Hunting Tess by Kathryn Summers (best novels to read in english .TXT) 📗

the kitchen, not wanting to wake anyone in the house. Remembering where Patricia placed the glasses, I get one before filling it at the sink. The moon shines on the empty street, splaying its beams on the black asphalt. A sip of water cools my parched throat and I feel my eyes start to go heavy. What I need is a full eight hours of uninterrupted sleep.

A flash of movement across the street snags my attention, but there’s nothing there. Looking harder, I wait for something to shift but nothing changes. I wait for about a minute before deciding it must have been my imagination. Putting my dish in the empty dishwasher I’m about to head back to bed when a shadow shifts position. Bodies converge in stealth on the house across the street where Parker’s extended family and friends are staying. Their pale skin could be because of the moon.

But the gleam of their fangs is not.

Leaping into action I bolt into Parker’s room, startling him awake before he wakes his parents in silence. The element of surprise is on our side and we don’t want to give that up.

Patricia is nestled between Rich’s arms through she is on the phone to alert the house across the street of the threat. He kisses her with such reverence that it makes me feel like I’m intruding.

Parker starts to pad toward the back door in nothing but a pair of sweats and I have to avert my gaze to keep from staring at his muscled torso, especially when he stops in front of me.

He opens his mouth to say something before closing it again. I almost get the sense he’s going to ask me to stay inside before surprising me. “Be swift and decisive. If they’re the same vampires tracking you then we can’t let any escape.”

“Are you doubting your ability to take down a few vampires?” I ask breathlessly, aware of how close he is standing. Instead of answering he pierces me with those intense gray eyes.

“Parker.” His father’s command snaps him out of his thought, leaving me to stand alone as the two disappear outside. Patricia appears by my side with two crossbows. Where they were stored I have no idea. When she offers me one I shake my head.

“I won’t need it.”

I trail the small horde with my eyes, curious about their plan of attack since no member of a wolf pack in their right mind would allow entrance to a home. Vertical blinds sway like someone just walked past and I think about Gemma and Dylan’s innocent children, their three-year-old little boy with his curly blonde hair and bright blue eyes. The vampires would show him no mercy.

With that burning thought I prowl through the hedges lining the Collins’ home, staying nimble on the balls of my feet. A large wolf launches from somewhere ahead of me in sync with another coming from the other side of the house, their large paws pounding against the pavement alerting the enemy of their advancement.

A growl rips through the night as two more wolves spring from the house stalked by the vampires. Two are taken down from proximity of the attack, but the others quickly recover to fight the onslaught. Tearing away from the bushes I cross the street in silent stealth, my nails elongating and adrenaline pumping through my veins.

More wolves come bounding from both sides of the street to join the fray surprising the vampires. A couple stragglers attempt to desert their assault only to be hounded down before making it more than fifty feet.

I cut one down trying to sneak up on me only for another to take its place. Before I can make a move against him a wolf leaps onto the vampire, ripping him apart with one shake of his massive jaws. Intelligent gray eyes look back at me and I know it’s Parker.

The fight, while not lasting very long, is physically draining because of the restraint I have to show. There are too many bodies in close proximity and while the wolves may be able to communicate their location and strikes, I don’t have the luxury of being in the know. Because of this I frequently have to withdraw an attack to avoid slamming into a wolf’s face.

By the time it’s over, bodies litter the ground and I wonder if the pack owns the whole street. Hopefully they do otherwise this cleanup is going to need to happen quickly, not to mention the unavoidable noise of snarls and yells piercing the night.

A squirming body thrashes beneath two colossal paws, silenced with an aggressive bark. Members from the pack begin disappearing back to their homes to change form. With the lone surviving vampire, I figure they want to know why there was an attack on such a large pack and need information. A couple men come dashing back down the street to haul off the writhing vampire, but they aren’t nearly as strong as in their wolf form.

After a scary moment of the vampire slipping out of one of their grasps I intercede. Crossing the distance in a matter of moments I grab the free wrist, tightening my hold as I twist his arm painfully behind his back. His other arm slithers free which I have pinned before my brain registers the action. He bucks against me but I hold firm, oblivious to his desperate attempts for freedom.

The two men unable to contain the vampire stare at me with suspicion clouding their eyes, almost as if they’re unsure if I’m a vampire myself. After all, how else would I be able to restrain such a creature?

“This way,” one of the men directs, pointing me toward a house a few doors down with all the lights on.

The vampire heaves his head back in a blow which would have broken my nose had I not dodged it in time. Quickly grabbing the back of his neck, I throw him to the ground. My knee pins his back