Release, book 3 of The Angler series by Annie Nicholas Page A

would have let me go after an attack. Living in a city devoid of vampires could soften a slayer, I guess. Even Red hadn’t put up much of a fight.
    A figure strode toward me, the dark clinging to him like an old friend so I couldn’t see his face. The wide set of the shoulders and predatory grace seemed male.
    My limbs froze. All the things I ’d learned during my sparing sessions with Kam vanished with a pop. The light grenade and wooden stake remained untouched, and my love for Rurik had nothing to do with it.
    The shadowed man stood just outside my circle of light and loomed over me. A hand shot out and caressed my bruised face. It was smaller than Rurik’s but just as firm. “That looks painful.” Tane’s voice swept the tension from my body and left me sagging against the building.
    I stepped out of the light on rubbery legs and drank him in. He still wore the suit from the meeting. It was wrinkled with a torn seam along the side.
    He gave me a timid smile as if shy. “You’ ve never looked at me like that before.”
    I rushed into his waiting arms and rested the injured side of my face against his solid chest. “You’ve the best timing ever .” He smelled of rescue and hope. It was the finest thing I’d ever breathed.
    “I heard your call for help. Where’s—” He cut off sharply and tensed. With a smooth swipe of his arm, he drew me behind him.
    I peeked around his side. “What is it?”
    Red confronted of us , gripping a wooden stake in his hand. The tools of his trade hung from his belt and he didn’t look like a slayer on vacation. “Tane? I was expecting Rurik.”
    I clenched my fists. “You followed me?” Like a lightning strike, the reason behind my easy release from the slayers dawned on me. They had used me as bait. “I’d expect that from Anthony, but you, Red? You’re supposed to be my friend.”
    “And as your friend, I’m doing what’s best for you.” He extended his hand. “They’re killing you, Connie. Don’t wait until it’s too late. Come back to New York with me.”
    Other people moved on the street around us. Their predatory grace exposed them as slayers and not common pedestrians.
    Tane frowned, his gaze traveling from me to Red. “You called Colby? Of all the silly things you could have done.” The heat of his words scorched my ears.
    “I didn’t call anyone. They rescued me.” I eased away from Tane. The anger on his face stung. There was a time I would have ran to Colby at the first sign of trouble, but over the years I’d given Tane more than my heart. I’d given him my trust as well. “Rurik tried to kill me. The local slayers stopped him. Red is here recuperating from some injuries he got on the job.”
    “I know of Red’s situation. Who do you think is paying his medical bills?” Tane shot Red an accusing glare. “She belongs to me , human. Don’t start a war because of ignorance.”
    My heart skipped a beat. War? Geez, Colby’s group had a truce with the Nosferatu but if Red betrayed it , they were all good as dead. The Nosferatu took guarding their existence seriously. The only reason Colby and his men lived was because of their help in killing Dragos.
    Anthony approached us, his eyes growing wider as he stared at Tane. “Holy shit. Is that what I think it is?” He pulled out a second stake. “I thought they were just myth.”
    “Red.” I ground out his name between my clenched teeth.
    “How was I supposed to know he’d be here? We came looking for Rurik.”
    “And you would have killed him in front of me?” I swung my hand but before it made contact with Red’s face , something stopped it.
    Tane held my wrist. “Enough.” He kept his eyes on me. “Rurik really tried to kill you.”
    I nodded, unable to speak.
    He spun and stared as the slayers. I sensed the shields collapse from his mind and create a small bubble around me. All the humans on the street stopped moving as if under a trance. Red and Anthony’s eyes glazed over. As