Page 30 of Soulmarked

The nave stretched before us, moonlight painting abstract patterns through the dusty air. That's when we saw it, a creature sliding between the pews. The movement was wrong, too fluid, like watching water flow uphill.

“Well, shit,” Sean whispered. “That's new.”

Slow applause echoed through the chamber. A figure stood at the altar, crisp suit incongruous against the ancient stone. Blood stained its collar, fresh enough to glisten in the moonlight. Vampire. But not like any I'd seen before.

“Well,” it purred, voice carrying that distinctive accent of the truly ancient. “A hunter and an agent. How... inconvenient.”

I barely heard the taunt. My attention was on the four creatures that emerged to flank it. They moved like marionettes with cut strings, skin gray and translucent enough to see the shadows of bone beneath. Their eyes were hollow pits of absolute darkness, jaws hanging slightly wrong, filled with too many teeth arranged in patterns that hurt to look at.

“The fuck are those?” Sean muttered, shifting his stance with predatory grace, hands already finding the silver-tipped knives at his thighs.

A cold sensation prickled across my skin, it was a familiar feeling that flooded my senses whenever I was near the supernatural. I could see it now, the vampire's aura, a sickly purple haze that clung to its form like toxic smoke, pulsing with ancient malice. Its minions radiated the same corrupted energy, but fainter, like pale reflections of their master.

I kept my voice steady, professional.

“Step away from the equipment.”

Ancient tech surrounded the altar. Whatever ritual they'd been planning, it wasn't happening tonight.

The vampire's laugh was like silk over broken glass.

“Or what? You'll arrest me?” Its smile widened, showing fangs that weren't quite right, too numerous, too jagged. “Please. Do try.”

“No,” Sean drawled, twirling his blade. “He'll arrest what's left of you after I'm done.” He glanced at me, eyes sharp with the focused intensity I'd come to recognize as his pre-battle state. “Assuming there's enough left for paperwork.”

“You really can't help yourself, can you?” I muttered.

“What can I say? I like to make an entrance.”

The creatures moved first, blindingly fast, but not faster than my heightened senses could track. The auras brightened as they attacked, flaring with bloodlust. The closest one lunged, claws extended, but I was already moving.

I redirected its momentum, using its own strength against it. The thing went flying into a pew, wood splintering under the impact.

Two more came at me as Sean engaged the third. I dropped into a defensive stance, letting muscle memory take over while my supernatural awareness mapped each creature's position with perfect clarity. The first creature's strike was wild, undisciplined. I caught its arm, twisted, and sent it stumbling into its partner. They recovered instantly, but that split second was enough for me to create distance.

“Show off!” Sean called out as he parried a strike that would have taken his head off, his movements economical and deadly. Where I fought with technique and precision, Sean was all controlled violence. “Some of us just stab things, you know!”

“Maybe you should have paid more attention in murder school!”

A laugh that was half growl escaped him as he drove his blade into the creature's chest, twisting it deep.

“Didn't they teach you not to sass your elders?”

I launched into a combination of strikes that would have dropped any human opponent, my movements faster than they had any right to be. My fist connected with one's jaw hard enough to shatter bone, but it barely flinched. Not good.

Time for plan B.

I drew my gun in one smooth motion, squeezing off two shots center mass into the nearest creature. The bullets hit dead center and did absolutely nothing. The thing just smiled, a grotesque stretching of lips that revealed row after row of needle-sharp teeth.

“Okay,” I admitted, “that's problematic.”

Sean's blade sang through the air, opening a deep gash in one creature's throat. Black ichor sprayed across the stone floor, the liquid smoking slightly where it landed. The hunter movedwith lethal efficiency, each strike precisely calculated to disable or destroy. But the thing didn't drop. Instead, it let out a shriek that felt like ice picks being driven into my eardrums.

My vision blurred, balance wavering just enough for the vampire to make its move.

It hit me like a freight train, inhuman strength sending me flying back into the altar rail. Wood cracked, breath exploding from my lungs. Too fast. The thing was too damn fast.

The mark on my chest flared with sudden heat, and for an instant, the world around me seemed to slow. I could see the vampire's next move before it happened, its intent written in the currents of its aura. I rolled, the creature's fist missing me by millimeters.

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