The Fifth Clan Read Free Page B

present.
    I smiled. Threntü really went all out for this one. The party rapidly got into full swing, wine and blood flowed like rivers before the end of the night and I awoke from a slight stupor induced by alcohol and large quantities of blood to find myself lying naked in a bed next to James.
    Or what was left of him at least. His body had been ravaged by my fingernails and teeth. A quick glance showed that even his genitals were mutilated. I smiled, licking at some still moist blood clinging to my lips.
    “Quite the tasty morsel, wasn’t he?”
    I glanced up at the sound of a voice.
    She was sitting in a chair against the far wall of the bedroom. I stood up, blood staining my mouth and neck and running down my chest, naked before her. I didn’t care about my nudity however. ‘Let her look all she wants,’ I thought. ‘No harm in giving the woman a last thrill before she dies.’
    Moving so fast that no human would be able to follow my movements, I darted across the room and lifted her out of the chair by her neck. Spinning about I slammed her body forcefully into the ground, listening to bones crack and internal organs rupture as her fragile form made contact with the hard floor.
    I stood, stretching the muscles in my back as I did so, and stared down at her broken form. She was quite beautiful. Long wavy blond hair, eyes a dark blue and skin so flawless she could have been made of porcelain. She had rather large breasts and an overall beautifully proportioned body. I found myself getting slightly wistful over the fact that I never got to fuck her. While she was alive at least.
    So lost was I in my own musings that I failed to notice her move until her heel had been planted firmly into my gut and all the wind left my lungs in a rush as the force of her kick sent me flying against the far wall. I groaned and sat up just in time to see her broken limbs mend themselves and her broken neck sharply fixing itself as she sat up.
    “That wasn’t very nice, sweetheart,” she growled. Her eyes began to shine with a distinctive yellow light and I felt a feral grin touching my lips as her body began to grow and change.
    “Bring it on, puppy,” I said to the werewolf.
    This was going to be fun.

5
     
    Long Beach, California: February 4, 2005
     
    I pulled into the parking lot at Rachel’s college and parked my bike in a conveniently located motorcycle slot between a couple of hedges, right next to an exit out of the lot. Jumping off the bike I reached up to tear off my helmet and cursed when I remembered I hadn’t grabbed it in my leap out the window of my apartment.
    Cursing in every language I knew I sprinted through the school, keeping my movements to that of a very fit human, I didn’t want to draw too much attention to myself though I knew I wouldn’t be able to avoid it. As I ran I kept sniffing at the air hoping to grasp a hint of Rachel’s scent, praying that she was still on the campus. If she’d moved on it would take me too long to track her and Vera would get to her first.
    As I crossed the quad behind the Cafeteria building I caught a whiff of her scent, still mingled with mine after our night of drunken debauchery. Skidding to a halt I looked wildly about and spotted her about 100 yards away from me across the campus. I noticed as I ran up that she was sitting at a drawing easel and she was working on a very good two point perspective drawing of the art buildings.
    “She would have to be on the other side of the campus practically from where I parked,” I muttered ruefully to myself as I walked up to her.
    “Rachel.”
    She turned when I spoke and pulled a set of headphones out of her ears. I could hear faintly the sounds of a Disturbed song playing through the tiny ear buds.
    “Oh hey,” she said brightly, her eyes lighting up as she saw me. “What’re you doing here? I honestly wasn’t expecting to ever hear from you again.”
    “What, you didn’t think your beauty and stunning wit made an