the scent of demon.
Panting, shaking, and coughing because Iâd half strangled myself, I dropped to the floor. There was nothing I could do to help her now, if there ever had been.
Littleton continued to feed. I snuck a glance over at Stefan, whoâd quit making those disturbing noises. Heâd resumed his frozen stance. Even knowing that heâd been able to watch that scene with desire rather than horror, Stefan was infinitely preferable to Littleton, and I backed up until my hip bumped his thigh.
I huddled against him as Littleton, the white of his shirt all but extinguished beneath the blood of the woman heâd killed, looked up from his victim to examine Stefanâs face. He was giggling a little in nervous pants. I was so scared of him, of the thing that had been riding him, I could barely breathe.
âOh, you wanted that,â he crooned holding out a hand and brushing it over Stefanâs lips. After a moment Stefan licked his lips clean.
âLet me share,â the other vampire said in a soft voice. He leaned into Stefan and kissed him passionately. He closed his eyes, and I realized that he was finally within my reach.
Rage and fear are sometimes only a hairbreadth different. I leapt, mouth open and latched onto Littletonâs throat, tasting first the human blood of the woman on his skin, then something else, bitter and awful, that traveled from my mouth through my body like a jolt of lightning. I fought to close my jaw, but Iâd missed my hold and my upper fangs hit the bone of his spine and bounced off.
I wasnât a werewolf or bulldog and I couldnât crush bone, only dig deeply into flesh as the vampire gripped my shoulders and tore himself loose, ripping the leash out of Stefanâs grip as he struggled.
Blood, his blood this time, spilled over his front, but the wound began closing immediately, the vampire healing himself even faster than a werewolf could have. In despair, I realized I hadnât seriously harmed him. He dropped me to the ground and backed away, his hands covering the wound Iâd made. I felt his magic flare and when his hands fell away from his throat, the wound was gone.
He snarled at me, his fangs showing and I snarled back. I donât remember seeing him move, just the momentary feeling of his hands on my sides, a brief moment while I was hurled through the air and then nothing.
Chapter 2
I awoke on my couch to steady strokes of a tongue-in-the-face wash and Medeaâs distinctive thrumming. Stefanâs voice came as a relief because it meant that he was alive, just like me. But when Samuel replied, though his purring tones bore more than a passing resemblance to the noise my cat was making, there was no comfort to be had from the cold menace under the soft voice.
Adrenaline pumped through me at the sound. I pushed the memory of the nightâs terrors aside. What was important this minute was that tonight was the full moon and there was an enraged werewolf not two feet from me.
I tried to open my eyes and stand up, but I encountered several problems. First, one eye seemed to be stuck shut. Second, since I seldom sleep in coyote form, Iâd tried to sit up like a human. My floundering was made worse because my body, stiff and sore, wasnât reacting very well to movement of any kind. Finally, as soon as I moved my head, I was rewarded with throbbing pain and accompanying nausea. Medea scolded me in cat swear words and jumped off the couch in a huff.
âShh, Mercy.â All the menace left Samuelâs voice as he crooned to me and knelt beside the couch. His gentle, competent hands glided over my sore body.
I opened my good eye and looked at him warily, not trusting the tone of his voice to indicate his mood. His eyes were in the shadow, but his wide mouth was soft under his long, aristocratic nose. I noted absently that he needed a haircut; his ash brown hair covered his eyebrows. There was tension in his wide
R. C. Farrington, Jason Farrington