Hold Their Peace (Vampire Assassin League) by Jackie Ivie Page B

cleared.
    He’d lost his head there. And he hadn’t much time. He needed to use it to think. Reason. Evaluate. He had the advantage. Every Hunter in here was facing death. Thanos knew the immediate location of at least one of them – the generator room. If they were really smart, they’d have separated and gained positions before shutting off the power. If they were doing it by rote, however, they were probably fanning out from the generator room right now in a leapfrog fashion, covering each other as they moved. They’d be wearing some sort of night vision aid and they’d be packing weaponry. All of which would be visual and audible to any vampire. And he knew this labyrinth. Every inch. His nose wrinkled in distaste, and then he was moving.
    They were smart. Or they’d gone rogue. There were only two Hunters in the generator room. And they’d set a trap. They hadn’t done their homework very well, though. They’d spritzed the area with Holy Water, not realizing it wouldn’t stop a vampire spawned before the Christian era. If they really wanted to stop him, they needed a pagan icon; something the masses from his era put their faith in. A Star of David. A bit of sacrificial blood. A piece of altar. But no. They’d used Holy Water.
    It wouldn’t stop him, but it was still going to hurt.
    Thanos gripped the sword hilt, swooped into mist that burned, and lopped one man’s head off before swiveling to the other. Darcy might actually be right about the balance on this blade. It might need more weight on the tip. That might be why his move to cleave the other Hunter in half only managed to separate him from his breathing apparatus, flak jacket, and most of his gear.
    Oh. They’d sent a very special unit after him. These Hunters had been chosen for more than skill. Thanos didn’t have to ask. The man didn’t even panic, ignoring the long scrape in his belly as it reddened with blood. He was already sending bullets in Thanos direction; bullets that smelled of cedar. Thanos felt one rip past his ear. Another grazed his neck. One thudded off his sword scabbard belt buckle, while one went through his upper arm, searing its way out the other side. That was lucky. They were using sanctified wood, but since the man shot without aiming, his lone hit had been a fleshy part that cauterized as it exited.
    That was the last shot he fired. Thanos slammed into the man, lifting him off the ground with his left hand and snarling as blood smell permeated his senses, elongated his canines, and filled his eyes.
    “I’ve...found him!”
    The Hunter’s words of warning were choked off. Thanos shoved Darcy’s blade right through his rib cage, the kill dousing his hand and arm with blood. Thick. Dark. Tangible. Cloyingly sweet. He could almost taste it on his tongue. Feel it sating his thirst. His senses altered. Opening. Needing. Requiring a feeding. Lust filled him. Supreme. Carnal. Necessary. And it got denied.
    Not yet. Not until he had his mate. Safe. Beside him.
    Thanos fought his own body, clenching his entire frame, working to extinguish cravings he’d never stifled before...and something finally worked. He had it tamped. For now. Seated deep in his gut where it throbbed and reminded; red-hued and burning and angered. Thanos threw his head back and howled, using deep, full tones that radiated outward, filling the hallways with sound.
    And someone out there reacted.
    Metal shifted and fell, clanking as it landed. Thanos whipped his head down and toward the sound. One of them had just disturbed weapons from a niche in his display hall. The sound wasn’t much, but enough for an undead creature with senses tuned for it. Thanos was already moving, skimming the ceiling. Was his Darcy there? Had she finished her shower? Damn him for letting her leave his side! The room she called a man-cave was reached through the display hall. What if she’d gotten there first? What if they were using her for bait, tormenting her?
    Thanos worked