Though he had his enchanted sword, the Nightwalker king had his fangs and his claws and, holy shit, he knew exactly how to use them. Swiping at Adam’s chest, slashing at his arms, he could slip within Adam’s reach, attack, and whirl away while dodging Adam’s weapon.
To make matters worse, Rafe started to taunt him.
“You should’ve taken Alexis up on her offer. I’ve seen your slayer. I know you’re fucking her. Alexis would’ve been a step up for you.”
He knew exactly what Rafe was doing. The taunts made him reckless, turning him into an easier target. Adam needed to block him out, focus on his strengths and Rafe’s weaknesses so that he could finish Rafe off once and for all.
Still, he couldn’t help but retort, “I’m lucky Tabby will have me at all.”
“Will she mourn you?” Rafe wondered. “When I kill you again?”
“I’d worry about who will mourn you—”
“—-aaahhhh!”
Adam didn’t pay attention to the banging that came from over his head. He almost thought it was the beating of his heart, the rushing of his blood, the hits he took until the scream split the air and, out of nowhere, his blonde tornado of a slayer came crashing through the ceiling.
To his utter amazement, Tabby dropped like a stone, though she landed in a crouch that would make other Paras green with envy. Her eyes were alert, her ponytail listing to one side as she realized that she’d landed in the middle of the fight.
Rafe’s face lit up. “The slayer,” he hissed.
It all seemed to happen in slow motion. The second Rafe recognized Tabby—and, of course, he recognized her right away—he danced away from Adam, fangs bared as he flew toward Tabby.
While she landed on her feet, she didn’t pop right up again. She didn’t have time to grab for Venice, either. The most she did was throw her body to the side as Rafe rushed at her, claws only narrowly missing the side of her cheek because of how fast she was.
Time righted itself as Tabby landed sprawled out on her belly. Rafe whirled in place, eyes on his target.
Adam watched as Rafe dove at Tabby.
This time, he let his paranormal instincts flood through him. Like every time he was on a hunt, he didn’t think of getting revenge. It was all about justice. Rafe was a man-eater. A murderer. If he got his claws on Tabby, his lively, lovable slayer would be a victim.
It wasn’t about him anymore. It was about saving Tabby.
Adam was already swinging the sword before he bolted toward Rafe. Watching the other Nightwalker go low, he adjusted his path, shifted his angle, and with all the power given to him when the former Nightwalker king turned him into a monster, Adam swung the blade.
Seconds later, it was over. Rafe’s body crumpled inches away from Tabby’s legs. His head flew more than a foot away, landing with a thud before rolling out of reach, stopping with Rafe’s eerie silver eyes staring unseeingly up at the ceiling.
Rafe was dead—and all Adam could think about was Tabby.
As if she didn’t realize that the threat was gone, she pulled herself up to her knees, whirling around while she yanked her dagger out.
When all she saw was a frantic Adam holding a dripping sword, she blinked. Once. Twice.
“Oh.” She slipped her cinquedea back in its sheath. “Never mind.”
Was she serious?
“What were you thinking?” Dropping his sword, he bolted over to Tabby, dragging her to her feet before running his hands all over her to make sure that she really was okay. “He almost killed you. I had it under control!”
She shoved his hands away from her. “Before you snap at me, I’d like to point out that I watched the entire fight from the vent so I know that, before I jumped in, he was totally kicking your ass.”
His mouth fell open. “I was waiting for the opportune moment to strike!”
“Mm-hmm. I also heard you tell that corpse that I’m awesome, so I’m gonna let that one slide. But that’s not important. I had to come.”
“Yeah?” Adam was finally getting his breathing under control. Since Tabby seemed to be fine, he bent down, retrieving his sword. “And why’s that?”
Adam listened while Tabby explained the scene she’d overheard in the other room. He couldn’t understand why Alexis would turn the wards around on Rafe like that, though he guessed it made sense. After all, she did leave Rafe with him when she had to know Adam planned on killing him.