Meriwa, a genetically engineered monster hunter with a penchant for cheap whiskey and cracking terrible jokes, lands a job working for a vampire-led corporation where she discovers true love with an eccentric billionaire vampire CEO, a once in a lif...
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At a loss for words, I inelegantly opened and closed my mouth while staring at the monster's beautiful yet rage-contorted face.
Why? Why had I protected him?
Perhaps his anger about the death of the human made me subconsciously trust the vampire. Or maybe I was simply driven by an instinct to fight. Regardless of the reasons for my saving him, I stood in the clearing facing the creature I had spared as I failed to come up with an answer to his question.
As we locked eyes, the tension in the clearing was palpable. An electric tingle in the air made the hairs on my arm stand on end while the vampire snarled at me. He was death. A predator that could kill me in an instant if he wanted to. Snap my neck then leave me for dead, dropping me to the ground and watching my corpse twitch next to the remains of the other vampire he'd eviscerated.
As if struck by an epiphany, his rage-filled glare deepened, blue eyes flashing an unfathomably terrifying glowing red. The shift in his features was the only warning I had before he moved lightning fast and grabbed my wrist, squeezing it with enough strength that I thought my bones would snap. I had no time to react, not that I could fight against that grip even if I wanted to. With my arm in his grasp, he raised it to his eye-level then used his free hand to rip off my bracelet, smearing the other vampire's viscous blood on my arm in the process.
Upon revealing my Hunter bar code tattoo, the same type that they inscribed all the genetically engineered children at Imhullu with, he swore in a language I didn't understand and brushed his fingertips over the design gently, almost lovingly. Then, upon realizing what he was doing, the man dropped my arm roughly as if it had burned him.
Growling, he pinned me with his red-eyed glower, and when he spoke, his razor sharp fangs were visible. "You're one of those American Hunters. I fucking knew there was something wrong with you."
I didn't even have time to defend myself against his accusations before he was pushing me back with a heavy-handed shove. The vampire growled once more, then pinned me against a tree and held me off the ground with his forearm pressing on my throat.
Finally, my addled brain seemed to catch up with what was happening, and I realized that by some miracle I still held the knife. With a hearty snarl of my own, I pointed the weapon outward, about to jab it into the monster's skull, but before I could deal the blow, the creature wrested my weapon from my grip. With a grunt, he threw the knife into the gall grass next to us before turning his eyes back to me.
With his face inches from mine and his sharp incisors gleaming in the moonlight, he spat. "Where are the others?"
"What?" I asked, barely able to breathe thanks to the press of his forearm against my throat.
"Your team of murderous, brainwashed, psychotic science fair projects. They wouldn't have been foolish enough to send you here alone. God, I had the whole employee database of that fucking company thoroughly examined by my people. How did one of you Hunter bastards sneak in?" The red began to slowly drain from his gaze, replaced by his normal icy blue color as the creature continued to ramble. He seemed unaware that I couldn't draw in oxygen while he droned on. "Who's your target? Me?"
