppress a wince and looked over her shoulder. Rain was starting to spatter the street.

“It’s healin’,” he said.

One, two, three…four stab wounds, up under his ribs. “You’re lucky he didn’t hit your heart,” she said.

There were two ways to kill a blue blood: severe damage to the heart or decapitation. And then, to be certain they were dead, it was best to burn the bodies.

Blade’s gaze drifted over her shoulder. “Will. You took your time.”

“Bloody hell,” Will cursed. “What a friggin’ mess. Couldn’t you get out o’ the way in time?”

Honoria glanced up. The tall youth glared at Blade. Blood dripped from a cut over his eyebrow, but he appeared otherwise undamaged. A dirty gray shirt clung to his massive shoulders, with leather straps holding a shoulder sheath in place. The hilt of a knife jutted over his shoulder, though it looked rather like a short sword. Strips of brown linen bandaged his wrists, like one of the fighters she’d seen at the Pits, and he held a shiv, low and bloody.

The two men grinned at each other. Unbelievable.

Honoria held her wrist up. “You need blood. Here.”

Blade’s smile died. “Need a lot. You ain’t strong enough.” He pushed off the wall, clapping a hand to his ribs and wincing. Honoria swiftly ducked under his shoulder. His weight nearly flattened her.

“Ease back. You ain’t goin’ nowhere,” Will muttered, grabbing Blade’s arm. “Here.” The youth tilted his head, offering his throat.

Honoria got out of the way as Will wrapped his massive arms under Blade’s shoulders, pinning him against the wall. Blade swept Will’s shaggy hair out of the way, a fierce look of hunger crossing his face. A knife gleamed. One of Blade’s razors. He met her gaze, making a small nick against Will’s throat.

Honoria wrapped her arms around herself. The rain was starting to get heavier. She was trapped under the roof’s overhang with the two men. Looking away didn’t help matters. As Blade’s mouth closed over Will’s throat, the younger man sucked in a breath that sounded incredibly…
personal
.

She’d seen blue bloods feed before. Some of the Echelon filed their teeth into sharp points—to break the skin—but most simply relied on fléchettes or thin razors. She shivered, though she didn’t feel cold. Indeed, an uncomfortable, prickly heat speared through her belly.

Will groaned again, and this time there was no mistaking the sound. He was
enjoying
this. Honoria glanced up. A mistake. For Blade was staring at her, his mouth locked against Will’s throat, his hand fisted in the shaggy hair and the other arm wrapped around the man, clutching him hard.

Will’s palms splayed over the pitted brick wall and his hips moved almost involuntarily. Small, harsh breaths broke the still night. She couldn’t look away. It was horrible…and fascinating.

And for a moment she wanted it to be her.

Honoria tore her gaze away. Her nipples were hard against the abrasive canvas of her dress, her breath shallow. Behind her, Will groaned again. She clenched her eyes shut. That was worse. She could picture them, locked together, bodies straining, and Blade…watching her with a fierce hunger in his green eyes. The look on his face had been complex, as though he too wished it were her. She felt his gaze right between her shoulder blades. And other places. Lower. As though he stroked a finger down her spine, pausing at the indentation just above the smooth curve of her bottom. And lower still, brushing against the delicate inner flesh of her thighs.

“Enough.” Will sucked in a ragged breath. “Enough, damn it!”

When she turned, Blade lifted his head, gasping. Will slumped against him, pressing him into the wall, his face buried in Blade’s shoulder and his body shaking. Blade stroked his hair, his fingers tightening at the nape of Will’s neck.

“Easy now,” Blade murmured. Color flushed through his skin and there was blood on his lips. He looked remarkably…satisfied.

She would never have thought him particularly gentle. Yet he held Will in his arms as they slowly recovered, stroking his hair. Will made an inarticulate sound deep in his throat, then finally pushed away.

“Do you need anything?” she asked, clearing her own throat.

Will shook his head. Embarrassment burned in a fiery blush at the back of his neck. Blade leaned back against the wall, closing his eyes for a moment. Dark satisfaction curled over his face as he wiped his mouth.

She didn’t dare look down, but it was quite evident from her peripheral vision that he too had enjoyed the feeding.

Was
it
always
like
that?

The rain began to slacken. She decided to risk it. She couldn’t stay here any longer, trapped in the steamy darkness with the two men, both of them trying to recompose themselves in the aftermath. Especially when she herself felt so unfulfilled.

Desire scratched against her skin like the heavy wool that she wore. It hurt. She dug her fingernails into her palms, took a deep breath, and stepped out into the rain. It pattered on her shoulders, little icy pinpricks against the bare skin of her décolletage and shoulders.

Something drifted past her nose, a rancid scent. Like rotten meat. Her nose screwed up in distaste as she gagged. “Goodness, what is that smell?” Covering her nose with her hand, she turned around.

Blade’s head shot up, his eyes flaring wide. “Honoria!”

He didn’t need to warn her. She looked up. A shadowy figure squatted on the edge of the roof tiles, sniffing the air. Claws gripped the edge of the gutter, its wiry, maggot-pale body leaning forward as it breathed in her scent.

Cold rushed through her, the hairs on the back of her neck standing up. An old primeval fear that burned away every last scrap of desire. She couldn’t breathe, choking on the sudden urge to run and yet too afraid to move.

Then it scented her, its red-rimmed eyes widening in delight. It looked…almost like a blue blood, but horribly, horribly mutated. Bald, its white skin covered in flaky patches, and its mouth opening over a set of sharpened teeth.

Suddenly she knew what it was. And she screamed.

Chapter 8

The vampire landed in the street in a blur of movement. Blade leaped in front of Honoria and froze.

“Get back,” he whispered, holding his arms wide as though to bar its path. His heart started ticking in his chest. Fear. Something he hadn’t felt for a long time. But, then, any sane man would cower before this
thing
. He cleared his throat. “Will? You got your feet under you?”

“Aye,” Will replied, taking a slow, cautious step into the street.

Blade didn’t dare take his eyes off the creature. Days of hunting, and here it was, just when he was least prepared for it. It must have heard the whistle too. Blade’s heart thundered with the adrenaline of his recent feed, his body primed to fight or flee. This was when he felt his strongest, especially after feeding on Will, but he wasn’t alone. Will would be unsteady and Honoria was only human.

The vampire took a hopping step forward and crouched on all fours. It sniffed the air, its blind eyes covered in a filmy haze. Blade didn’t dare mistake it for a weakness. The creature’s hearing and sense of smell more than made up for its lack of sight. It made odd, high-pitched noises, and he remembered an odd fact he’d once heard years ago and thought he’d forgotten.

Vampires
saw
the world by using sound.

“Honoria. When it attacks,” he said, “I want you to run. Don’t look back. Go ’ome and lock the doors. And get more o’ those bullets.” He held the pistol out behind him.

“What about you?” she whispered, taking the weapon.

For a moment he admired her bravery. She should have been screaming in fear, but she stayed collected.

“Ain’t the time to be brave,” he reminded her. “We’ll try to lead it off.”

Will circled the thing, his feet crossing each other as he placed them carefully. Its head turned uncannily, tracking his movements. A forked tongue flickered over its teeth. Uncertain.

“That’s right, you ugly bastard,” Will muttered. “We ain’t human. No easy feed here tonight.” Slowly he reached for his blades. They flicked open, the razor edges still gleaming with Slasher blood.

The vampire’s head shot back to him. Its lips curled back off its teeth in a silent snarl. Will made a feint toward it. “No!” he yelled.

The bloody thing moved quicker than he’d ever thought. It sprang and Will went down with a yell, bleeding hard. It bounded off the wall, bulleting back toward him, low and streamlined.

Blade clenched his jaw. He had a split second to act, but he didn’t dare move out of the way. Honoria was behind him.

Choices. He hit the creature hard, raking in with his razors. Flesh parted like silk, spewing out a fetid stink like fish guts discarded on the wharves. Claws raked him, cutting across his arm with a branding-hot flash of pain. One caught the leather guard on his wrist and it dropped away, cleaved in half.

Honoria screamed behind him. Blade spun as he fell, grabbing out desperately. He caught a wiry ankle, and the creature twisted on itself with fluid grace, reaching for Blade’s face.

“
Honoria! Go!
”

She took off in a flurry of skirts. Blade locked his arms around the vampire’s body, trying to crush it with his strength. Its back claws hooked up between them, raking his guts like white fire. He ground his teeth together, keeping the thing away from his throat.
Bloody
hell, it was strong!
His arms parted, fingers scraping over the knotted protrusion of its spine. He dug his nails in, barely slowing its progress.

Then suddenly it was free, lashing out with gnarled claws. They raked across Blade’s throat. He touched the marks lightly. So close. A quarter inch to the right…

Will flew past, bellowing in rage, his pupils flared to thin slits.

Any other time Blade would have gotten out of the way and let Will tear it to pieces. But this was a
vampire
. Possibly the only thing alive that could stop a verwulfen in full berserker rage.

It ratcheted forward, after Honoria. Blade followed on Will’s heels, his arms pumping at his sides and boots slapping the cobbles. Honoria came into view, the vampire loping after her.

She shot a look over her shoulder and saw it. The gap between them narrowed. Blade put on an extra burst of speed, passing Will.
No, you don’t. She’s mine
.

He wouldn’t be fast enough. A split second to make the decision. Then his hand dipped, coming up with one of his throwing knives. He lost speed; the vampire was nearly upon her. With a flick of his wrist, he sent the dagger spinning.

The vampire squealed as it bit deep in its flank. Somehow Will got ahead of Blade, smashing his brutal strength into the creature with a roar. They went down, Will fighting simply to hold on. The knife was still buried deep. Blade grabbed it and ripped upward, tearing through tendons and muscle, trying to bury it deep in the vampire’s gut. Sluggish black blood leaked out of the creature’s wounds, which started closing almost as soon as Blade withdrew the knife. No use trying to bleed it out.

It screamed, a high-pitched squeal that made his teeth ache. Rotting stink clogged his nose. He could barely breathe through it. Then it tossed Will aside. A second to strike. The knife hit the creature’s sternum, slipping between its ribs. Its red-rimmed eyes went wide with pain, and it jerked, kicking, clawing, fighting to get free. Blood splattered Blade’s hands like acid.
Burning
.

He yelled and yanked his hands free, clenching them in pain. It swept through him in a nauseous wave. The vampire darted away, scrabbling up a drainpipe and vanishing across the rooftops.

Gone. With Blade’s dagger still buried in its chest.

“Will?” His arms hurt. Blood leaked across his skin, a dark bluish-red that gave the blue bloods their name. The vampire must have clawed him a few more times than he’d realized.

Will forced himself onto his hands and knees, head bowed. There was no sign of Honoria, but they were close to her home. Blade stared in the direction of her home, then looked back at Will. The vampire had gone in the other direction, and his lieutenant was hurt.

“You all right?” He squatted down.

Will bared his teeth. “Hurts. Son of a bitch almost disemboweled me.”

Blade patted him on the shoulder. There was nothing to do but wait for the loupe virus to heal the torn flesh. Heat blazed beneath his cold hand. It was already working hard, spiking Will’s body temperature up several notches. He’d be sweating with fever half the night as his skin reknit itself.

“Told you not to grapple with it,” Blade said, rising to his feet and offering a hand. “They’re stronger ’n we are. Quicker. This ain’t like sparrin’ with me.”