Page 54 of Shadow Hunter

The ancient vampire frowned. “Call it what you like, but I assure you that you’ll be receiving the better end of the deal.”

He leaned closer, and a feeling of dread crashed hard in her chest, turning her breathing labored. This was going south, and fast. She wouldn’t show her fear, but she couldn’t allow him to have any more of a physical advantage, either.

She held her voice steady. “What exactly would those benefits be?”

He stepped closer, and she took a matching step back. Slowly, they circled the table, and the frown on Caius’s face became a smile. He thought she was being playful, she realized. Better that than have him realize what she was really being.

Cautious. Defensive.

Prepared for violence, really.

“You’re the one who asked me to meet you tonight, Tiffany, so don’t play coy. You know exactly what those benefits are. Don’t you?” His gaze narrowed, staggering in its intensity.

She glanced at the floor and up again, praying she looked flirtatious instead of terrified. “I’m really not sure. You may have to spell things out for—”

Before she knew what was going on, Caius had pinned her between her chair and his body. He moved so fast she barely saw him.

He grasped her throat. With one squeeze, he could crush her windpipe. “Don’t get cute with me,” he snapped. “We both know what I want, and I intend to get it whether you’re willing or not.”

Her eyes widened. Heat rushed to her face as she fought to breathe. She strained for the panic button and gasped for air as Caius’s grip tightened. With the tiniest snap, his fangsdescended, his canines glistening in the light of the chandelier. Without warning, he reared his head and prepared to strike. But Tiffany was no one’s plaything.

Her hand gripped onto the silver tableknife. Her fingers closing over its handle at the exact second Caius’s lunged.

And then, Tiffany did exactly what she’d been training for.

She swung.

Damon stormed through the kitchen,shoving his way into the restaurant. The smells of simmering white wine and melted cheeses invaded his nose, an array of shouts echoing behind him. An angry cook yelled as he passed, “You can’t come in here!”

“Like fuck I can’t,” he growled.

Not a surprising reaction to a man in a ski mask. He ignored them all and kept going, ripping the mask off.

At the sight of him, a woman in his path spilled a large vat of what appeared to be pea soup, the liquid splashing over the steel toes of his boots.

But he didn’t care—nothing would stop him from finding Tiffany. When he’d heard the panic button sound, her safety had become his sole mission.

He burst into the restaurant. His eyes darting across the room.

Shit.

Where was she? His line of vision followed a waiter as he walked past a back hallway. She had to be in a private room. Damon tore through the crowded room as fast as he could before he bolted down the hallway. A faint whimpering sound carried through the only door.

Something inside him snapped.

Pulling his gun from his belt, he wrenched the door open, stepping to the side and aiming to make sure Tiffany wasn’t in the line of fire. He squeezed the trigger. The mix of music and voices from the main dining room drowned out the muffled shot.

Silencers were a hunter’s blessing.

Caius’s body jolted before he spun to face Damon. Tiffany fell to the floor, gasping for air. A small trickle of blood ran down her neck from where Caius’s fingernails had dug into her skin as he choked her and from the butterknife lodged in the side of Caius’s neck, she’d gotten her own shot in. A surge of pride coursed through Damon at the sight.

She may not have been a true hunter—yet—but someday, she’d make a fierce partner for him in her own right. Mark had been right to train her.

Though he’d continue to protect her.

So long as she let him.

At the sight of her on the floor, her neck bleeding slightly, a loud snarl ripped from his throat. Caius would die.

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