Angel Series Books 1-3 Boxed Set

Lightning Strike-4

“I’m not used to being told no when it comes to s*x. It’s normally the other way around.”

“You’re that good at it, aren’t you, that something as simple as the word no — and not because I didn’t want you — is something you can’t fathom someone saying?”

I hoped he was referring to my being good at s*x and not my ability to make him feel bad enough that he relented to my demands.

“Well, yeah. It seems even I have a fragile ego. I thought it was only men whose egos could be bruised.”

I needed to lighten the moment, make it seem like no big deal after all.

“As for being good at it, for someone who was a virgin not that long ago, you’re not so bad yourself.”

He kissed my forehead and disappeared, leaving me to wonder if I’d been right or wrong in pursuing my desires. I brushed off as much ash as I could and dressed quickly. The sun was starting to get low in the sky. I’d have time for a few more quick trips before I’d need to head back to the cottage, or before Danny came back looking for me.

I’d memorised the interior of the apartment. Two visits there were enough for me to firmly fix it in my mind. Okay, how should I approach this? I’d probably need to appear in different parts of the apartment each time I went there, to keep them on their toes. There was a small natural niche in the back right corner, where Drake liked to stand when he was addressing the others. Maybe I’d get lucky — take out the leader and hopefully the disorganised army would collapse.

I focused on the niche and the bright light flashed before my eyes — it was a good thing it didn’t leave me temporarily blinded. I jumped the nearest vamp — it wasn’t Drake — and transported him back to the ranch. I drained him quickly, using both hands and my mouth, and without stopping to dispose of the body returned to the shelter, just inside the entrance.

I heard a shout of alarm and ran towards the gathered vampires, grasping the arm of one without stopping and returned to the ranch. The vampire kicked and screamed. She thrashed around even more when she saw the body on the ground and the ash of my earlier kill beneath it.

“Say goodnight,” I said with a laugh.

She tried to twist in my grip when my hand found the skin of her wrist and my lips found her throat. Now it was only a matter of time.

I wanted to up the body count. Have to work faster, I thought. Have to make them scared.

I let her body fall to the ground when the last drop was drained — giddy and light headed from the rush — and headed back for more.

What would happen if I landed on one? I thought. Who cares? Why should it matter? Well, you might lose you footing and fall. I’ll just have to get out of there quickly then!

They were gathered around the side walls, keeping the entrance and the back wall free. As soon as they saw me they charged. Without thinking I crouched down on the floor, making myself as small as possible. The first wave of attack collided and fell on top of me. I reached back with a hand and connected with a leg. Flash! We were gone.

“f**k, but you’re fast!” the vampire said in admiration of my skill.

He didn’t seem the slightest bit concerned for his safety.

“How do you do that? And what is that godawful smell?”

“No struggling, no resisting?” I asked, quite astonished with his reaction to being abducted. “Just a lot of questions?”

Mind you, I was sitting on his back with my hand still clutching his leg, so it wasn’t exactly easy for him to resist. A bit of bucking perhaps, but not much else.

“Drake is keen to catch you,” he said.

“I already knew that. If you want to impress me, tell me something I don’t know.”

“He’d like you to swap sides. You’d be a formidable weapon in his army.”

“His army!” I laughed mockingly, “You call that ragtag bunch of vampire misfits an army? Not interested.”

“He has someone with him that might make you change your mind.”

“And who might that be?” I asked.

The only person of interest to me was Danny, and Drake didn’t have him.

“I’m not at liberty to say.”

I was curious who it could be. Maybe he was offering up the preacher as a sacrifice, if I would make the switch. Shae would have told him about the preacher, and how he used women. Drake would’ve wanted to find out everything he could about me, and Shae was as good a source — if somewhat vexed and biased — as any.

“What if I told you the information may save your life, if I thought it was useful — for now at least?”

“If I talk, Drake will hunt me down and kill me. If I don’t talk, you’ll kill me. Better to get it over with now, hey?”

Why would he give up without a fight?

“For an immortal, you don’t place much value on your life.”

“I used to gamble, when I was human. One too many bets and here I am. The odds changed as soon as you set foot in the forest. I don’t want to gamble on being given a quick death by Drake if I talk. It’s likely to be a drawn-out and painful affair. I’d rather take my chances with you.”

“So that’s it?” I asked. “You’re just giving up?”

“Make it quick,” he pleaded.

A quick death — how long did it take to decapitate a vampire? I hadn’t paid much attention to how much time passed when I used the knife. I was too enthralled by the singing of the blade. It had to be quicker than draining a vampire dry. So be it, a quick death.

I let go of his leg, placed my knee in the small of his back and unsheathed the knife. My free hand was already entwined in his hair, pulling back his head. It was over before he’d had the chance to ask how long it would take. I fell backwards, the force with which I’d completed the task causing me to overbalance when his head separated from his body. The momentum caused the head to be released from my hand like a poorly thrown bowling ball. It landed on the ground with a thud and rolled over a few times before coming to a stop, the dead eyes staring up at the sky.

The blade was still singing, and I took the time to enjoy the moment before it would end. The song was slightly different, but engaging all the same. As the final notes died down I sheathed it and looked from the head to the body, and back to the head again.

I wonder what would happen if I put his head back on his shoulders? I thought.

I walked over to the head and kicked it towards the body, lining up the kick as best as I could. One final nudge with my foot and apart from the three-sixty incision all the way around his neck, the vamp looked as good as new.

Just another dead body, I thought.

I brushed myself off. The ash clung to my clothes and despite my best efforts half of it remained. I was about to leave when I heard a gurgling sound. I looked down at the body in front of me. The skin was beginning to heal around his neck, his body repairing itself. A hand twitched and a leg kicked out reflexively.

“Now that’s interesting,” I said.

The gurgling continued, along with the occasional cough. I crouched on my haunches to watch what was happening. His eyes implored me to finish him off yet again. I imagined that having your head reattached to your body the wrong way around would be difficult to live with.

Almost half of his neck had healed. At this rate it would take less than a minute for his neck to heal over completely. How extraordinary!

At least now I knew why the body had to be burned. It would be best to keep heads far away from bodies until I could burn them. That raised another interesting question. Could a vamp’s head attach itself to another vamp’s body? Maybe I’d check it out one day, to see what happened. For now I had to deal with the problem lying in front of me.

I unsheathed the knife, wrenched back his head — or was I technically pulling his head forward — and removed it once more. I tossed it some metres away and kicked the body, to make sure it was still.

A couple more trips and that would be enough for today. Danny would probably be wondering why I was taking so long. Could I risk two at once? Would I take the chance? I thought about what some of the vamps had been wearing. Most were in short sleeves. If I could grab two at once, get one on the ground beneath me and take out the other one first … too risky, I decided. I’d be better off waiting until I was more experienced.

When I returned to the shelter again I caught Drake watching me. I poked my tongue out at him as I snatched another of his soldiers, and he smiled. I hesitated for a moment. There was something in that smile, like he knew something I didn’t. It was almost as if he was biding his time, that he knew one day I would come to him.

I was tempted to find out what was behind the smile. If I could back into a corner, using the vamp I had a grip on as a shield, maybe he’d open up and let me in on the secret. Why, oh why did I always have to give in to my curiosity, of all things!

I moved too late and someone lunged at me from the side, all three of us tumbling to the ground, me in the middle of a Helena sandwich. Flash! We were gone.

The vampire who had charged me sunk his teeth into the back of my neck, near the spine. The one underneath me couldn’t move, the weight of both our bodies pinning him to the ground. I reached back and clasped the arm of my attacker, thankful he was wearing a t-shirt. My lips and other hand sought my originally intended prey. I hadn’t planned on taking out two at the same time, though fate seemed to have other ideas.

My attacker struggled wildly when he realised what I was doing to him. He couldn’t disengage my hand. He clawed at me with his free hand and applied as much pressure as he could to my wrist. I heard a snap and felt a twinge of pain, but my grip on his arm remained true.

After the struggling ceased I released his body and rubbed my wrist gently. The bones had already mended! That was much faster than when I’d had my fall. Did smaller or fewer breaks heal quicker? Would my body adapt and heal all breaks faster and faster, until the only thing to indicate a break had occurred was the sound the bones made upon breaking?

I guess only time will tell.

I felt, rather than heard, a presence. Being upwind no scent reached me, so I wasn’t sure what was there. I spun around quickly, ready to pounce or flee, depending on the foe — am I ready to face a werewolf on my own yet? It was Danny, come to investigate what was taking me so long.

“I see you’ve been busy,” he said.

I shrugged my shoulders. “I thought I’d practice a little more. It was easier to focus … afterwards.”

Danny smiled and crouched down, touching each body in turn.

“I’m beginning to understand how mortals can be so … distracted. Next time just tell me if you think that s*x will help you to focus.” His smile widened and his eyes held a mischievous glint. “I don’t mind.”

I gave his arm a gentle whack. “For an angel you’re as devious as any mortal I know.”

I leaned over his back while he was still crouching, wrapping my arms around his neck — piggy-back, piggy-back, I want a piggy-back — and took us back to the cottage.

He chuckled. “Two on the last foray?”