The New Girl Read Free Page B

its throat tore open, shedding thick, blackish blood, was almost comical.
    The creature melted into a puddle of the black blood as Em tossed away the decapitated head. That too liquefied in a matter of seconds. Em was already on to the next vamp, launching himself at its back while Grig’s fingers swiped bloody furrows across its chest.
    Drei concentrated on the one that currently had one hand wrapped around his throat. He didn’t panic at the lack of oxygen. He dug his claws viciously into its face, tearing at one baleful red eye. The vamp howled, an eerie, high-pitched cry, and released his hold.
    They both heard the wet splat that indicated Grig and Em had dispatched the other vamp. The skeletal fucker’s one good eye narrowed, sweeping the narrow alley. Black ichor and milky fluid dripped from its pale cheek, the deflated eyeball hanging like a meaty thread from its eye-socket. Drei flashed it a feral grin.
    The fucking vamp Iced. Drei blinked and it was ten feet away. He lunged but in the next second it was out of the alley, and then gone. He cursed, plummeting to the filthy ground where his adversary had been standing a few seconds before. His throat screamed with pain and there was a long gash down his arm from the vamp’s ragged nails.
    “Drei!” Em’s voice was sharp with worry. Drei whirled and hurried back toward his brothers.
    Em was holding Grig up. Their younger brother sagged against him, usually tan skin pale. Not quite as pale as a vamp, but not good. His shirt was torn and a shallow graze on his shoulder oozed blood. It didn’t look so bad... except he’d been fighting that poisonous fucker.
    “Shit, how bad did it get him?”
    “Just... a... scratch.” Grig was grimacing and panting. The skin around the superficial wound was turning an angry red, like a steam burn.
    “Oh, Grig!” Cat’s voice trembled with worry. She stood beside Em, hopping from one foot to the other as if she had to pee. “I’m so sorry!”
    “Not... your fault... hot stuff.” He winked at her. Drei’s shoulders relaxed a little. Couldn’t be too bad if the kid was hitting on Cat still. Right?
    Em frowned, hauling Grig back to his feet as the younger man’s knees buckled. “We need to flush it out. I don’t think he got a full dose, but he’s likely to feel pretty shitty.” Em’s pale blue eyes flashed, and he didn’t have to say anything else for Drei to realize that Em wasn’t quite as blasé about their baby brother’s chances as he sounded.
    “Shit. Okay. Uh... back inside?”
    “I’ll be fine,” Grig said, though his face was drawn with pain. At least his breathing didn’t sound quite as labored anymore. That was a good sign, wasn’t it? “Just get me home. We need to get Cat safe.”
    “Hey, don’t worry about me, handsome. You guys have done enough tonight.” She brushed a fall of long hair back over Grig’s uninjured shoulder and gave him a trembling smile.
    Yet more proof that Cat was something else. After what she’d just seen, it was a miracle she wasn’t huddled in a blubbering ball behind the dumpster.
    “He’s right though. They were definitely after you, Cat. Though damned if I know why ,” Drei growled.
    A soft, hesitant female voice answered. “There’s something... different about her. They want her for her blood.”
    Cat gasped. All four of them spun on their heels. Grig did so with a pained grunt.
    Cassandra stood in the club’s open back door, a half full black garbage back in one hand and a thin lipped scowl on her face. She looked as if she wished she hadn’t spoken up.
    “Who the hell are you?” Em barked. “And how do you know anything about this? You’re a Mundane!”
    She shrugged one shoulder, not meeting Em’s eyes. Her gaze met Drei’s briefly and then slid away, her lips quirking for the barest second. She turned around, tossing another quick glance over her shoulder. “Better bring him inside so we can flush that wound. Vamp venom is nasty