Shepherd's Moon (3 page)

Rubbing my hands over my arms, I dismissed it as a weather anomaly, putting the thought of witchcraft out of my head. The likelihood of a witch powerful enough to control the weather in this area was astronomically small. And really, I didn’t want to think about the possibility. Despite dealing with preternatural creatures both at home and work, witches tended to scare me a little…

It was only seven o’clock, and other than the black cat, the man on the phone, and an occasional vehicle passing by, I hadn’t seen anything moving in the past two hours. While the storm provided plenty of reason to avoid being outdoors, dusk had not yet provided enough darkness for me to find any real cover. But now the darkness was settling in, thick and stormy looking.

The cat was back now, circling my legs and meowing so softly I had to strain to hear her. I took the opportunity to quickly access the animal’s senses and sniffed the air, still not picking up on anything too out of place.

Weird…

A thunderclap was followed by a bright strobe of lightening that struck a little too close for comfort. The cat scurried away from me, seeking better shelter than I could offer. I glanced up at the dark sky and watched the thick clouds congregate overhead. A broken streetlight flickered in the strong gusts of wind, casting an eerie feeling in the night.

The wind continued its relentless assault, dropping the temperature another degree while I thought of a dozen other places I’d rather be. The gooseflesh covering my arms was not caused by the weather alone.

The cat had disappeared again and I fleetingly wondered where it had disappeared too when I caught the faint scent of unwashed flesh, earthen dust and death riding the wind.

The pungent scent was far too close for comfort…

Awareness tingled over my skin as I realized I was no longer alone. A chill ran down my spine, forcing the hair on my arms to stand up straight, as I slowly turned to find myself face-to-chest with the Newborn. He was tall, at least 6’1 which compared to my own petite build, was a big difference. His skin was pale and he was dangerously thin for his height. To make matters worse, his bloodstained fangs were at full extension.

It was moments like these that my childhood years sharing a home with vampires and shifters didn’t seem like such a bad thing. Wrestling with them since I was little more than a child had numbed me to the initial shock of their unnaturally swift movements. My upbringing did not, however, make me any more invincible than any other human, and getting this close to any creature with fangs could not end well.

Panic rose, swift and sudden as I realized I was alone—completely alone — with the ravenous Newborn now known to the general public as Azrael.

He lunged as I yelped and leapt back, but the alley was narrow and there was no place to go. Teeth bared, he let loose an unearthly screech as I cringed away. His gleaming black eyes were a sharp contrast to the ghostly pale, almost translucent skin that covered his body—typical for a creature that spent most of its existence in a state of anemia.

Frantic, I reached out with my mind in search of a nearby animal—any animal would do, but I really hoped something bigger than an alley cat was lurking nearby. A quick scan told me that Billy was again out of range, and I suddenly regretted the game I had played. If he were here now, this wouldn’t be happening. Billy would have the creature in his jaws before it even thought about reaching me. As it was, I wasn’t confident of a strong enough connection to even make the attempt to draw on his power. Even the alley cat had scampered out of my read zone, and without drawing on an animal’s strength and instincts, I was as feeble as any other human.

Which meant I didn’t stand a chance…

I clenched my fists and swung wildly, surprised to feel it connect with the creature’s jaw. He returned my swing with a quick jab as I raised my elbow in defense and somehow managed to block the blow, but the force of it drove me to my knees.

Get it together, Alex.
I thought.
You’ve trained for years on this type of attack. You know what to do.

And just like that—adrenalin surged through me. Its calming pressure allowing me to focus and gather my energy in a rush of power as I grabbed hold of the creatures’ legs and deftly maneuvered around. Kicking out, I pushed up to regain my footing behind him. Two quick jabs to his kidney did little to slow him, however—hitting the equivalent of a solid piece of granite was highly effective in slowing me. I gasped as he turned and grabbed my fist on the third jab, swinging me around as he wrapped his long fingers around my throat and pinned me against the brick wall. For a split second, he brought his head back and paused — watching me as if he were a cat playing with a mouse he’d spotted scampering across an empty hallway.

And then, curiosity gave way to a much baser need and he leaned in to strike, his red eyes meeting mine.

I froze.

Something in those eyes was familiar. i>Very familiar.

But there was no time to dwell on the uneasy feeling as he lunged. In a desperate bid to avoid becoming dinner, and out of ideas, I pushed my left forearm into his mouth—the only way I could keep a barrier between my throat and his teeth. Probably not the smartest move, but my guns were out of reach and I was out of options. His red eyes blazed with excitement as blood spurt from my arm and he fed, lapping at the thick red fluid that now covered both of us. He’d nicked my ulnar artery which, given his young age, was either a stroke of luck or very impressive. Most newborns aren’t capable of that kind of accuracy until much later in their undead lives. I struggled helplessly against him as he worried the flesh of my forearm like a puppy with a chew toy. His body pressed against mine, crushing me against the wall. But with a mouthful of blood, my attempts at escape only excited him.

As if on cue, rain erupted from the sky soaking us—uncomfortable for me, but the vamp couldn’t have cared less.

He quickly grew frustrated with my efforts at escape. We grappled; then breaking free, he used his large hand to reach behind me, cracking my skull against the solid brick building then chortling at the satisfying thud.

The searing pain brought me roaring to my senses. Strength surged through my battered body, numbing the pain.

And just like that, I lost my temper.
Who the hell was he to threaten me? I’m a Shepherd!

The rough fuel of anger shocked me into action. Taking a deep breath, I relaxed against his ironclad grip, the motionless mass of my body forcing him to overcompensate as he shifted his hold to balance me.

Vampires are easier to manage if you can manage them from a distance. They resemble very young rattlesnakes—quick to strike with saliva that excretes a potent neurotoxin designed to paralyze their prey as they feed. The venom is far more powerful when they are young—a natural defense designed to give them an added survival advantage through their early years.

Like they need another advantage…

I could feel the poison traveling through my arm now. It would have less of an effect on me as Shepherds retain a natural immunity to the toxin, but then again, I hadn’t been bitten in awhile. The toxin was taking its toll on my senses.

Head spinning, I hesitated a split second before reaching for my weapon.

He who hesitates, loses.
Joseph’s words echoed in my mind and the irony was not lost on me.

No sooner had I reached for my shoulder holster than the Newborn pulled his head back to prepare for a full feeding, giving me only a fraction of a second to meet his attack with a solid headbutt—a move that I quickly realized was not one of my smarter ones. The attack only seemed to make the Newborn angrier and myself even more vulnerable.

Water dripped from his short hair, running in rivulets down his thin face and off his long nose. He pushed me down to pavement that hadn’t seen a street cleaner for a good long while, but he needn’t have wasted the effort. I took full advantage of the momentum and let myself fall to the ground, pulling him over the top of me.

The leather duster, now slick with rain, worked to my advantage allowing me to slip from his grasp, and I rolled away. Years of sparring matches with Billy and Brock finally paid off as I flipped my legs around and back under me in a move that only accomplished dancers could pull off with any dignity, and scrambled upright.

The Newborn reached for me, but I feinted back and dropped into a spin kick, then twisted to land a reverse roundhouse across his jaw. He didn’t expect the move and fell to the ground as I allowed the momentum to push me towards him.

His recovery was quick and he caught me easily with one arm on my approach, using his strength to heave me against the wall once again. This time the ancient brick cracked, an effect that softened the blow but left me unable to catch my breath.

Apparently I had earned a bit of respect from the creature. He appraised me carefully, then advanced once again in a sudden rush, pinning me against the wall.

If I were the lucky type, an escaped hyena, or maybe even a lion, would wander down the alley before this creature succeeded in killing me. But luck had never been a recurring theme in my life and either of those scenarios seemed very unlikely in the middle of Phoenix.

Letting the wall between two large dumpsters support my weight, I eyed him wearily through a swollen eye that I knew was already turning purple. Bruised and battered did not even begin to describe how I felt…

Somewhere in the distance I could hear the squeal of brakes as footsteps thundered in my direction, but the rain kept me from seeing anyone. Distracted, I hoped we wouldn’t be forced to do any good citizen cancellations tonight. Although the thought of a human coming to my rescue was appealing, I didn’t want it to happen. The only thing such a discovery would result in would be a lot of extra paperwork and another dead body.

The vampire reached for me with his torn, dirty fingers as I flinched away, but there was no place to go. My choices were either through a solid block wall or through an out-of-control Newborn in the throes of bloodlust. Neither option was appealing, and rather than resist, I stood there like a stunned rabbit caught under the paw of a wolf.

He pinned my shoulders against the brick with one arm as he wrestled me into a better position to reach the larger artery in my neck. The rush of blood pulsed in my ears and I knew if I could hear it, he could hear it.

It wouldn’t take much to finish me off. The toxin slowed me, made me clumsy and sluggish, while the repeated blows had taken its toll on my thought process. The best I could do at this point was stay alive long enough for Billy to show up and at the moment, that meant keeping any major arteries away from those teeth.

Suddenly, the Newborn’s dark eyes opened wide in surprise as a large arm encircled his neck. The startled creature loosed its grip on my shoulders to address the new threat, but even when facing another opponent, he was stronger than I. Half-conscious and only able to see through one eye, I couldn’t make out the shape of whoever, or whatever, gripped him.

My half-hearted search for a nearby creature made me lose focus on the shields that protected my mind. Whatever had distracted the Newborn was close enough to flood my mind with feral, violent visions that could only belong to a shifter. I snapped the walls that guarded my mind back into place, but not before I had accessed the thoughts of an animal. A very large, very powerful animal that felt more cat-like than anything.

Whatever this animal was, it was big.

Huh. Ask and ye shall receive…

Taking advantage of the distraction, I reached up to grasp the Newborn’s wrist with my weak arm as I pushed his elbow with the other, forcing him away and down. No matter how much a vampire changed their physiology, they were still subject to the rules of basic human anatomy. At least temporarily. The move forced him to face the new attacker as I held his arm behind his back.

Azrael’s surprise was as obvious as my own. Whatever had distracted him had disappeared and we gaped in silence at the darkness. But I only had a moment to consider the identity of my protector as the vampire twisted from my grasp, taking advantage of my weak hold, wet from the torrential rain.

Billy had better make an appearance soon. I was nearly worn out, and had no idea where my protector had disappeared too. I certainly didn’t have time to look for him.

The Newborn advanced, blocking my kick and wrapping his solid hands around each of my wrists. Pulling away from him, I jumped up taking two quick steps and climbing his body like a set of stairs, before flipping backwards. This time the rain worked to my advantage and he loosed his grip. The chance both of my wrists would be broken by the attempt at escape was high, but at the moment, they were still functional. And that’s all that mattered.

Lunging forward, he grasped the sleeve of my coat. I whipped my long leather jacket around his head, simultaneously pulling my arms from the sleeves and slipping it from my shoulders before twisting out of the way.

Temporarily blinded and restrained, the vampire finally released me.