Page 10 of Siege of Blood and Betrayal

I twist beneath the man pinning me to the ground. Kicking up with my legs, I try to buck him, but he’s strong. He may be a turned vampire and not a born true blood, but even made vamps have heightened strength.

Although, if he carried undiluted blood in his veins, this battle would be even worse.

With a grunt, I get my palms underneath me and tip him off, scrambling to my feet. There’s a layer of skin missing from my cheek, but with a battle of fist to flesh all around me, I don’t have time to worry about road rash.

The alley is a blur of motion as Jack barrels into another attacker, his fists flying in a brutal dance of survival.

“Scottie, behind you!” Jack’s voice is urgent, and I respond.

I spin in time to catch a vampire lunging at me, fangs bared. Instinct takes over and I duck low, sweeping my leg out to knock him off balance. He stumbles, and I capitalize on the moment, delivering a sharp elbow to his jaw.

It’s not enough to snap his neck, and I curse the missed opportunity. The easiest way to immobilize a vampire is to break its neck. It doesn’t kill them, but it knocks them out of commission for a while.

And when I say the ‘easiest way’—there’s nothing easy about it.

My opponent reels back, and while I’m watching his meaty fist as it zooms toward my face with blurring speed, I totally miss his non-dominant hand coming in from the side.

The swipe of a blade slicing through my shirt and the skin over my hip makes me hiss.

Fucking hell.

I curse and follow up with a kick to his midsection. Rage and grief and power surge through my muscles and release like a coiled spring. It’s partly me, but largely the enhancements of my new powers taking hold.

The impact of my foot against his torso sends the brute crashing into the rusty, green dumpster headfirst. That will at least have him counting canaries in his vision.

My breath comes in ragged gasps as I straighten and scan the alley. Three more vampires, eyes glinting with cold fury, are closing in on Jack. He’s holding his own against the one he’s already fighting, but four on one?

“That’s seriously cowardly, dickheads.”

Their attention turns toward me and the moment the scent of my blood hits them, their eyes flip to scarlet.

Not good.

One of them breaks away from attacking Jack and charges. I don’t look like much from the viewpoint of an apex predator, but the underestimation of my foes has always worked in my favor.

I brace myself for impact, every muscle coiled and ready.

When the vampire rushes in and reaches for me, I sidestep, grab his arm, and use his momentum to flip him onto his back. He’s a heavy fucker and the asphalt cracks beneath the weight of the impact.

He snarls, but I’m already moving, delivering a swift, punishing kick to his jaw. The force spins his head, and the snap of his neck has him going limp.

That will put him down for a bit.

“Scottie, you need to move!” Jack’s shout pulls my attention. He’s grappling with two vampires now, and despite his skill, his strain is obvious.

A flicker of movement catches my eye. The hot dude from the barbershop—the one getting a shave when I burst in from the tunnels—is behind Jack and holy shit, the guy must be six and a half feet tall.

For a second, I think he might be another attacker, but then he grabs one of the vampires on Jack by the scruff and tosses him across the alley like a rag.

Holy hell, hot dude is strong.

The boom of the bulky vampire thug meeting brick is loud, and when the guy drops to the ground, there’s a brute-sized dent in the masonry wall.

The sudden reinforcement shocks Jack’s attackers enough to give the guy a moment of respite. He glances over at me, urgency in his eyes. “Go, kid! I’ll hold them off.”

I don’t want to leave him.

The echo of snapping bone has hot dude straightening over a crumpled heap of vampire looking wild and murderous.

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