Pretty When She Destroys (Pretty When She Dies #3)(7)

“I’m carrying the obsidian blade and the silver-plated sword.” Cian squatted beside her, loading a clip with silver bullets for the pistols. He wore thin black gloves to protect his hands. “I’m going to put the silver stakes in the black bag, the white birch in the red. The silver will work on both vampires and weres. The white birch is for Etzli. It’s even stronger than silver.”

“Gotcha.”

Amaliya was glutted on the blood of the residents of Cian’s apartment building. As soon as she had awakened, she had slipped in and out of the fancy apartments sipping from the throats of the inhabitants until she literally couldn’t drink anymore. Cian had taught her to drink without killing, but her anger and grief was so strong it had been a struggle not to drain her victims dry. Red-tinged tears streaked her face. She hated that she was crying, yet how could she not? Not only was she mourning, she was furious. Her grandmother had been incredibly important in her life and now she was gone. Wiping at her face, she struggled to steady her nerves.

“As soon as we reach Santos’s mansion, bring the dead up. Have them attack whatever moves. Santos keeps a lot of blood minions, so keep that in mind if you need more blood.” Cian’s accent was thick, deep, and dangerous. “Don’t hesitate to kill the minions if you need more bodies for zombies.”

Amaliya nodded.

“I’ll concentrate on Etzli.” Cian hesitated, then slapped a clip into one of the pistols. His hazel eyes met hers. “The Summoner is yours.”

“I’ll kill him,” Amaliya said in a tough voice. Her sweet little grandmother lay in a mortuary somewhere in Eastland County waiting to be prepared for burial in a few days. Innocente had only been dead less than twenty-four hours and already the void that she had left in Amaliya’s life was unbearable.

“Staking didn’t work on The Summoner, so try decapitation.” Cian tucked the pistol into a holster on his belt.

“And if that doesn’t work?”

“We’ll figure it out,” Cian said with a wry smile.

Amaliya grabbed the collar of his shirt, dragged him close, and kissed him. His tongue and lips were flavored with fresh blood. He tasted like power. Releasing him, Amaliya experienced a surge of love so powerful it hurt. She loved him. He loved her. It was one of two truths she knew without a doubt. The other was that The Summoner needed to die.

“I f*ckin’ love you,” Amaliya growled at him before rising and stalking out of the room. “Now let’s go kill that *.”

Cian grabbed the bags of weapons and followed her out into the main living area of the apartment.

The vampires were dressed alike in black jeans, t-shirts, and boots. They needed clothes that allowed them to move quickly and hopefully without detection until it was too late for The Summoner and his people.

After they had returned the previous night from Fenton, Texas, Amaliya had waited until their friends left for their own homes and their house guests - Cassandra, Cian’s dhamphir daughter and her girlfriend, Aimee, a witch - had gone upstairs, before informing Cian that she was going to kill The Summoner. The death of Innocente ate at her viciously, but the demise of Pete, her childhood friend who had died trying to save her, inspired a rage so powerful it made her tremble. The Summoner had murdered people who loved her and she was going to kill him. She had found a way to kill him once, and she would again.

Cian placed the bags in the front hall, then checked his jean pockets for his car keys. “We’ll take the back route into San Antonio. It’s longer, but there is less of a chance of one of Santos’ people spotting us before we hit the mansion.”

Amaliya nodded tersely. “Sounds good.”

A wisp of fear threaded through her raw fury, but she ignored it. Maybe it was a suicide run going after The Summoner, but she didn’t want to acknowledge that possibility. She hadn’t even discussed her plan with Cian when she had awakened. Cian had simply anticipated her desires and started preparations immediately.

“When are we leaving?” Cassandra asked, coming down the stairs from the second level of the apartment. Her girlfriend was right behind her. Both were dressed in black clothing and carried messenger bags. Cassandra’s chin length chestnut hair was pulled up into a fake Mohawk with rubber bands while Aimee’s was in a long braid wrapped around her head several times.

“You told them?” Amaliya asked Cian, narrowing her eyes.

Cian shook his head. “No, of course not.”

“It wasn’t too hard to figure out that you’d want to kill The Summoner as soon as possible,” Aimee said as she reached the main floor.

“And since he’s most likely with Etzli’s brother, it made sense to attack tonight before they can move,” Cassandra finished.

“We can use the help, Liya,” Cian said, lifting one shoulder.

“Fine, but let’s get going.” Amaliya had to admit she felt a little relief at the thought of the witch and dhamphir coming along.

The doorbell rang a few seconds later. Cian checked the security feed on his computer monitors. “It’s Jeff and Samantha with the others.”

“Was there a memo?” Sarcasm dripped from her words as Amaliya lifted her eyes to the heavens.

When the front door opened, Jeff, the leader of the local supernatural hunter group entered first. He was closely followed by the perky blonde phasmagus that was his girlfriend. Samantha grinned when she saw Amaliya’s glower and gave her a little wave. Eduardo, the hunky were-coyote, filed in before the rotund Benchley and his boyishly cute younger sister, Alexia.