We’d been stalking the creature for almost a week now.

Without fail, every night the three of us—Sol, Malcolm, and I—were hot on its heels. But every time we got fucking close, it would escape our grasp. It was fast, almost vampire fast, and smart.

I lashed out in frustration, slamming my fist into the side of a building as we passed. The brick crumbled under the force of the blow, leaving a gaping chunk missing from the wall.

“Enough with the property damage, Jerrett,” Malcolm growled. The neon lights from a nearby bar made his dark brown hair glow purple. “I’m as frustrated as you are, but that’s not helping.”

“Yeah? I beg to differ. I found it extremely helpful.” Smirking, I shook out my hand. Fragments of brick and dust fell to the ground, but I did feel a little better.

“That shade can’t be allowed to roam the streets like this. Someone is going to get killed. Or worse.” Mal’s expression was hard.

“Is it just my imagination, or is it getting stronger too?”

“Not your imagination,” Sol confirmed.

Every time we encountered the shade, it had grown in size and power. It was smart too. It knew when to fight and when to retreat. And being cornered by three vampires seemed to be its ideal retreat time. As fucking flattered as I was, it was a royal pain in the ass to watch it slip through our fingers again and again. We couldn’t let this continue.

Sol moved ahead of me through the shadows.

“Do you smell something?” I whispered.

He nodded, his eyes drifting closed as he sampled the night air.

My youngest brother had been on the brink of death before I’d turned him all those years ago. It’d been too late to save his sight, but not too late to save his life.

We hadn’t been born as brothers, the three of us, but we’d been through so much together it was what we had become. What was the expression humans used? Blood is thicker than water.

The three of us had spilled enough blood together that our bond could never be broken. I’d lived over two thousand years now, and these two men were the only people I trusted with my life. We fought together, we drank together, and we hunted together.

Sol sniffed the air again, his nose wrinkling thoughtfully.

Blind or not, he was one of the best hunters I’d ever met. His other senses, heightened by vampire power, more than made up for his lack of sight. He also had a strange connection to the world most vampires didn’t have—a sixth sense that allowed him to sense auras and feel out his surroundings. A human passing him on the street would likely never even know he was blind.

“It’s nearby.” His eyes flew open, the green of his irises framing pure white pupils. “And it’s not alone. I smell something else too. Human. Female, I think.”

“Goddamnit. Let’s go!”

I urged him forward, following close behind. The three of us shadow ran through the quiet streets, moving as silently as ghosts.

This wasn’t supposed to be our fucking job, of course. The responsibility had fallen to us because the vampire king of North America, the one who was supposed to be our leader, didn’t feel like taking the reins. Instead, he spent his days indulging in pleasures of the flesh and feasting on fresh blood.

No one had more disdain for King Carrick than Malcolm, but Sol and I came close. Once upon a time, vampires had actually been the leaders of all supernaturals. The vampire court had settled disputes between other races, kept supernaturals safe, and made sure humans remained in the dark about our existence.

Carrick’s reign wasn’t about any of that. His power benefited him, and it benefited the sycophants who threw themselves at his feet. But he didn’t seem to care much about what happened outside the Penumbra, the shadowy swath of land where his court resided. If we waited for the king to do anything about it, there’d be thousands of rogue supernaturals roaming the streets of New York, taking their pick of the humans on offer.

This particular monster was proving to be a bit more difficult than we’d anticipated. It had strength and speed that nearly matched ours, making it a formidable opponent.

I snorted under my breath as I raced down the street after Sol.

That’s all right. I like a challenge.

The long hunt would make it all the more satisfying when we finally took the beast down.

And if I had my way, that would happen soon.

“I smell blood,” I murmured, slowing slightly. “Sol? What do you sense?”

The scent tickled my nostrils as concern made my muscles tense. The blood was fresh and sweet. This wasn’t some poor animal who had been hit by a car and was half decomposed already. It was the human Sol had sensed, and judging by the strength of the scent, she was bleeding out.

I’d bet my last fucking bottle of Glenfiddich the shade had attacked her, but even if I was wrong, she still needed our help. Whoever this girl was, she didn’t have long.

I took the lead, and the three of us darted toward the next street. When we rounded the corner, I skidded to a stop.

The undead creature of darkness crouched low over a body, its long fingers wielding a pointed blade. My eyes took that in at a glance, but what arrested my movement was the sight of the woman. She lay sprawled on the ground as the shade carved sick patterns into her beautiful skin.

Malcolm spoke before I did, giving voice to my thoughts. “It’s… her.”

He was right.

I recognized this woman—and I was sure my brothers did too.

I’d seen her during our last few hunts. I mean, fuck, I’d seen a lot of people—but I’d noticed her. She kept popping up in our path, and her innocent beauty had been a pleasant distraction from our tireless search for the shade. A few nights ago, we’d passed by her as she cut through a park several blocks from here.

She was rather tall, with a slim build and soft curves that filled out her clothes perfectly. Her hair was a deep brown, bordering on black, and her eyes lit up when she smiled. She hadn’t smiled at us, of course. We’d been hidden in shadows, removed from human sight. But as she walked by, I’d felt the strangest urge to step into her path and bask in the radiance of her light.

Sol hadn’t shut up about how fucking good she smelled, and though his senses were much sharper than mine, I didn’t need him to tell me that. Mal was too fucking stoic to say anything, but I knew she’d caught his eye too. How could she not?

We’d all seen hundreds of stunning women over the years, especially before we left the king’s court. Carrick had an eye for beauty, I’d give the old king that.

But this woman put them all to shame. She was beautiful, yes, but it was something more than that. Her scent was intoxicating, rich and sweet with a note of something earthy I couldn’t quite place. There was an innocence and earnestness about her that drew me in—made me ache to ruin that innocence at the same time I wanted to protect it at all costs from the harsh world.

She was entrancing. Mesmerizing.

And she’ll be dead in a minute if we don’t act quick.

The creature hadn’t noticed us, its focus entirely on the strange patterns it was carving into the woman’s skin. My lips curled back in rage, but the shade’s distraction would serve us well. Now was our chance to destroy it.

I glanced over, meeting Malcolm’s gaze. His eyes narrowed angrily, a line cutting between his thick brows. He hated to see the blood of an innocent spilled. The fact that she was so magnetic only made it more of a tragedy. We had to save her. And if we were too late, at least the monster would suffer for what it had done to this girl.

I squeezed Sol’s shoulder, and he nodded sharply. He already knew what the plan was. We’d danced to this song of violence hundreds of times before.

“Now!”

At my call, we streaked forward like lightning, throwing ourselves at the shade. Mal and Sol tore it away from the girl, and I landed a blow that sent it flying backward.

The shade bellowed a breathy cry as it flew through the air. Its blade clattered to the pavement. The creature righted itself, hunching low like a wild animal about to strike. Then, without warning, it darted away and crawled up the side of a tall building, vanishing over the rooftop.

“Fucking coward!”

I sprinted toward the building, then stopped. My predator instincts urged me to give chase, to hunt the fucking thing down and kill it—slowly and painfully. But another instinct, one I didn’t quite understand, froze me in place.

“Damn it. She’s dying. Malcolm?” Sol’s voice was tense.

My jaw clenched, and I pushed my hair out of my eyes as I stared up at the dark roof, waiting for Mal’s response.

We had a choice, and we needed to make it quick. We could scale the building and follow the shade, and this time we’d probably catch it. This was the closest we’d gotten in days.

We could do that…

Or we could try to save the girl.

As my feet turned and led me away from the hunt, back toward the beautiful, blood-streaked woman lying like a broken angel on the sidewalk, I realized it wasn’t a choice at all.

Mal didn’t say anything, but he dropped to his knees in front of her.

And that was answer enough.