CHAPTER TWO
Panic was a debilitating emotion. It made one weak. Anger was better. No. Rage. That emotion cancelled out just about everything, even fear. Eska shoved James. He flew into a wall. A cry of pain accompanied his arrival. Her glance followed. He slowly collapsed into a heap, a look of surprise and fear on his handsome face. The blow could be mortal. That was a shame, but deserved. He wouldn’t be the first human to learn.
You shouldn’t play with a vampire. They didn’t have to play nice.
James was forgotten. His existence relegated to collateral damage. Eska raced into the corridor, constantly scanning, while her nose followed the stench. It unerringly led one direction: outside. Hadn’t the girl listened to even one instruction? An old iron door loomed ahead, clearly marked ‘PRIVATE, No Entrance’. Eska slammed through it, heard metal smack against concrete as it boomeranged off the wall, then closed. She was on a balcony. The view included a small table with chairs. A tree. It was surrounded on three sides with waist-high glass panels. A moment later she held onto one, looking out at the teeming streets seventeen floors below. A wall of Nevada desert air hit, funneled right at her. The world became a cacophony of heat and noise that would have debilitated if she’d had sensation. Eska ignored both the temperature and the sound. Horns. Laughter. Yelling. Motors. Music.
The mix of experiences blended.
Warped.
And then she saw them.
Hunters.
Even if the smell hadn’t given it away, she knew them instantly. Despite their lack of camo and arcane-looking weaponry. She detested Hunters. Everything about them. They were evil, rotten scumbags. If she could, she’d eliminate every single one from the planet. With pleasure.
She counted seven men. Gathered in a spot beside the club parking lot. It was well-chosen. The entire area was an abyss of darkness. Their location was on the other side of a privacy wall. Secluded. Private. A place where few passersby would even glance. The building looming above them was vacant, maybe even derelict, its appearance in complete contrast to the thriving casino/club she stood in. And she didn’t just smell something burning, she could see smoke.
Their group shifted, allowing a glimpse of the bloodied corpse on the ground, recognizable only by the mop of crimson and neon yellow wig and a crumpled set of fairy wings.
Damn it.
Looks like they’d found Theresa.
If Eska were still human, she’d feel sorrow. Regret. Responsibility. And she might have even experienced a niggling, except her entire being filled with a pounding need for revenge. It hardened everything about her. Her mind cleared. Everything went sharp. Hard. Focused.
There were many reasons to eliminate Hunters, but revenge had to be the sweetest. And Eska was known for being vengeful. Despite her mother’s teachings of Inupiat values – piooaktautaieeiq and ixammiubniq, words that meant gentleness and compassion – well. She was her father’s daughter, too.
He’d been a Frenchman. His manner hard. His temperament violent. He hadn’t stayed around to see her reach adulthood.
As far as she was concerned, it was no great loss.
Eska liked to blame him when she did something rash. And brutal. Like now.
Her hands slid beneath her skirt hem, unerringly finding her weapon of choice, two ulu knives. The half-circled blades were her cultural heritage. They could fillet and gut in seconds. Slice through fish. Whale bone. Seal blubber. Caribou hide. Ulu knives had been used for centuries in the arctic. She always carried two. Tonight they were in leather sheaths strapped to her upper thighs, held in place with black lace garters. Her fingers tightened around the handles as she watched the group. Her muscles twitched. Fangs vibrated. She concentrated.
And easily heard.
One of them gagged. Words followed it. “Oh...hell! Why is there...so much...blood?”
The voice was oddly familiar. Eska cocked her head to one side. Considered it.
“She’s newly turned! That’s why.”
“It looks like we committed murder!”
“We used flashlights, moron. Nothing murderous about that.”
“Those are not ordinary flashlights.”
“No kidding. These are special. Equipped with UV bulbs. They’re not perfect. But they’ll do the job.”
“Like...sunlamps?”
“Yeah. You have to use a bunch of them at once, though,” another man added. “But the lab is working on that part.”
“Cool.”
“You should join us, buddy. You might like it.”
“Like what? Killing?”
“This isn’t a kill. It’s an execution.”
“Uh...I don’t know. It looks...really gory.”
“It usually does.”
“You could have warned me.”
“What did you think we were going to do? Chat her up?”
“I didn’t know.”
“Yeah? Well, now you do.”
“You didn’t mention she’d look human under the skin! Ugh! I’m going to puke.”
“Ignore it. This is not a human. Not anymore.”
“Well...she sure as shit looks it.”
“Buck up, man. We’re not finished yet. We still have one more to exterminate. The older one. The one you told us you met. She’ll turn to ash. Guaranteed.”
Ah.
She had her answer. It was Mister All-American.
Eska jumped the balcony and swooped down, skimmed across the top of the fence, and smacked into two of them. One went flying into a section of wall, his head splattering on impact. The other landed in a heap somewhere out in the night. She didn’t bother checking. No need. She sliced the next man open, filleting him. Her larger ulu knife cut deep into the next man’s throat, severing a carotid artery. A spinning move gained her a perch atop one’s shoulders. Twisting her arm about his throat broke his neck. The sixth man got an ulu knife in the center of his chest. He was dead before he finished sagging to the ground. And then she stopped. Turned around. And faced Mister All-American.
He was armed.
Damn it.
Eska had a second before he lifted a large unwieldy flashlight. All manner of pain ensued. She was blinded. And then she was twitching as if sun-burnt. It almost altered her aim.
Almost.
The smaller ulu knife smacked the flashlight out of his hand, sending the light harmlessly out of range. She didn’t wait. Eska flew at him, grabbed his shoulders, and slammed his back into the wall behind him. Masonry debris and dust exploded about her. He huffed a large breath, as if she’d knocked the wind out of him. His blue eyes were wide. Shocked. And something else. Something that made her smile.
“Hello again,” she said.
He choked. It might have been an answer, but no sound made it out of his throat.
“Are you frightened yet?” she continued.
He didn’t reply to that. He didn’t even nod. Eska’s smile widened. She lifted her jaw, displaying her canines. Licked them. Dropped her mouth to his neck.
Stabbed...
And partook.
She almost had him drained when the cell phone at her breast vibrated. Eska pulled from her victim slowly. Licked the puncture wounds closed with the same lack of speed. He had a distinct pallor and was breathing shallowly, but he was alive. That felt like a victory. She arranged him beside the bloody mass that had been Theresa. In pretty much the same position. So the authorities could have some fun with this. And then she snagged the cell phone from her bra. Nigel Beethan answered. Eska had never met him but she didn’t need to. He probably looked exactly like he usually sounded. Young. Brash. And way too self-confident. Tonight was different however.
“Eska? You there?”
“Yes.”
“This is Nigel.”
“You don’t sound right.”
“Come again?”
“You aren’t razzing me. You know like calling me Eskimo when I’m Inupiaq.”
“I’ve got a lot on my mind. Family stuff. Like...human family stuff.”
“You have family that’s still living? Oh, my. That’s...deep.”
“Forget I said anything, okay? The big guy calls me a worrywart. He must be right. I’m sure everything will be fine.”
She heard a rustling sound from where she’d tossed the Hunter. Eska turned that direction. Squinted. A groan emitted from the heap of body. This could be interesting. She might be able to interrogate before she annihilated.
“By the by, I called because you have an assignment,” Nigel continued.
“Okay. Do me a favor this time, will you? Tell me it isn’t somewhere in the middle of nowhere. Is that too much to ask?”
“You don’t like solitude?”
“I fancy the nightlife. You know that.”
“Bad news. It’s Siberia. Tunguska region. Your plane is fueled up and ready at the airfield.”
“Siberia?”
“It might be fun. You can do the Eskimo thing. Dress in your parka, build yourself an igloo. Harpoon some seals. Train a penguin or two.”
Eska almost chuckled at his return to stereotyping. “Penguins are from the South Pole, Nigel.”
“Whatever. Have a nice flight.”
He cut the connection. Eska tossed the phone at the wall. It shattered into a blizzard of unidentifiable bits. And then the Hunter groaned from the shadows again, diverting her attention.