Page 19 of Her Reborn Mate

As we headed down the stairs, we looked around for signs of Lawrence. When we couldn’t find him, I said, “Let’s flatten the tires of his car so he can’t leave.”

We were just about to head out of the alley when Lawrence jumped from the roof and landed straight on top of Will.

“That’s how that feels,” Lawrence said as he knocked Will out. Then he took hold of Will’s neck and started wringing it.

“Will, wake up!” I yelled.

“Oh, he’s not going to wake up, sweetheart, but don’t worry. You two can have a nice reunion in heaven,” Lawrence said, staring at me while he choked the life out of Will.

“You think a bad girl like me can get into heaven?” I asked, flinging his knife at him.

Lawrence caught the knife in mid-air, but at least in doing so, he released Will’s neck.

“If you’re bad, then I’m the king of hell itself,” Lawrence said. “You’re just a countryside hillbilly who’s gone and stuck her nose in business that she didn’t have anything to do with in the first place.”

I could shift and end this within a minute.

“Go ahead,” Lawrence said. “Try it. Kill me. Morph into your wolf form. Everyone’s going to see you for the beast you are. Hell, with the bar being so packed and all and Bangor folk being so fond of their guns, how long do you think it’s going to take before they look at you and riddle your body with bullets?”

“What do you want?” I asked, raising my hands. “You want half a million dollars? Is that price for you to let us go?”

“I’m not doing it for the money. Well, the money helps a bit. I believe in the cause that Ralph and Blair are all about. But mostly, I like killing sexy young girls. I find their screams of pain very arousing. There’s something else I do right after I kill them. I….”

Before he could finish his thought, Will had gotten up. That’s what I had been counting on. Will kicked him in the balls and made him collapse on his knees.

“Finish your sentence,” Will said, holding Lawrence by his hair. “I dare you to finish that sentence you perverted son of a bitch.”

Lawrence swiped his knife back, slashing Will across his chest. It was not a deep gash, but it was still hurtful enough that Will recoiled and grabbed his torso, his face contorted in pain.

Are you all right?I asked as I saw Lawrence get up off the floor.

He just caught me by surprise,Will said.

What’s happened to us that just a few days ago, we were taking on hordes of men and vampires, and now we can’t even kill this one piece of shit?I asked.

I told you, I have seemingly lost my powers, Will said.What’s your excuse?

Overwhelmed. That’s my excuse. I was not mentally prepared. I thought he was just a man. An ordinary man. And not this deranged assassin. Also, I was not expecting you to show up. So that’s two counts of me being overwhelmed and surprised.

Lawrence stood in the middle, with Will on one side and me on the other.

“I have taken on worst odds than this. I fought in Afghanistan, you know. Come on. I can take you both. I guess that’s going to be a full million for me. They’re going to be surprised when they see that I’ve brought in the great Will Grimm. You know, they think that you’re still dead,” Lawrence said, holding up his knife.

“You know me?” Will asked.

“Of course. Ralph and Blair told me all about the havoc you wreaked and who you were. It’s going to be a privilege to kill you and bring your head to my masters,” Lawrence said. “I’ll start with you. Break your missus’s heart while I’m at it. She can see you die a second time, but this time, you’re going to die for real. No resurrections for you.”

Lawrence advanced swiftly, kicking Will in the chest and knocking him against the wall. He had his knife pressed against Will’s neck. Will was pushing back as hard as he could, but even I could see and sense that his strength had waned. Any longer, and Lawrence would indeed behead my mate.

In one quick step, I covered the distance between Lawrence and me, and before he could press the knife further against Will’s neck, I kicked Lawrence’s leg from behind, making him lose his balance and stagger backward.

As he fell, I grabbed him from the back, yanked his knife out of his hands, pressed it against his neck, and whispered, “This one’s for all the girls you murdered and for thinking that I’d be one of them.”

I slit Lawrence’s neck and watched as blood gushed down his white shirt. He writhed as his life escaped him, thrashing his arms and flailing his legs. I felt no mercy for him.

When he went limp, I let go of him and watched his lifeless body collapse on the ground in a pool of his blood.

Will was panting loudly, making me notice the gash on his chest. It wasn’t as light as I had expected. Blood was spouting out of it, and the wound was not healing itself.