Page 17 of His Mate By Vengeance

Vin grinned at him and rocked his hips, grinding his ass down onto Angelo’s aching cock. “Maintaining our cover?” he said, eyes wide with false innocence.

Angelo gave him a harsh shove onto the other side of the bench seating, ignoring the way the vampire used his strength to resist the move for a long second before allowing himself to be pushed away.

“Awww, Angel. I love it when you manhandle me,” he said, licking a drop of venom from one fang as he sprawled back with his legs spread towards Angelo.

Angelo rolled his eyes, but something caught his attention near them before he could tell Vin to sit the fuck up. Using the excuse of picking up his drink, he leaned forward to get a better look.

There. A human was being manoeuvred toward one of the hidden doors behind the curtains by a figure he couldn’t quite make out. It was the stray reflection of the lights off the barrel of a gun pressed to his back that he’d noticed, gone so fast no one but a trained supernatural would’ve seen it.

“Who’s caught your eye, Angel? Should I be jealous?” Vin asked, sitting up and following his line of sight.

“That your guy?” Angelo asked.

“Huh. Aren’t you a clever one? Fetch, puppy,” Vin ordered, but he was already standing and moving toward the fast-closing door his mark had disappeared through.

“I’m not a fucking dog,” Angelo snapped, wrapping his hand around the vampire’s throat and pulling him back so he could go through the door ahead of him.

Notbecause he wanted to protect the irritating vampire. This way would just be easier to catch their quarry’s scent without the smell of Vin’s offensive cologne affecting him. He ignored the smirks of the men from the next table over at their antics.

The corridor they emerged into was curved like the main room of the club they’d just left. As the door slipped closed behind them, all sound from the other space cut off and Angelo breathed a silent sigh of relief as the musical assault on his ears stopped. Did humans really believe this was just good soundproofing? The door was clearly sealed with magic because the space was all but silent other than a rustle of fabric and the sound of another door closing up ahead.

“Did you recognise the guy with the gun?” Angelo asked.

“No. He appeared human as well, don’t you think?” Vin asked.

“Yeah. He could be anyone. Back-up assassin for Kyan, someone cleaning house after the failed bomb, another competitor.” Angelo said as they both slipped silently closer to the room the two men had entered. “You want to do this subtly or just kick the door down?”

“Show me what you got, Angel,” Vin almost purred.

Angelo snorted, inspecting the door. “I can smell the magic on it. The club must have special locks.”

“Allow me.” Vin raised a delicate wrist to his mouth and bit into it. The metallic smell of blood and vampire filled the air as he let the viscous liquid drip onto the door. “Try that.”

Angel raised his eyebrows. He knew vampire blood could counteract some spells, but he’d never seen it in action before. The smell of Vin’s blood set his teeth on edge, both because it was intoxicating and because he wanted to stop him from spilling the precious liquid. Shaking his head to clear it, he gave the door a solid kick with his steel-capped boots that sent it flying off its hinges to smash on the floor.

The scent of blood became overwhelming as soon as the barrier was removed. He’d thought perhaps they’d walk in on the beginning of an interrogation, but that wasn’t what this was. Instead, Vin’s mark, Derek, was slumped on his side on the floor, his hands handcuffed behind his back.

They might have only been there a couple of minutes, but the unknown human who’d been holding the gun was horrifyingly efficient. Derek’s mouth was open in an utterly silent, gasping scream. The gaping wound in his neck that had somehow missed his arteries was no doubt responsible for the lack of noise. Angelo suspected the small pile of unknown human body parts to his left included the man’s larynx. His naked chest was rent with claw marks and he could see the white of ribs showing through, cut to the bone. If he hadn’t seen the glove of metal talons the human was wearing, he would’ve sworn a shifter inflicted the injuries. A faint smell of wolf lingered on the bloody weapon designed to imitate his kind.

The guy took one look at them, lobbed a highly illegal silver nitrate flashbang in their direction and dove straight out the nearest window, smashing it. Vin moved faster than Angelo thought possible, diving onto the grenade and covering it with his body to smother the debilitating light and sound it emitted. The move put him right in the middle of the silver nitrate cloud it released at the same time.

Damn him. He’d tried to save Angelo’s more sensitive ears and nose from the damage.

Cursing, Angelo picked the vampire up by his belt, throwing him bodily toward the nearest window and away from the cloud of noxious gas where he could hopefully get some fresh air. This kind of weapon wasn’t lethal for them, but it would fuck them up for enough time that their quarry might get away. They’d also land themselves in some deep shit with the witches that guarded the club if they didn’t getclear. It wouldn’t be long before this mess drew their attention.

Vin staggered to his feet, lurching to the side as he stumbled the last steps to the window. “I’ll chase Mr. Flashbang. You see if you can stabilise that sack of human filth and get him out as well so we can question him,” he called, sounding hoarse from the poisoned air.

Angelo growled as the vampire launched himself out the window lined with jagged glass. Vin was going to get himself killed. He’d be weak and disoriented from the flashbang. He couldn’t afford to cut himself on the way out as well.

Angelo held his breath to avoid the silver nitrate gas, but his eyes were streaming tears like he’d taken pepper spray to the face. His chest ached from the unexpected need to stop breathing.

Speaking of stopping breathing, a pause in the gurgling breaths near the wall drew his attention back to Derek, and he noted the guy’s chest had stilled. It was a shame he hadn’t hung on long enough to be tortured for the information they needed. Swinging the man over his shoulder, he used his body to clear the last of the daggers of glass from the windowpane before chucking him out into the alleyway two storeys below. No point in leaving him there for his injuries to point the finger at the pack like his killer had clearly intended.

Sadly, he couldn’t hear what would have been the satisfying crunch as Derek’s body hit the pavement. His sensitive ears were still ringing like a fire alarm was going off right next to his head from the damn flashbang. He wished he could shift to help heal the damage faster, but wandering around the city in wolf form was a big no-no. Instead, he clambered out the window carefully, lowering himself until he was hanging from its ledge before dropping lightly to theground. He didn’t need to add broken ankles to the list of injuries he was healing.

Gasping for breath and with his head still spinning from sensory shock, he took a moment to lean on the nearest wall and reached into his pocket to flick a quick text to his Alpha?—

Angelo

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