Angel’s Blood (Guild Hunter #1)(44)
Author: Nalini Singh

"We estimate two to three hours, perhaps less."

Her head jerked up. "You found the location so soon?"

"He made a lot of noise toward the end." A tone so glacial, she barely heard Raphael in it, and yet it was chill with rage, not like when he’d been Quiet. "A neighborhood vampire called Dmitri after coming to investigate."

"You told me this morning I’d be earning my paycheck. You expected this?"

"I knew only that Uram had to be reaching a critical point." His eyes moved over the nightmare. "This . . . no, I did not expect this."

She didn’t think anyone could have-it was something that simply shouldn’t exist. And yet it did. "The vampire-what will happen to him?"

"I’ll take his memories, make sure he remembers nothing." Said without the least apology.

She wondered if that was what he planned for her, but this wasn’t the time to ask. Instead, she set her shoulders and dug deeper. Nothing. "There’s too much fear here. I’ll have to go with what I got from the body." Stepping away with as much care as she’d entered, she tried not to think about what hung above.

Drip.

A drop of blood splashed off the shiny black of her boot. Her gorge rose. Turning, she ran, not caring if it betrayed weakness. The damn door had been pulled down behind them and now refused to open. Her hand slid off the hot metal. She was at screaming point when it shifted a fraction. She fell to her stomach and squeezed out into the dead earth of the yard.

The sun shone bright overhead as she stood bent over, retching. She was aware of Raphael coming to stand beside her, his wings spreading out to shade her from the sun. She waved him down. She craved the heat-her soul was cold, so icy cold.

She didn’t know how long she stood there bent in half, but when she rose, it was to the awareness of being watched. The vampires she’d sent from the warehouse? Illium? Watching the hunter lose her breakfast.

Her mouth tasted disgusting as she used the edge of her T-shirt to wipe at her lips. She wasn’t the least bit embarrassed. To see that and not be affected . . . it would’ve made her a monster akin to the killer who’d anointed her in blood before she’d even been old enough to date.

"Tell me why," she said, voice husky.

"Later." A command. "Search for him."

He was right, of course. The scent would fade if she didn’t hurry. Not replying, she kicked some loose dirt over her recently lost breakfast and began to jog slowly around the warehouse, attempting to pick up Uram’s exit point. Most vampires used doors but you could never tell. And this killer had wings.

A sharp bite of acid.

She halted, finding herself in front of a small side entrance. From the outside, it looked normal, but when she tugged it open, she found the inside covered with bloody handprints. Too small to have been made by a man of Uram’s size. She followed the line of sight . . . and saw the hanging shadows deep in the warehouse.

She slammed the door shut. "He let them run, let them think they had a chance to escape."

Raphael stayed silent as she zigzagged out from the doorway.

"Nothing," she said. "His scent is there because one of the girls managed to get out and he had to retrieve her." She bent down to stare at the brown grass. "Dried blood," she said, swallowing past the raw flesh of her throat. "Poor kid actually managed to crawl this far." She frowned. "There’s too much blood."

Beside her, Raphael went very still. "You’re right. There’s a trail leading away from the door."

She knew his eyesight was keener than hers. Like raptors, angels could reputedly see the tiniest of details even during flight. "It can’t be Uram’s," she murmured. "I’d have scented it." She followed Raphael as he walked the trail-she could no longer see anything past the first few feet. "Did he drag a body out here, maybe?" They were at the chain-link fence. She went down, examined the small hole at the bottom. "There’s blood on the edges of the metal." Excitement slammed into her, a two-fisted punch.

"I’ll have to fly across."

As he winged over, Elena found another hole to push through. The blood was more obvious on the other side-there was no grass to hide it, just hard-packed dirt. Her excitement turned into an almost painful hope. "Someone crawled through that hole." Rising to her feet, she found herself staring at the closed door of a small shed. It looked like it might once have been a guard station for the abandoned parking lot behind it.

There was blood on the door.

"Wait here," Raphael ordered.

She gripped the closest part of him-his wing. "No."

The look he shot her was not friendly. "Elena-"

"If we have a survivor, seeing an angel is going to freak her out." She let go of his wing. "I’ll check first. She’s probably dead, but just in case . . ."

"She lives." An absolute statement. "Go. Get her. We can’t waste time."

"A life is not a waste of time." Her hand fisted hard enough that she knew she’d have crescent-shaped marks in the flesh of her palms.

"Uram will kill thousands if we don’t stop him. And he’ll get more and more depraved with each kill."

Snapshots of the mutilated bodies inside the warehouse cascaded through her mind. "I’ll hurry." Reaching the guard station, she took a deep breath. "I’m a hunter," she said loudly. "I’m human." Then she pulled open the door, making sure to stay out of the line of fire in case the person inside had a weapon.

Pure silence.

Using the utmost care, she looked around and . . . into the face of a small woman with darkly slanted eyes. The woman was na**d but for the rust red stain of blood, her arms gripping her raised knees as she rocked soundlessly, blind to anything but the terrors of her mind.

Chapter 24

"My name is Elena," she said softly, wondering if the woman even knew she was there. "You’re safe now."

No response.

Backing out, she looked to Raphael. "She needs medical attention."

"Illium will take her to our healer." He came closer but the woman started whimpering at the first glimpse of his wings, her muscles locking so tight Elena knew they’d have to break her bones to release them.

"No." She stood to block the view. "It needs to be one of the vampires. No wings."

His mouth was a flat line, whether in anger or impatience, she couldn’t tell. But he didn’t seize control of the woman’s mind. "I’ve asked Dmitri to come. He’ll take care of her."

Her heart froze. "As in kill her?"

"Perhaps she would welcome mercy."