Total pages in book: 138
Estimated words: 131708 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 659(@200wpm)___ 527(@250wpm)___ 439(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 131708 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 659(@200wpm)___ 527(@250wpm)___ 439(@300wpm)
“Huh,” was all she said, clearly thrown by his blunt response—just as she’d always been in her past life.
He wanted to smile, finding her cute as fuck when she was off-balance. But right now, what he wanted most was to get her away from this scene—there was no need for her to be further touched by this matter.
Viper tipped his chin toward the parking lot. “Go. We’ll handle this.”
A line dented her brow. “But—”
“This happened on our turf. It’s for us to deal with.”
Her delicious mouth tightened. “If there’s a human-killing vamp on the loose—”
“They won’t live long,” he stated firmly.
Visibly reluctant, she glanced down at the human. “You swear you’ll find out who did this?”
Viper felt his brows inch up. “You think we’d overlook it?”
“What I think is that a lot of the preternatural population wouldn’t much care about the death of a human.”
She wasn’t wrong. “I’d be lying if I said I’m aching to avenge him, but what I won’t tolerate is anyone dumping corpses on my doorstep. So yes, I will find out who did this. It won’t be overlooked.”
She exhaled heavily. “All right.” She moved as if to leave, but then instead held her hand out to him. “I’m Ella.”
I know, baby. I know a whole lot about you. “Viper,” he said, letting his hand swallow hers, both comforted and enlivened by the zap of static that bounced from their palms. It startled a silent gasp from her, but she didn’t pull back. Neither did he.
Decades. He hadn’t been this close to her in fucking decades. It had felt more like centuries. Her soul might wear a different body this time, but it didn’t matter. She was still her. Still belonged to him. And it was all he could do not to yank her to him and devour her mouth.
“You’ll definitely take care of this?” she double-checked.
Viper forced himself to allow her palm to slip out of his grasp. “It’ll be handled.”
“Okay.” She spared his brothers a quick look and then left.
Viper watched her stride out of the alley, knots forming in his stomach with each bit of distance she placed between them. His entity bared its teeth, annoyed that he’d let her walk away. Much like Jester, it saw no reason why they couldn’t claim her now.
Only once she was out of sight did Viper return his attention to his brothers. “Anyone think they know the cause of death?”
It was Darko who responded. “My guess? Exsanguination. The body’s almost empty of blood.”
“A vamp wouldn’t drink a human near to death unless they were converting them,” said Razor.
“But a strix would,” Viper pointed out.
Darko rose to his feet. “That fits.”
Human mythology often confused the two species. Unlike vampires, strix were never human. Nor were they immortal. These creatures were born in hell and all typically looked alike—tall figures, dark hair, red eyes, long fingernails, canine fangs, skin so pale it was almost translucent. They had various abilities, including the power to shift into bats, owls, or even mist.
“I hate to be the voice of doom and gloom,” began Darko, “but there’s never a lone strix, so I doubt only one escaped from hell. There’ll be a colony. One it’s safe to say is responsible for the recent human disappearances.”
“And they know we’re here.” Dice waved a hand at the corpse. “This is a taunt. A gauntlet. Their queen is basically pitting the colony against us.”
“I accept her challenge,” Viper muttered darkly.
Colonies were usually made up of around seventy strix. Though there were generally more males, their societies were largely matriarchal. Females held higher positions and were often warriors, though they rarely fought except in situations of war. Males served mostly as hunters and protectors.
“The strix probably felt drawn here by you,” mused Omen, looking at Viper. “Or, more to the point, drawn by what you are.”
“Probably.” Staring down at the puncture wounds on the dead human, Viper didn’t doubt there were more wounds. Victims were often covered in bites, because many of the colony would descend on them all at once.
Strix rarely drained their prey of blood in one sitting, though. They were known to keep several humans around at a time, drawing out each one’s inevitable death.
Ghost folded his arms. “If the other missing humans aren’t already dead, they soon will be. And the strix will no doubt dump them near or on our properties.”
“We need to track and kill them,” said Jester. “Fucking hate strix.”
“Are we much different from them?” Viper asked. “We prey on people like parasites. We can’t survive without the life-force of others. We’re addicts for whom there is peace only in death.”
The Fallen were pariahs even among monsters. Unnatural due to their curse, they belonged on no realm. Had no ‘place’. They were not angel, demon, or vampire, but they possessed the dark qualities of all three.