Stepping outside Carha’s club, Aiden inhaled the crisp, March air. Spring hovered on the horizon, but this March had come roaring in with a three-foot blizzard, followed by a week of rain, and today the sun had made its first appearance. What remained of the dirty snow was piled up against the brick alley walls or in dwindling snow banks along the street.

He glanced back at the black, metal door of the club as it clicked shut behind him. The locks clicked as they were turned into place by Brutus, the vampire on the other side. No sign marked the entrance to Carha’s club; he wasn’t sure the place had a name, which was all part of its allure. Only those in “the know” within the subculture of humans who liked to play at being vampires could find the place. They kept its existence hidden from others who might ruin it for them.

Idiots.

Turning away, he pulled his collar closer to his neck to ward off some of the icy wind as he started down the alley. Before he’d come to Boston tonight, he’d suspected he would cave and see Carha, so he’d brought an extra pair of clothes with him to the city and rented a hotel room down the street.

He was supposed to meet Saxon at nine to start hunting killer vamps—Savages, he reminded himself—but that was a few hours away. Before coming here, he’d made sure to leave himself enough time to shower, change, and heal enough to not be a risk to Saxon later by being weakened from his blood loss. Because he occasionally fed on and gained power from the Savages he killed, he was far stronger than a vampire his age should be, even a purebred one, and he healed fast.

The rancid stench of garbage suddenly filled his nostrils. His steps slowed, and his hand slid inside his coat to grip the stake tucked within one of the pockets. There were only two dumpsters in this alley, but the scent filling it made a landfill smell delicious.

There’s more than one Savage.

His gaze darted to the slice of darkening sky he could see between the two buildings beside him. It was too early for the Savage’s regular hunting time, but something had lured them here. He suspected that something was him.

How had they known he was here? He never kept a regular schedule here to avoid having this very thing happen.

He didn’t have time to figure it out as five Savages turned the corner of the alleyway. Aiden grinned at them as he removed the stake before reaching in with his other hand to remove another one. Five against one weren’t the best odds, but he’d faced worse before. Granted, his back hadn’t been freshly sliced open during those times.

“It’s a little sooner than I’d anticipated, but I’m always up for some killing,” Aiden said to the man moving toward the front of the group.

The man’s smile revealed his fangs. “So are we.”

Behind Aiden, a foot crunched on one of the icy puddles. He glanced over his shoulder to find five more vamps approaching from the street behind him. They’d blocked him in.

Ten on one. Despite the steep odds, Aiden smiled as the first one raced toward him. He’d denied himself sex tonight, but they’d brought him the blood and death he craved.

Spinning to the side, Aiden swung one of the stakes out and plunged it into the first vampire’s heart. The vamp’s mouth formed an O of death before Aiden yanked the stake free at the same time he drove his other stake into the chest of the next one lunging for him. This time he missed the heart, but before he could correct his mistake, the other eight jumped him.

After years of wrestling with his siblings, he could withstand the weight of numerous bodies piling on him, but they staggered him to the side. Bracing his feet apart, he balanced himself beneath the increasing burden. His torn back screamed in protest; his newly healing skin split apart to pour fresh blood down his back. Excited by the scent of his blood, the killers all hissed and clawed more eagerly at him.

Their increased frenzy and the loss of more of his blood caused Aiden to lurch to the side, but he managed to keep from going down beneath them. If he fell now, he’d die. There would be no getting up, no getting away; this would be the end for him. He suspected he would have to be put down one day, but he didn’t want it to be by one of these hideous freaks.

One of the vamps hung over his head, blocking his view of the alley. Swinging his stake forward, Aiden sank it into its belly and sliced downward. The vampire howled as his intestines splashed onto the asphalt below.

Recoiling, the Savage he’d sliced fell away from him, opening some of Aiden’s vision. One of his eyes remained blocked by a different vamp, but he could at least see some of the alley again. The Savages tore his coat down the back as he drove his fist into the ribs of the other vamp hanging over him. Bone crunched and gave way beneath his hand as he dug his way deeper into its chest.

Fingers shredded his shirt, fangs snapped at his neck, but he batted them away with his free hand. The Savages dug into his sliced skin. He felt their fingers gripping the edges of his flesh before peeling it further apart.

Aiden grunted as white-hot pokers of agony speared through his brutalized back. When an uncontrollable spasm racked him, he suspected that one of the Savages had touched his spine. He became certain of it when one of his legs went numb.

“Fuck you!” Buried wrist-deep in the Savage’s chest, Aiden gripped his heart and tore it out.

Aiden’s right knee buckled, and he shifted his weight onto his left leg to remain standing. What he could see of the alley blurred before spinning like the Gravitron ride at a fair. Lurching to the side, he smashed another vamp off the brick wall beside him. The vamp grunted but held onto him. Somehow drawing on enough strength to step away from the wall, Aiden battered the vamp against it again. Bone crunched, and this time, the Savage released him.

Somewhere in the distance, screams pierced the air. The garbled, high-pitched shrieks barely cut through the excited chatter of the Savages. Already weaker from the blood loss he’d sustained in Carha’s club, Aiden’s left knee wobbled.

He would not go out without giving these bastards the fight of their lives. Even if they won this, they would never forget him.

“No!” He reeled backward to crunch another vampire against the wall of the other building.

The vamp whimpered, and when Aiden battered him off the brick again, another weight fell away from him. The screaming continued, but it sounded as if it were coming from further away.

His other leg gave out, and his knees smacked against the pavement. Shouts resonated off the brick walls, something cracked, and blue light flashed across his eyes. He couldn’t tell what the light was as his senses became hazier by the second.

When he fell forward onto the pavement, he knew there would be no more insatiable cravings for more. It was over for him.