Standing Before Monsters (Vorans and Vampires) Read Free Page A

the girl apparently, Nick thought of the statement. While it had been a mutual break up, since they made better friends after living with each other for only a couple years than lovers; the vampiress apparently considered Marek suffering through his second love’s preferences as a bit of a joke. Nick didn’t have the time for such a joke at the moment, however, as he tried to piece together what had happened tonight.
    “Well, my nose says that it smells like a cat even so. Maybe we’ve stumbled across a type of were-cat? If they’re natural enemies to vampires, they may have a scent designed to rub you the wrong way?”
    Wrinkling up her face in confusion a moment, Nicola shook her head as she thought about it. “I’ve never heard of any such thing, but if you’re right that three creatures smelling of cat went after the vampire; does that mean they only were after him or do they hate all vampires?”
    The last question was asked in worry. After losing four of their members in a turf war against superior numbers, the woman looked leery of having another fight on their hands.
    “Whatever they were, they took him out in a strange way. He didn’t combust from being struck by silver or having his heart spiked. The body didn’t turn into a pile of dust either. He still is holding onto his form, at least beyond the normal dead rogue we’ve seen.” His eyes lifted from the scene to the pretty blonde who was beginning to look uncomfortable with talk over dead vampires. “Don’t worry, you’re safe with me. With as much of my blood as you’ve been sneaking in between your regular doses, you may not even smell like a vampire to a werewolf.”
    She knew that he was trying to make her feel better and the naturally joyful woman tried to rebound as she replied, “I can’t help it that I love how you taste and it’s not just for your blood. There is something about your smell that just turns me on.”
    Giving him a smile, the vampire did her best to look unaffected by the dead vampire.
    The voran summoned a blade of light from his right hand to prod at the pile of dust finally breaking it down so that the air could whisk the remnants of the vampire away. He needed to hide the evidence as best he could or risk drawing even more attention to the creatures of the night. Cyrus’s hostile takeover had triggered worry among the police investigating the dozens of disappearances over such a very short time, so any new strangeness needed to be avoided.
    As the dust of the body began to clear away, the voran looked for any signs of the man’s identity; but no wallet could be found and his clothing was dust like the rest of the vampire. Standing up and releasing his aura blade, Nick shook his head at the girl. “Whatever he was up to, these other hunters left no trace of who he was. If he had a wallet, it’s as gone as the rest of him. I guess we’ll never know if he was a former Cyrus acolyte or a rogue, but we’d better get out of here before someone calls the police to check on the chaos caused up here.”
    Nodding as the girl turned with his hand in the small of her back gently caressing her, Nicola slipped her left arm around his back before leaning into him. Looking like any affectionate couple as they walked through the parking garage and found a stairway that would eventually lead to the street, the two confused hunters of monsters worked their way back towards the busier streets and the revelers enjoying the night.
    “Now can we go for a dance?” the vampiress asked wistfully as they walked along the sidewalk towards Rush Street.
     
    Three figures stood watching the west. Dressed in dark clothing that allowed good freedom of movement, each carried a mask in hand. In the design of a panther, tiger and striped cat, each mask was held tightly like a treasure needing to be guarded.
    “There was a second vampire back there,” the woman said shaking out her brown hair.
    “There was also another hunter between us and