Page 974 of One More Kiss

Lunar Magic

Jessica Wayne

Drexel

Ahead,a female vamp sets her sights on an unsuspecting human male. He moves down the street, a backpack hoisted on one shoulder. It shocks me, to be honest, that humans have known about the existence of our kind for nearly ten years, and yet, they still do dumb shit like this.

Eyes trained down on his cell, he pays her no mind even when she steps into his path. It’s not until she raises her head and says, “Well, hello, handsome,” that he actually bothers to pay her any attention.

A grin spreads over his face. Dumbass thinks he’s going to get lucky…but really, it’s the vamp who would come out on top of that one. I watch their exchange, his slow appraisal of the woman wearing a bright red dress.

And when she beckons him toward an alley, he actually follows.

Dumbass.

Reaching behind me, I withdraw my silver blade. It glints beneath the moon, and I move out onto the street, crossing it quickly. Thanks to my supernatural hearing as a hunter, I can hear the soft crunch as her fangs sink into his flesh.

Within seconds, I’m in the alleyway. So focused on her meal, she doesn’t even notice me. Since ripping her from his throat could kill the poor asshole, I clear my throat. She lifts her face from his neck and glares at me, crimson dripping from her mouth.

“Hunter,” she snarls.

“Bloodsucker.”

She blurs across the space, but I’m faster. My hand closes around her throat, and I tighten. She claws at me, frantically trying to escape my grasp, and I watch, waiting for the moment she realizes there’s no getting away.

Not this time.

And not from this hunter.

The moment her eyes widen, I drive my blade into her heart. She coughs and sputters, her hands gripping me tightly before falling slack.

And when she’s on the ground, I grip her head and rip it from her body.

“What the hell just happened?”

The man sits on the ground, his back against the brick wall of a building. Hand on his throat, he’s applying pressure to the wound the vamp left and staring at me as though he doesn’t know whether I’m the monster—or she is.

“I just saved your life. Maybe next time, stay the fuck out of alleyways.”

Kneeling, I wipe my blade on her dress, staining it with crimson a few shades darker than the fabric. Then, I turn and leave the body in the alley.

My job is not to clean up the mess.

And frankly, I don’t give two shits if someone sees me. No one will recognize me here because I haven’t been here long. Eight years, I’ve been on the road, tracking supernatural deaths and doing what my blood calls of me.

I was born a hunter. A supernatural protector. One day, I will die as one.

But not here. Not tonight.

Las Vegas is alive tonight, the lights of Sin City burning brightly against a dark backdrop. I shove my hands into my pockets and merge onto a busy street, heading for a small club on the outskirts of town.

Ever since I left Billings, Montana, I’ve been searching for something, though I’d be lying if I said I knew what the hell it was. There’s been a hole in me, a missing piece since I lost her.

Since she left me. Pathetic, really, that I can’t stop pining for a woman who turned her back on me and everything we fought to protect.

Not that it matters now. I doubt Magnolia even remembers who the fuck I am. Nodding at Beck, the bouncer seated outside on a stool, I cut through the line and head straight inside. The tiny club is packed, every table taken up by patrons.

The bar is bustling, too, but in the corner, I find my normal seat, the one saved for me by the woman who runs the place.

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