She stumbled, tripping over her bulky boots and whacking her knee on something hard. “Don’t hurt me!”
She flipped to her back and covered her face, peeking through her fingers as she hyperventilated with fear. What the hell was it? Tall, with long hair and human features. It wasn’t a wild animal—or was it?
Fangs. The motherfucker had fangs.
“Vampiro,” she breathed, certain she was about to breathe her last breath.
It drew back a clawed hand as if to strike her, and she scrambled for the crossbow when something that could only be a jungle cat leaped at the thing and tackled it to the ground. Her screams kept coming as she scurried to her feet, crossbow in hand, and bolted away as the two predators fought in a scramble of violent hisses and howls.
A disgusting snap, and one of them cried out and fled. The tussle stopped and she threw her open, bleeding back against the tree, searching for whichever one remained. She lifted the bow and tried to listen for any sound.
A twig snapped and she pointed the arrow toward the quiet crack. Gray-camo fatigues tucked into heavy black boots stepped into view. Was it the National Guard?
Her gaze traveled upward to a tapered waist and black fabric stretched tight over a muscled chest. Maybe she hit her head and was dreaming. It was freezing and steam rose off his bare skin. He stepped fully out of the shadows and planted his treelike limbs firmly in a streak of moonlight.
“You’ve got to be kidding me.” Beyond that well-worked chest and thickly corded neck was a face she recognized all too well. “What are you doing here?”
He scowled. “What am I doing here?”
“I’m working!”
“Stay down!” He launched into the trees and a horrible growl sent birds scattering overhead. A split second later, he scared the crap out of her, jumping out of nowhere and landing right in front of her. “Where’s your van? Where’s your lights and equipment? You clearly have a death wish.” He took a menacing step forward, a look of pure distaste on his face.
She raised the crossbow. “Stay back!” Why was this guy always in the woods? The last time she saw him, another body had been discovered, just a few feet from where they were.
He laughed. “What do you plan to do with that?”
“Don’t come near me! I’ll shoot.” There were only two explanations for his presence. He was either hunting the killer in the wood or he was the killer in the woods. “I mean it! Back up!”
“Put the weapon down, Destiny.”
When she didn’t obey his command, there was a faint tingling along her scalp. She adjusted the bow and pointed it directly at his heart. “Not one more step!”
He frowned. “I said, put it down.”
“Did you kill those women?”
“Put the bow down!” When she ignored the command again, he lost his temper and shouted, “Why won’t you do as I say?”
“Answer the question!”
His jaw twitched in frustration, and he spoke slowly. “You will drop the weapon and follow me to the bottom of the mountain. You will forget everything you saw here tonight—”
“Are you crazy? I’m not going anywhere with you!”
He growled and stomped toward her, menacing impatience flashing in his eyes.
Shit, shit, shit! Her finger squeezed as she screwed her eyes shut, and the arrow released with her clipped scream. Then everything went silent.
She gasped and opened her eyes as he dropped to his knees with a grunt, the arrow protruding from his chest where a stain of blood bloomed. He looked up at her from the wound in shock, his mouth opening in a gasp for breath as he wheezed. “Anna…”
The End