The rest are dead bodies, mostly severed, and lying on the ground, half turned back to flesh form. There aren’t hundreds of wolves standing like I thought.

There have been so many layers of illusion that I was too oblivious to notice. “You won’t remember Damien, but you’ll likely remember a little of what he can do.”Īs if cued, everything I’ve been seeing abruptly changes. “For now, learn what happens when your Van Helsing gets thoroughly pissed off about his own laws being broken, even after the woman under his protection has shown you mercy once already,” Vance continues on. The sea of wolves seems never-ending, and I don’t know where they keep coming from. You’ll fear your true alpha soon enough,” Vance goes on. “You’re smart enough to fear the vampire. I’ve been stuck in this corner after pointlessly feeding a vampire, who went missing instead of bothering to help me out. Vance remains calm and casual, as though he’s mildly irked they think they’re worthy of his presence.

I hear bodies collapsing and small cries cutting through the air, but it’s all such a blur of motion, and a frenzy of yelps of pain and whines he’s speaking over. He tosses it over to the side, and another, almost muted explosion happens. His eyes flick toward my proximity, and then he turns as Shera appears at the balcony and drops something down to him.Īfter he catches it, she scurries back off like she’s got a hiding spot and she’s done whatever she was supposed to do. “I’d forgotten how good I was at simply tracking someone down on foot. He swings his next swords as he turns and faces the room, lips tugging in a half smirk as he glances around. I watch with some fascinated distraction as the silver turns to a rusty heap that’s now wedged there. The blade stabs into the wall so hard that it sends fresh, deep, long cracks scattering in four directions. “I’ve gotten quite lazy, relying too much on my Van Helsing curse to aid my hunts and fights,” Vance continues on, slinging one of his swords through the room, and sending a ripple of headless bodies to the ground. I watch the damage they’re capable of when they’re not even really putting forth much effort and wonder about just how horrible Idun is going to be, since they couldn’t even keep her underground without destroying her alpha House. Vance has moved on to twin silver swords that let the blood slip right off without leaving a trail, keeping their gleam from one wolf to the next. I feel the satin ribbon pulling through the wound on my neck, finally sealing it together, and relief spills through me when my blood starts pumping again, slowly easing the lethargy.

Gypsy Moon by Kristy Cunning