Know Thine Enemy Read Free Page B

roared a mocking laugh. "Think we got ourselves our own personal Anita Whatserface."
    " Not quite as slutty, but I'll take it." She landed a high kick on the third vampire's head before whirling to catch the flying fist of the vamp behind her. "Must be a slow night." She twisted his wrist to leverage a harsh kick to his back. "All three of you taking on someone half your size."
    The first vamp growled and backhanded her hard enough to send her to the ground. "Seemed like a fair fight."
    She was on her feet again in a blink. "And here I thought one of the perks to being skinny was not looking like an entrée."
    " Typically means you don't struggle as much."
    " Sorry to break the norm."
    There was a blur of movement and a flash of fang. Then a horrific, blood-bubbling gasp rang through the otherwise empty alleyway, bouncing off buildings and dumpsters.
    " Son of a bitch!"
    Ryker craned his neck, and was supremely unsurprised to see the blade handle protruding from the first vamp 's chest.
    These clowns were exactly the sort of vamps that gave his kind the shit -ass rep they had in the first place. Bloodthirsty pricks who thought with their fangs drew all sorts of unwanted attention and tended to bite off more than they could chew. Izzie was just that. She wielded her dagger—the only weapon he'd seen her carry—like an artist might wield a brush. The things she did with it, the strokes she made, were downright inspiring.
    Ryker 's eyebrows hit his hairline, a steady breath rushing past his lips. The others stood in dumb shock as she strolled to a nearby dumpster and recovered a discarded restroom sign in the shape of an arrow, reading "MEN." All the while, her expression remained indifferent, and no one seized the opportunity to leap to their friend's defense. For her part, Izzie returned to the vampire's side with a grunt, jerked her blade free, and thrust the sign into his chest in her knife's stead.
    She 'd been doing this a long time.
    " Hey!" one of the other vamps cried belatedly. "You killed Ricky."
    She arched a brow. "And welcome back. Ricky?"
    " Dan, she killed Ricky!"
    Izzie blinked and shook her head , her expression taut as though fighting off a grin. "You all sure are a perceptive bunch."
    " Dude," said Dan the Vamp as he climbed to his feet. "Not cool. No one kills Ricky and gets away with it."
    At that, she laughed. Hell, so did Ryker. Not only were these vamps clumsy, they were young. Youth always betrayed itself, one way or another.
    " Was Ricky your ringleader?" she asked. "Big brother? AA Sponsor?"
    " We don't go to AA," said Not Dan. "We're vampires."
    " Ah-huh." She rolled her eyes and leveled a harsh, showy kick in Ricky's side. "Well, for vampires, you sure don't know a lot about your own kind. For starters . . . Ricky here? Not dead so much as incapacitated."
    " What?" demanded Dan.
    " He looks dead to me," the other said.
    Ryker smothered a snort, his focus remaining on Izzie. She didn 't look much impressed either.
    " Vamps die three ways, boys. Just three ways." She held up a hand. "Decapitation—which is really gross and takes more time than you'd think. There's fire—but, honestly, what doesn't that kill? And sunlight. Stabbing the heart is only effective insofar as sending the body into a state of paralysis. If Ricky gets his two bestest chums to get him out of this sticky situation before morning, he might just live to annoy me another night. Survey says, though, that neither of you are the brightest bulbs in the box, so I'm going with a really long last few hours to think about what he's done before Mr. Sun comes and burns him to a nice, overcooked crisp."
    Ryker couldn 't help his grin. No, she most definitely wasn't like any hunter he'd encountered. What the hell brought her out here at night?
    " Unless . . . ." Izzie twirled her blade and scuffed her boots along the ground. "One of you wants to prove me wrong."
    " Yeah." Not Dan growled. "We're gonna prove you wrong, all right. Dan?"
    "