Almost Human (3 page)

Astra caressed one of her knives. “God, I’m
twitchy. I need to kill a vamp already. Three parties and we
haven’t hit our marks.”

We’d decided not to kill any vamps except
the ones we were looking for. Fights were, needless to say,
dangerous. We could end up too injured to keep party hopping.

Laura shrugged. “Well, they’d better be
here. This is the last party my informants know about.”

I glanced up as we rolled to a stop. I could
feel my sister’s presence. Fuck. Now I had to hope she couldn’t
feel mine. I tried to shield so I didn’t blow our cover before we
made it inside.

Astra leaned over the seat to look at the
directions. “Which house is it? There are so many freaking cars
here it could be any of them. Stupid vampire junkies.”

I pointed to the sedate red brick house
alone at the end of the cul-de-sac. “That one.”

Astra frowned at me. “How do you know?”

I unbuckled my seat belt and pushed open the
car door. “Blood calls to blood.”

Shutting the door, I strode toward the
house. I heard someone get out of the car behind me.

“Kori, wait. Explain that, it sounds very
vampire-like to me.”

“No, it’s a witch thing.” I thought about it
for a second. “Well, I imagine vampires can do something similar.
But anyway, she’s my sister, and we’ve always been close. I can
feel her. I felt it when she died.”

Astra bit her bottom lip. “Well, can you
push the pause button on going to her while we formulate a plan?
And can you come out of this creepy trance-hyper-focused thing
you’ve got going on. It freaks me out.”

I glanced at her and tried to smile. “Sorry.
I didn’t think I would feel her this way anymore. She’s joined the
ranks of the undead. A demon inhabits her body. It’s not her. So
why do I still feel this soul deep connection with her?”

I glimpsed the pity in Astra’s eyes before
she could hide it. “I don’t know.”

I shook my head. “We ready to go in?”

“Yep. Give us the signal if you see
them.”

The hunting group approached the house,
seemingly a group of drunken, rowdy college bimbos, while I snuck
around back. If I went through the front door and my sister spotted
me, this hunt could go to shit faster than anyone could
imagine.

I got lucky when I reached the back of the
house. There was a sliding glass door that led to the kitchen, and
it was wide open.

The only lights in the place were rotating,
flashing, and different colors, leaving almost everything in
darkness. The room was so thick with cigarette smoke that my eyes
watered. In spite of this, I kept to the darkest shadows. A vampire
could see perfectly fine in this environment.

I scoped the party, looking for my sister.
When I’d blocked my presence from her, I’d also blinded myself to
hers. I had to rely on my eyesight to spot her.

Vampires brushed me constantly, their auras
prickling my skin, distracting me.

Astra danced under the beat of the thumping
techno music. She was all over a hot, blond vampire. He looked
eerily similar to the one I’d fought last night, except his hair
was shorter.

She was pure sex on the dance floor, and I
could see the blatant hunger in the man’s eyes. A human might
mistake it for a sexual heat. Luckily, Astra knew better, so when
he led her from the dance floor, I knew I had nothing to worry
about except finding my mark before she killed him and I had to
bolt.

There were several other couples necking on
couches or against walls. Emphasis on the word “neck.” To an
uninitiated human it might have looked like a lot of passionate
make out sessions. I wondered how many people would die at this
party tonight.

I sighed. This was so not my sister’s scene.
She would rather be at home with a good book. Even when she’d been
hunting vampires, she tried to avoid the parties and would instead
find them hunting in the bad parts of town.

As if thinking of her made her appear, I
spotted her on the couch. She looked incredibly uncomfortable and I
couldn’t resist smiling. The blond boy next to her had his arm
draped over her shoulder while he talked to a shirtless male
vamp.

I edged closer, trying to hear the
conversation.

“So, how is Pagan?” The vampire I assumed
was Misha asked.

The man chuckled and dragged a hand down his
face. “Pissed at me, as always. It’s okay though, the makeup sex is
amazing.”

Casey interrupted. “Misha, I think I’m going
to go to bed.”

The smile that broke across Misha’s face
almost endeared me to him. It was indulgent, but not condescending.
Like he’d do anything my sister asked just to make her smile.
“Okay, baby. You want me to come up?”

“Oh, no, that’s okay. Take your time, and
come up whenever you want.” And then she did something I’d never
seen her do. She kissed him so deeply and passionately I almost
blushed. “But I will be waiting for you,” she added, her voice in a
deep, sexy tone I never thought I’d hear from my baby sister.

She turned and flounced away from him,
putting a little extra swing in her hips to make sure he noticed.
It worked. He stayed tense, like any second he might jump up to
follow her. When he didn’t immediately rise, I broke away from the
wall to trail after her. I would have to be quick. That man would
follow her in no time. The vampire talking to Misha glanced at me
and a chill went down my spine. But he didn’t jump up screaming
‘witch,’ so I hoped I hadn’t been identified. He’d only seen me
move. I could tell myself that all I wanted, but as I turned away
from him the itch in the center of my back as his gaze tracked me
wouldn’t leave.

Another blond blocked Casey’s path and I
tried to blend in with the crowd. This one I recognized. His
straight hair fell to his shoulders. Light bounced off his
stainless steel eyebrow ring.

The one I’d fought in the alley. The one
that had let me go. This task had officially gone sideways.

Somehow he looked even more fearsome than he
had that night, particularly looming over my petite sister. A wave
of protectiveness washed over me, immediately making me want to
haul off and punch him. I squeezed my eyes shut. I shouldn’t feel
this need to protect her. What was wrong with me? I looked at her
and still saw my sister.

He frowned down at her. “Did you feed?”

My sister sighed, crossed her arms, and
glared right back at him. “No. I don’t like it here. These people
are drug-abusing cattle.”

He rolled his eyes. “They’re willing donors.
What do you expect? Not many well-to-do people will give to
vampires, not even with the current fascination today’s youth have
with us. Besides, they can be so annoying.”

“I’ll take from Misha. He’ll feed. No doubt
before he comes upstairs.”

He raked a hand through his hair. “You
shouldn’t become dependent on him, Casey. Hopefully, he’ll always
be there for you, but what if he’s not? You should learn to feed
off humans.”

“I’m not dependent on him, Alaric. I could
feed off them if I wanted, but he’s around, and I don’t want
to.”

He stunned me by giving her the same
indulgent smile Misha had given her, though this one was brotherly.
He clasped her shoulders and kissed her forehead.

He pulled back, that smile still in place,
and my heart tripped. He cared about her and that gained him
points. Gods, he was gorgeous when he smiled. “Fine, little sister.
I’ll drop the subject. I want you to be able to do things on your
own.”

“Don’t worry about me, Alaric. I’m a big,
tough vampire slayer. I’ll never be dependent on anyone.”

He nodded and slid out of her way,
disappearing into the crowd of writhing bodies.

I extricated myself from them and stepped
into the hallway. My sister was on her way up the stairs at the end
of the hall. I crept to the end of the stairs and watched her go
into the fourth door on the left.

I glanced around to make sure I hadn’t been
noticed and crept up the stairs. I opened the door to her room and
stepped inside, shutting it softly behind me.

Casey spun and gasped. “Kori?”

She took a step toward me and I pulled the
knife from my wrist sheath. “Don’t come any closer.”

Casey immediately took a blade from behind
her back. I was surprised, but didn’t let it show. My sister
usually avoided confrontation with me. Then again, she knew what
would happen now if she lowered her guard. Before it was sisterly
bickering, now it was life and death. “I don’t want to fight you,
Kori.”

I don’t want to fight you either.
“Then don’t. You’re a corpse that doesn’t know when to lie down.
Let me put you in the ground. Let me give my sister a dignified
burial.”

She shook her head. “I’m not a
corpse. When you become a vampire you only die for a split second,
and then your heart starts again.”

I rolled my eyes. “Is this some bullshit
line they told you to feed me, or do you actually believe it? You
have all the memories of my sister, but you aren’t her. If you
were, you would have killed yourself when you woke up a demon.”

Tears welled in her eyes and I tried to
harden my heart against her. I never could resist comforting her
when she cried. I’d always been the protective older sister.

“I’m not a demon. And I couldn’t take my own
life when I woke up. I love Misha. If I’d killed myself over what
he’d done to me, it would have broken his heart, and I could never
do that.”

Her tears disappeared and her lips curled
back into a snarl. “Being a vampire is an adjustment, but it’s not
worse than death. We’ve been fed bullshit since the cradle. Most
vampires aren’t bad people.”

“They aren’t people at all.”

It felt like a lie. Why did I feel sympathy
for her? Why did I want to throw down the knife and hug the sister
I thought I’d lost? It went against everything I’d been taught. I
thought killing the thing that inhabited my sister’s body would be
easy.

“Yes, they are. Please, Kori, I’m no
different.”

Was she?

She has all the memories of your sister. The demon
is just a good actress.

“What can I do to convince you,
Kori?”

I shook my head and curled my lip at her. I
wouldn’t let this thing sweet talk me. “There’s nothing you can do,
leech. Mother wants you dead. You’re a demon, and you are a threat
to her, and to every hunter you’ve ever met. You know them on sight
and you’ll get them killed. You have to be eliminated.”

She nodded, her lips pressed into a thin
line. “You won’t be able to kill me. We were almost evenly matched
when I was human. Now I’m slightly more powerful, and faster than
you are. Even if you manage to kill me, you won’t survive to make
it out of this house. All the brothers are fond of me. Please, put
down the knife and leave. If one of them even discovers you here
they’ll kill you before I can stop them.”

She glanced behind me, and her eyes widened
ever so slightly.

I spun, and slashed the large vampire I’d
fought in the street the other night. How had he managed to sneak
up behind me? He hissed and leapt back, avoiding much of the blow.
But a thin diagonal cut marred his flesh under the black
t-shirt.

Behind me, Casey gasped. “Alaric, what are
you doing up here?”

He drew a knife from his waist and didn’t
take his eyes off me. “Nyx noticed this hunter trailing after you
and was nice enough to warn me.”

“Please, Alaric, don’t hurt her. This is my
sister.”

He eyed me from head to toe. “Nice to see
you again, Kori. Pagan said you’d come for us if we hurt your
sister.”

“Maybe you should have listened to her.”

“I should have killed you in the alley when
I had the chance.”

“Yes, you should have. You won’t get
another.” I rushed forward, aiming my knife for his heart. He
blocked and the knife went flying. He slashed for my throat and I
heard Casey scream.

I ducked the killing blow and pulled a knife
from the top of my boot. I sunk the blade between his ribs as I
rose.

“Alaric, no!” Casey shouted.

His fist came flying in an upper cut. I
didn’t have a chance to dodge.

I crashed into the dresser, and it buckled
under the impact. A large sliver of wood jammed itself into the
back of my thigh. I howled and yanked it out. Blood gushed from the
wound. I didn’t think I’d hit an artery, but it sure was bleeding
like a son of a bitch.

It felt like someone had detonated a bomb
inside my skull. I probably had a nasty concussion. If I’d been
human, the upper cut would have broken my neck. I tilted my head
from side to side and grimaced. Or maybe it would have taken my
head clean off.

I glanced up, praying he was dead. I
definitely couldn’t take another hit.

To my horror, he was using the wall to help
himself stand while Casey hovered around him, hands fluttering
nervously like she wasn’t sure if she should pull the knife out or
help him to his feet.

Slowly, he pulled the blade out of his
chest. He screamed and swayed but didn’t fall back down. The knife
cleared the gaping wound and he stood there gasping for air.

I pulled myself to my feet using one of the
bedposts. It hurt to stand, but I could. If he wasn’t dead from the
initial blow, then he wasn’t going to die, and I needed to get the
fuck out of here.

He straightened to his full height and
buried my knife in the wall with a grunt. “You missed the heart,
bitch.”

I groaned and pulled a knife from my other
wrist sheath. “You want to call a truce? I’m not feeling up to more
fighting.”

He grasped the back of his shirt and pulled
it over his head, revealing the tightest set of abs I’d ever seen.
He was enough to make any woman drool. If he took off his shirt,
any female hunter would think twice before killing him.