Season of the Witch (Claws Clause 2)

Only Julian didn’t use his fangs.

Instead, rolling his sleeve up to the crook of his elbow, Julian folded his fingers until only his pointer finger was extended. This close, Adam could make out the sharp point of the curved, black claw that sat at the end of Julian’s finger. The Nightwalker placed the tip to his pale wrist.

With a measured stroke, he dragged his claw down the length of his forearm. It was a clean slice, droplets of blood oozing before the dam seemed to open and it dripped along the sides.

When he reached into the inside pocket of his suit jacket, pulling out a small, silver shot glass, Adam’s heart started to pound. Panic slammed into him, renewing his fight. Julian had lowered his arm, the blood running down his wrist, his hand, his claws, plopping on the floor before he angled the glass beneath the stream.

He’d read the books. Watched the movies. Listening to the vamps locked up in the Cage.

He always thought a human got turned by a Nightwalker almost draining their donors, leaving just enough blood to do the job. Adam didn’t know the details because, well, he didn’t care. They were Paras and he worked in a mostly human town. What did it matter?

A hell of a lot, it turned out. What was Julian doing?

The Nightwalker kept the shot glass pressed to his skin until it was three-quarters of the way full of his thick, viscous blood. Once he was satisfied, he pulled the glass away, gliding toward Adam. He pressed the glass to Adam’s lips.

“Swallow.”

Adam shook his head.

“Rafe. Release him.”

The other vampire let go. Adam stumbled and, before he could regain his balance, Julian backhanded him.

It was a perfect strike. With enough power behind it to make it as painful as possible, but with enough restraint that he didn’t snap Adam’s neck with the force of it. He even managed to pull it off without spilling a single drop of his blood.

The hit knocked Adam to his knees. Rafe picked him up by the collar of his leather jacket, setting him back on his feet.

Julian put the cup to Adam’s lips again.

“Swallow.”

His head throbbing, his ears ringing, Adam gritted his teeth together in obvious refusal.

The edge of the glass cut into his lips. The blood, hot and warm, dribbled out of the side of his mouth, though the rusty tang of copper and metal on his tongue proved that some of it had made it past his teeth.

Julian sighed. He waved his hand. Rafe took up his position behind Adam. The second he was trapped again, Julian kneed him in the gut.

Thanks to the other vampire holding him upright, Adam’s upper body bowed as his stomach lurched. He screwed open his jaw in time to vomit violently a few feet away from the Nightwalker’s shoes.

At least he would’ve emptied out any of the blood that he might’ve accidentally swallowed.

Julian’s classic features twisted into a look of outright distaste at the pile of vomit steaming on his pristine floor. He sighed again, then said, “I see you want to do it the hard way, then.”

The hard way? There was a hard way?

It all happened in an instant. With inhuman strength, Julian tilted Adam’s head back with one hand, digging his claws into the fleshy underside of his jaw, piercing the skin. It hurt like fucking hell but he fought threw the pain until the Nightwalker wrenched Adam’s mouth open with the hand holding tightly to the shot glass.

It was impossible to keep his mouth closed. He tried and suffered a broken jaw for his trouble. He didn’t even have time to scream. In a flash, as soon as lips were parted, his mouth jerked open wide, Julian tipped the contents of his shot glass right inside.

Adam gagged as it dripped down the back of his throat. Even as his throat muscles contracted and convulsed, desperate to choke it back out, he knew he was too late.

Julian patted him on the cheek, his skin cold and clammy and wrong.

“There you go, Corporal. That wasn’t so bad, was it?”

As his stomach began to turn and his vision faded to black, Adam could just make out Julian nodding to the other vampire.

“Put him in the back. He’ll need time, and if I can read my betrothed’s intentions, company will be here shortly.”