Lover Unveiled (Black Dagger Brotherhood 19)

“You’re in the fucking safety zone,” the man snapped. “And trust me, you’re going to want to get out of the way of that.”

There was no question what the guy was talking about, and Mae tucked her arms around her middle, even though she was not anyone’s target. And whether the vampire’s opponent was ready or not, whether the crowd could handle what was about to happen, the male started to come forward, a menace in heavy boots that landed like he was dominating all of Caldwell. With his chin down and his nasty stare straight ahead, his heavy brow and his brutal expression made it impossible to tell what color his eyes were, but in the marrow of her bones, she knew they were black. Black as the depraved soul that dwelled within that awesome and powerful body.

As a sick sense of dread rippled through Mae, she tried to get away even farther, but the bodies behind her were too packed in. And then it dawned on her. Who the hell was fighting the male?

She shifted her head in the other direction. “Oh, God . . .”

The human who was about to get eaten like a meal stood inches shorter and a hundred pounds lighter, and it was clear, going by the naked expression of fear on his lean face, that he knew he was in trouble. He, too, had tattoos, but they were a hodgepodge of different scripts, symbols, and ink colors, the random collection no more coordinated than what had fallen out of her bag the night before. And she imagined, going by his wide, dilated eyes, that his thoughts were no more organized than his markings.

Mae wanted to tell him to run. But he already knew escape was in his best interests. He was checking behind him like he was assessing his flight path—yet for some reason, he sank down into a semblance of a fighting stance, and raised his bony fists up to his cheeks. As his head and shoulders leaned forward, the rest of his body arched back on his hips—like his vital organs wanted no part of this.

And still the vampire kept coming.

The male stopped only when he was inside the wobbly inner circle that had been spray-painted on the concrete—and unlike the human, he didn’t brace for aggression. He just stared at the man with his arms down at his sides and his spine straight as an oak. No fists were made. No lunges hinted at or initiated.

Then again, he was a predator so deadly, he required no defenses and no offenses. He was a law of physics, undeniable and inevitable.

As the crowd went silent and the two fighters became an on-the-verge tableau of a beatdown, Mae found herself staring at the male’s bare chest. There was something captivating in the way the bony hand moved as he breathed with controlled, calm inhales. Meanwhile, across the circle, the human waited for an attack with a jittery series of hops and skips. When nothing came at him, his eyes wilded around. The crowd was becoming restless, and the man seemed to be compelled by their impatience. He approached with caution, the male not moving in response. And then the human threw the first punch, the angle upward and seeking that heavy jaw—

The male caught that knobby fist in his much larger palm, and he twisted the arm like a rope. As the human let out a scream and fell to his knees, the crowd gasped and then went silent again.

“Stop,” Mae said under her breath. “Stop this . . .”

The vampire’s expression never changed. Neither did his breathing. And both made sense. He was a killer who was not exerting himself.

Without a care in the world, he forced the human onto his back and then straddled the prey. The man seemed momentarily incapacitated by terror. That changed. Some gear clicked in his head and he began kicking, his leg small enough that it could bend in and punch his foot out into the crotch area. The vampire jumped out of range—and came back down with a set of face-targeting knuckles that were barely avoided with a roll. The concrete cracked under the force of the punch’s impact and the human jumped back to his feet. His balance was bad, and his greater opponent took advantage of this, grabbing the other arm, spinning him around, and yanking him back against that huge chest.

Don’t bite him! Mae thought. Are you crazy? With this many humans—

Except the human was the one sinking canines through skin, his flat-topped teeth locking into the forearm. That didn’t last long. The vampire ripped the bite free even though flesh went away with that mouth, and then he threw a punch for a second time.

The impact to the side of the skull knocked the human out cold, the thin body going boneless to the concrete, a pool held together only by that sloppily tattooed bag of skin.