Rogue Darkness by Dianne Duvall

Sean shook his head. “Tell him yourself. I can have him here in two seconds.”

Roaring in fury, she lunged forward.

Thwick, thwick, thwick.

More bullets struck home.

Staggering backward, the woman shook her head. Her weapons lowered as she fought for breath. “This isn’t… over,” she bit out. In the next instant, she spun around and dashed away in a blur even he could barely see. Her baseball cap tumbled to the grass at his feet, freeing long auburn hair.

Shit. That had not gone well.

Sean turned to face his Second. “Nicole?” He limped toward her.

She met his gaze. The hand holding the gun fell to her side. Her eyes closed. Her knees buckled.

Lunging forward with a growl, he caught her as she sank to the ground.

Pain wasn’t new to Sean. He had absorbed Krysta’s every time he’d healed her injuries during her six-year stint as the only successful mortal vampire hunter in history. But the immortal he’d just fought had wrought a lot of damage.

It took several seconds for him to find his breath. “Nicole?”

She didn’t move or respond, neither when he spoke nor when he jostled her.

Sean wanted desperately to call upon his gift and heal her with his hands but knew from experience that his body was too beat-up to be of service.

Holding her in place with his good arm, he clenched his teeth and forced his injured arm to work long enough to drag her phone from her back pocket and dial Seth.

“Yes?” Seth answered.

“It’s Sean. I just fought one of the missing immortals but couldn’t hold her. She’s on the run. Nicole’s hurt. And I’m too injured to heal her.”

“I have to go,” Seth murmured, his voice distant as though he’d lowered the phone. “May I exit this way?”

“Yes,” a woman said.

A door opened and shut.

“I’m on my way.” Seth ended the call.

Sean closed his eyes. Please hurry. Nicole still breathed, but that dagger had come damned close to piercing her heart.

Seth appeared several yards away with his hand on Ami’s shoulder.

Barefoot, the petite redhead Seth loved like a daughter wore only a nightgown that left her arms bare and stopped just above her knees.

Shrugging out of his long coat, Seth draped it around her shoulders to protect her from the chilly breeze. “One of the missing immortals was just here. See if you can lock down on her energy signal while I help Nicole.” He zipped over to Sean and crouched before him. “Where are Krysta and Étienne?”

Sean gently lowered Nicole to the ground and withdrew his touch. “Chasing half a dozen vampires who made a run for it.”

Seth removed the dagger from Nicole’s shoulder and rested his hand on the wound.

“There are too many energy signatures here,” Ami murmured. “I can’t figure out which one is hers.”

Ami fascinated Sean. Apparently, every individual produced an energy signal that was as unique as a fingerprint. And Ami was the only person in the world who could identify that signal and use it like a homing beacon to track people.

Seth caught Sean’s gaze. “Which way did she go?”

He pointed in the direction the woman had fled.

Nodding, Seth rose. “I’ll heal you when I return.” Crossing to Ami, Seth lifted her into his arms and took off in a blur of motion.

Sean did his best to ignore the pain that pummeled him as he drew Nicole into his arms again.

Her head wound no longer bled. Like her shoulder wound, Seth had healed it. And if she were critically low on blood, Seth would’ve teleported her to network headquarters before he’d zipped away with Ami.

“She’s okay,” he whispered with a sigh of relief as he settled in to wait. “She’s okay.”



Nicole sighed as an arm drew her closer to a warm, muscled chest. Smiling, she snuggled her face into soft fabric… then grimaced. It was wet and sticky.

Her eyes flew open. Sean held her in his arms. Sort of. He cradled her on his lap, one arm supporting her back. The other hung limply at his side.

“Oh shit!” She sat up so quickly that she nearly rammed her head into his chin. “Are you okay?” After scrambling out of his lap, she knelt before him and gave him a quick once-over. He looked like crap but still lived and breathed. Nicole lunged for the 9mm she’d dropped, then palmed it, spun around, and aimed at… nothing. Her heart raced as she searched for the vampire who—

“It’s okay,” Sean said. “She’s gone.”

“Are you sure?” That hadn’t been a vampire. The speed and strength the woman had displayed clearly labeled her one of the immortals their enemy had turned against them. For all Sean knew, the woman could be circling around to come up behind them.

Rotating, Nicole eyed the corner of the nearest building.

“She’s gone,” Sean repeated, every word belying his discomfort. “Seth and Ami are tracking her.”

Now that her initial panic was subsiding, Nicole noticed that the agony in her head and shoulder had vanished. Fatigue pummeled her, but other than that… “Seth healed me?”

Sean nodded.

“He didn’t heal you?”

“No time.”

Seth must’ve worried Ami would lose the trail if he delayed further. He’d heal Sean when he returned.