Free Rebirth of the Seer by Peter W. Dawes Page B

hour. I am sorely tempted to make an exception to my moratorium on killing humans, especially after the bastard sent one flying into my shoulder. ’
    Her eyes flicked to my arm before a wince forced her lids to shut. She breathed shakily. ‘ God, it hurts, Flynn. What happened? ’
    Flinching, I felt my stomach knot and sighed. ‘ Lewis plunged the stake meant for me into your chest. You have been recovering for a few days now and shall need a lot more rest when this fiasco is finished. ’
    ‘ More like I need some pain pills and a bottle of whiskey. ’ Her eyes opened again, and this time they narrowed when I looked at her, curiosity latent in her stare. I felt the strangest sensation, as though she was crawling around inside my thoughts, but a sudden noise severed whatever connection she had fashioned. Our eyes both shot to the window and my breaths ceased when I heard him walk past our hiding place.
    If I had a heartbeat, it would have frozen from apprehension.
    “Little vampire?” Julian called as the grit of the pavement crunched under his feet once before stopping altogether. I stole a quick glance up in time to see him bend, but ducked back down before he could line me in his sights. He paused for a few tense moments. I held completely still, refusing to even blink in the event such a thing could give us away.
    Finally, I heard him walk at least a few paces further down the alley.
    “Now, where did you go?” he asked. A metallic clang resonated, dull at first, then sharper a few seconds later. I envisioned him lifting the lids of garbage cans when a similar sound followed the first one, punctuated by another afterward, as though we would be hiding in the refuse. He lingered, though, despite the failure of his search and while I felt a wall of security enclosing us, I knew it to be flimsy at best. Julian seemed to know it, too.
    He took a few steps closer to the window again and chuckled. “They called you Flynn the killer. Isn’t that right, little vampire? The Black Rose Assassin.” Another footfall; another scan I felt circling the basement, looking for signs of life. I took a deep breath and exhaled it slowly as he sighed. “Better they would have called you Flynn the coward. You hide from me, instead of facing your death as a man.”
    My jaw clenched, teeth gritted as my nails dug into my palms. The strain of suppressing a retort became a burden for me to bear. How much I wished to say it, masking the privacy of my thoughts. I heard myself taunting him, calling him daft and ignorant and emasculated. I heard myself scoffing at him. Facing death as a man? What did he know of death? Had he encountered the assassin, he would have been bleeding rivers and I would have watched with delight while licking my blades clean. The more I considered it, the more I wished to rip into his flesh and drown myself in the first decent meal I had indulged in weeks.
    My eyes shut. Fantasies of sweet revenge played out in all their terrible glory.
    Until another thought knocked me back into my senses.
    Yes, I would be the foolish immortal and would suffer the ill effects of a protection spell as a result. Incapacitated, I would be vulnerable, and he would end me before finishing the task of killing Monica. I fought back my fangs, sneering at both him and me, while releasing the temptation. Focusing on Julian again, I could only pray the veil surrounding my thoughts had not been compromised.
    Julian seemed to be none the wiser. His next step carried him in the opposite direction. “Not going to come out, then?” he asked, but with that question, I knew regardless of whatever suspicions he harbored, he did not know for certain where we hid. For all he was aware, we could have been blocks away and gaining in distance quickly. Just as I started to wonder how we might create a distraction, my salvation came in the form of the mortal populace. Even I startled when a loud shout pierced the night air.
    Monica and I looked at each