"I can't see a freaking thing down here, it's too dark," Matt whined.
Hands clenched into fists, I glared at him, my jaw tense. "If you don't stop whining, I'll leave you down here to find your own way out."
Matt shut up. The trip to Texas had been his idea, and only two days after arriving, he had me combing the sewers, knee deep in God only knows what. As we headed farther into the labyrinth of tunnels, my already sour mood worsened. Why had I agreed to this? I should have known better.
After a few more minutes of walking on in the worst kind of uncomfortable silence, Matt mumbled, "I was sure he came this way."
He might have missed the glare I tossed in his direction, but I'd be surprised if he couldn't feel my gaze burning a hole in the back of his head. I'd never have admitted it to Matt, but I was angrier at myself than I was with him. Yet again, I had let him talk me into one of his idiotic plans. Apparently, my stupidity knows no boundaries.
It wasn't as if we didn't have enough work to keep us busy in Maine, and you didn't melt in Maine when you stepped out into the midday sun. That was always a bonus. But no, the idea of a nest of vampires that were getting too big for their cowboy boots had seduced me. It was always the damn vampires that did it. I felt drawn to them like a wolf to the moon- which made sense in its own perverse way. I was a hunter, after all. The need to exterminate the vermin was in my blood, embedded in my DNA.
Matt stayed by my side as we traversed the intricate network of tunnels. He didn't have the sense of direction that I had been born with, so we had to stick together. If we split up, Matt would be sure to get lost and the last thing I wanted was to have to spend more time in the damn sewer than I needed to.
Placing a hand around my upper arm, Matt pulled me to a stop. He was about my height, if marginally broader, so when I turned we were standing face to face and close enough that I could see his remorseful expression. He let out a long sigh.
"I'm sorry I dragged you into this. You were right. We should have stayed in Maine."
His repentant tone dispelled most of the anger I had been holding onto. There was a reason I hadn't wanted to come back to Austin, but Matt didn't know about that. As far as he was aware, I'd walked out on that part of my life two years ago and I hadn't looked back. I was good at hiding my feelings, even from Matt, who had become like a brother to me over the ten years we'd been hunting together. Or maybe I was just a damn good liar-too good.
I shrugged. "Don't sweat it. I'm a big girl. I agreed to come along. Now that we're here, let's kill us some vamps, yeah?"
A goofy grin was his only reply. When we turned a corner, the dimly lit, narrow passageway opened up into a cavernous room. The stark brick walls held small fitted lights, but they let off hardly any illumination. Our prey was standing in the back, casually leaning against the wall when we entered. His eyes glowed yellow in the small beam of moonlight that filtered down from an overhead grating. Even from ten feet away I could smell the stench of death and decay on his breath. The room was just bright enough to see the vampire's wide, toothy grin.
"Well, it's about time y'all showed up," he said with a lazy Texan twang. "I ain't got all night, ya know."
I took a few steps farther into the room to get a better look at the creature. He was wearing pale blue, flared denims and a floral shirt. He wouldn't have looked out of place in the seventies-in fact, he probably hadn't taken them off since the seventies. That would certainly explain some of the stink. But the strangest thing about him was his relaxed stance and calm demeanour. Most vampires feared hunters on sight. Reaching into my jacket, I pulled out my favourite silver- tipped stake.
"Oh, I'd put that away if I were you." He swaggered towards us and the stench increased, clogging up the already stale air until it was all I could smell. Some days, I really hated my damn job.
I shrugged. "Sorry, no can do."
"Someone could get hurt," he mused.
"Not someone," I corrected. "Something." It was damn near impossible to think of a vampire as human when their humanity had departed along with their soul. 'Mindless, emotionless killers' was the only term that fitted.
His grin broadened. "Details," he drawled, with a swish of his hand.
As we stared at each other silently, my mind went into overdrive. There was something off about this whole situation. His relaxed manner made me jittery. Vampires were undoubtedly the most conceited of the supernatural species, but he would have known we were hunters. So he was either stupid enough to think he could take us or he had a death wish. Of course, there could always be a third alternative-he wasn't down in the sewer alone and that fact was giving him false confidence.
"Matt, pick up the slack," I instructed.
My eyes never wavered from the soulless creature in front of me. In the ten years we'd worked together, Matt and I had come to understand one another pretty well so I didn't need to elaborate. In my peripheral vision, I saw him nod then walk back down the tunnel we'd just come through.
"Well, well. Not as stupid as you look." As the creature neared, his haughty smirk exposed yellow, razor-sharp fangs.
I was about to respond with something equally banal when a fight broke out in the tunnel behind me. The harrowing sounds of fists hitting flesh and snapping bones reached my ears along with Matt's shouts of rage as he fought what sounded like four or five vampires at once.
"Raven! Raven, help me!" Matt shouted.
Damn. I thought about dealing with the creature in front of me first, but then a sound rang out that made my stomach lurch violently and all the air whooshed out of my lungs. Matt screamed- quite literally screamed. The chilling sound echoed off the damp sewer walls, reverberating through my body like it was a physical entity that had taken me by the arms and shaken the living daylights out of me. It was excruciating to listen to.
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