Addict (Hunter #2)(56)

It wasn’t said unkindly. I meant it as reassurance. He wasn’t cut out for this, and Henri was going to have my head. I would give it to him on a silver platter, too. I hadn’t been thinking. I shouldn’t have even brought Liv with me, and she knew what she was getting into. If I needed backup, I should have taken up Trent on his offer. He knew the score and had experience in sticky situations. My only saving grace was the fact that this situation had turned out to be a breeze. We waltzed in, and we were about to waltz right back out.

The door at the front of the clinic opened. My day went straight to shit.

“I don’t know how many there are,” I heard a voice saying. “It’s probably * kids trying to score some drugs.”

I waved my hand for Liv and Casey to get behind me. We had some cover. The reception desk was in front of a wall of those pretty glass cubes a lot of offices use to separate spaces. Whoever was in the front didn’t see us yet. I pulled my Browning automatic. Casey and Liv knelt down behind a desk. I noted that Liv had the semi in her hand.

“I’m going to die,” Casey said quietly. “It hurt bad the first time. Do you think it’ll be even worse this time?”

“Buck up,” I ground out, trying some tough love. Now wasn’t the time to coddle the baby vamp. “You’re a f*cking vampire. You might not like killing, but I assure you, you’re damn good at it. If you can’t help, then keep your head down and try to survive.”

I gave both of them my most ferocious “keep your mouth shut” look and opened my senses.

“They were smart enough to take out the security cameras,” one of them said. “Maybe we should call the police.”

There were three of them, and they were armed. I could see through the blocks of glass. They were obscure figures walking through the lobby. I breathed in deeply. I thought two of them were human. The third made my skin crawl. Demon. I would have bet my life he was a halfling, like Gray. He would be tough, but mortal.

I turned my attention to Liv. I held up two fingers and pointed at her chest. She nodded that she understood. I then held up one finger and made a little horn over my head. Her face fell. I knew she got the picture. Casey seemed to be concentrating. I thought he might be trying to shield. I could have told him that it wouldn’t work with the demon any more than it did with me. He’d gone to someplace inside himself, and I prayed I didn’t get him killed.

I took a deep breath that had nothing to do with oxygen and everything to do with that piece of me that contains my wolf. My adrenaline started pumping. Part of me was thrilled at the prospect of a good fight. Instead of twitching, my body got righteously still, preserving my power and energy for the moment of attack. It was times like this that I could almost feel the change. I would never shift forms, though I’d been told tales about Hunters who managed to change their hands.

Still, I could feel the need. I could practically feel my teeth lengthen, my limbs loosen.

“Stop,” the one who seemed to be the leader said. “Shit. What’s a f*cking vampire doing here?”

Demons have pretty good sniffers, too. He dropped his voice. “I’m getting one witch, a vampire, and something else. I don’t like that something else. I…it feels wrong.”

He had good instincts.

“I didn’t sign up to fight vampires,” one of the humans said.

“It can’t be vampires. I have to be wrong. It’s daylight. It must be something left over from the testing. You know they have all kinds of supes in here. Just calm down.”

“We should get out of here.” There was panic in the human’s voice.

“If you run, my master will kill you, slave,” the demon shot back. “I’ll make sure of it.”

I walked out from behind the glass partition because it was obvious they weren’t leaving anytime soon. It was time to fight my way out. “And if you don’t run, I’ll be the one who kills you.”

“It’s only a girl.” The second human appeared to be roughly twenty-five, and the dude worked out. He was a big, muscular guy. He slapped his partner on the back with a sigh of relief. “It’s some dumb-shit druggie.”

The demon was in human form. He was much more slender than his human counterparts, but looks were deceiving in his case. Demons didn’t need massive muscles to be strong. His eyes went red and he took a step back, now obviously more wary than the humans. He knew I was something different, and different in our world could be deadly. “I don’t know what you are, but you better not mess with me. Do you have any idea who I work for, bitch? I have a piece of his power.”

“I don’t care.” I couldn’t. I had to get Liv and Casey out of here. I couldn’t give a crap who this dude’s master was. “We can work this one of two ways. I can kill you quickly and walk out of here or…I can’t think of another way, sorry.”

I had no choice. If they reported back to Winter or the Brandon guy, my cover was going to be blown. I needed to get into Winter’s place. I couldn’t risk it. I quickly raised the Browning and all hell broke loose.

I went for the humans first. Do I feel bad about killing a couple of guys in league with demons? Nah. I was doing them a favor because at some point that shit was going to get real for them. The first guy went down without a shout, falling backward. I started moving, rolling to take cover behind the desk because now the other guy was firing.