Page 89 of Heartbeat Girl
“The quickest way to a vampire is through his woman,” said the man who shoved me earlier.
Liam’s body stiffened beneath my fingertips. Not good.
“I want to hear what she has to say,” I said, squeezing Liam’s hand softly so he’d put me down. After he did, I raised my head and our eyes met. Some of his tension drained a little before he sighed.
“Dressing room,” he said to the brunette.
She smirked as her gaze trailed over the four of us. Steve kept glancing at me as we walked, and I frowned. The three of them stayed beside me as Brunette and her vampires followed us.
Pete stayed by the door and shut it once we were inside. “Well, why did you come?”
Liam pulled me behind him, and Steve joined him. It made it nearly impossible to see the woman as she spoke. “News travels fast when people are angry. Unless you don’t live in this world, everyone knows of the three vampires who betrayed their sire and hid her from her underlings. Especially when they stand in the public eye without a care that everyone sees them.”
With a huff, I pushed between Liam and Steve, ignoring their tense stares. “What’s your name?”
“Larissa,” she said smoothly.
Steve, Liam, and Pete bared their fangs. Every man in the room tensed and showed their teeth.
“So, you’ve heard of me?” asked Larissa.
“Who is she?” I asked Liam.
He never took his eyes off her as he said, “She’s a hunter. A vampire hunter.”
My eyes bugged out.
“She hunts her own kind,” Steve spat.
Larissa sighed, her smile slowly vanishing. “Tell me, what is it you think you know? That I’m a killer of my own kind? Let me guess. You’ve heard those stories from the very creature you escaped from?” When nobody spoke, she laughed. “That’s what I thought.”
“Then explain why you’re here. Why did you approach Jayne and not us?” Liam demanded.
“She’s been following us,” I said, tiptoeing so my chin rested on his shoulder. “If she wanted to hurt me, she could have already.”
Liam's mouth dropped as he looked at me. “You’ve seen her before?”
I nodded. “The night Steve and Pete were attacked at the motel.”
“I had to see what I should do with all of you,” Larissa explained, crossing her arms.
“What does that mean?” Steve asked.
“There’s been no trail of bodies during your travel. No dead humans. You’re alive because of that,” Larissa said.
He gawked at her. “Youarea hunter.”
Larissa’s eyes reddened briefly as she smiled. They were the color of blood but didn’t blacken completely like Liam’s and the others did.
How?
“I am, but I don’t hunt vampires like you. Something tells me if we had crossed paths while you were with your sire, our meeting would beverydifferent.”
“So you came to help us…” Pete asked, eyes blackening. “Withourproblem?”
“I can.” She turned around and looked at Pete, who stood by the door. “I’ve had my eye on Marilyn for a long while, but she moves fast and travels between worlds a lot. I don’t have a portal chip. I couldn’t follow her when she ventured into the Underworld. Her tracks went cold a few years ago, and it didn’t take long to find out why, when every vampire she sired is out searching for her and making plans to come for you.” Her eyes landed on Liam. “Unlike Marilyn, you guys are very easy to keep track of. All you need is access to the internet to find where your next concert will be, so I can imagine you’ve had quite a few attacks over the last year, like the one at the motel.”
Liam gripped my shoulder and shoved me behind him again when I tried to step around. “What are you after?”