Page 131 of Burn for Her
Chapter 42
“I need pussy,” Xin grumbled as they headed towards Bourbon Street. “I hate hunting with a hard dick. It’s uncomfortable.”
“Will you shut up.” Victoria swaggered down the road, twirling a throwing star. “Your voice annoys me.”
“Everything annoys you, Vic. You need to get laid.”
“You offering?”
“You wish you could handle this.” Xin blew her a kiss.
Victoria chuckled. “I think I handled you just fine the other night.”
“I’m glad my theatrics worked.”
“Says the vampire who wore the French maid outfit last night.”
Dorian and Lena both looked back at the same time. “That’s kind of hot, actually,” Lena said, grinning.
“Right? I rocked it.” Xin made a chef’s kiss.
“Shut up and hunt,” Lucian snarled.
Of all people to not contribute to this playful conversation, Lucian was the last one Dorian suspected. But that guy was worried sick, and it showed from his walk to his talk, and especially his intensive glowering. Jesus, even his gait looked furious. The bunched-up lines between his eyebrows aged him a few centuries. Not even his scowl was a normal one. That vampire was wound up tighter than a drum.
Dorian was the pot to Lucian’s kettle.
Thankfully, the others were trying to lighten the load for Lena’s sake, even if it was annoying as hell.
“Smell that?” Lucian halted. “What is that?”
“Smells like charred pork.” Victoria shrugged and kept walking.
The scent was more distinct though. Dorian knew what it was. “Someone’s being burned,” he growled. He was well accustomed to what charred flesh and melting body fat smelled like.
“Over there.” Lucian beat feet and Dorian was right there with him. They stopped in an alleyway behind a theatre. The stench was awful. The person crawled out from behind a dumpster, gasping for air, half their body blackened.
“What. The. Fuck.” Victoria hissed as she snagged the victim by the hair and callously tipped their head back. “You see what I see here?”
The Savag-Ri roared and stabbed Victoria in her calf. “Oomph!” She kicked him in the jaw hard enough to flip him over.
Dorian halted Vic for a second. This was going to be a teaching moment. “Come,” he said to Lena. Then he brought her closer to the Savag-Ri, taking over where Victoria left off. Immobilizing the enemy in a tight hold, Dorian said, “I want you to get a good look at what our sworn enemy looks like.”
She squatted down.
“Look at his eyes,” he said calmly.
He loved how she had already unsheathed a blade, prepared to use the damned thing.
“See the cross? All Savag-Ri have a crisscross in their eyes.” The single mark cut through their irises and was the trademark of the vampire and Lycan’s biggest predator. “We’ve hunted each other for so long, I doubt anyone remembers the original motive of our war.”
“Then why are you still fighting at all?” Lena asked.
“Because you exist,” the Savag-Ri spat in response. “You’re disgusting parasites.”
Dorian smashed the heel of his palm into the bastard’s nose. “Mind. Your. Manners. She wasn’t talking to you.”
Xin picked up a zippo and bottle of lighter fluid from behind the dumpster. Waving them in the air, he rolled his eyes. “Could be self-inflicted for show.”