Page 2 of Shadow Hunter

Damon followed the line of Caius’s sight and strode to the bar, finding a seat in the far corner, right where he could see Caius. He followed the ancient vampire’s eyes and found their target.

A woman. No surprise.

Her back was turned toward Damon, revealing nothing but a thick mane of dark brown waves falling over her shoulders and a tight, round ass squeezed into a pair of low-cut jeans that he shouldn’t have noticed. The bartender handed her two glasses of red wine. Slowly, she sashayed to Caius’s side, the ancient vampire’s gaze never leaving her body.

But Damon still couldn’t see her face.

He pulled his gaze away. No matter. He intended to hurt Caius and his minions in any way he could, but even to avenge his fellow hunter, he wasn’t about to endanger the innocenthuman patrons around him. Mark wouldn’t have wanted it any other way. He would need to lure Caius away from the crowd.

He glanced around the bar, taking in the number of humans patrons. His gut twisted.

The instinctive fight-or-flight response forced most people away from supernatural predators. But used, beaten, downtrodden, and abused humans swarmed the undead like flies on a half-eaten corpse, and they were the most susceptible to supernatural manipulation. Somebody needed to protect them. Someone needed to give a damn about their lives when the system never had.

Suddenly, his cell phone vibrated inside his jacket pocket. He glanced down at the screen. Headquarters.

Shit.

He couldn’t return the call out in the open.

Isolating Caius would have to wait. For now.

Damon slipped away from the bar, heading toward one of the club’s private rooms. He ducked through the curtained door and into the empty space. Scanning the shadows, his eyes adjusted to the darkness, revealing nothing more than the outlines of assorted couches, throw pillows and other ordinary furniture. He was alone.

He pulled the phone from his pocket, quickly glancing at the message.

The all-capitalized text glared across the screen. New information from his contact at Headquarters. UPDATE. CALL BACK.

Damon’s jaw clenched. Fuck. An update meant another dead body. Another death piled on to his conscience. If he hadn’t failed Mark that night three months ago…

He cursed under his breath and quickly hit redial.

Chris picked up on the second ring. “You’re not going to like what I have to tell you.”

Damon rested his free hand on his head, running his fingers through what little hair remained after his buzz cut. “Get on with it.”

Chris let out a long sigh. “You want the shitty news or the straight-up awful news first?”

Damon shook his head and paced the room. “Does it make a difference?”

Chris sighed again. “Well, first order of business: there’s another dead body.”

Damon dug the fingernails of his left hand into his palm, his fist itching to punch into the

plaster wall. Anticipating the news before he’d returned the call didn’t make it any easier. The Rochester P.D. would jump all over this. Already they’d deemed the murders the work of a serial killer with vampiric delusions.

Another victim with fang marks would only fuel the fire.

He let out a low frustrated growl, his anger barely leashed.

What kind of bloodsucker didn’t seal up the damn fang holes after he sank his teeth in? Even the dumbest vamps knew to keep themselves hidden from the public eye. Was one small lick to close the wound too much to fucking ask?

“Damon, you still there, man?”

Damon unclenched his fist. He couldn’t let his emotions distract him. Not again.

“Yeah, I’m here.”

“Victim is a Caucasian female. Only sixteen,” Chris continued. “Found four blocks away from Manhattan Square Park. A connection with the police force called it in. Body’s in the morgue of the Golisano Children’s Hospital at the University of Rochester Medical Center. As of now, she’s listed as Jane Doe. No ID on her and, well...from the crime scene photos we’ve been sent, it won’t be easy to identify her. You better get over theresoon. It’ll be a media shit storm once it hits the nine o’clock news in the morning.”

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