Sunglasses at Night (Claws Clause 3)

And then he took off. Just like that. Without a word, or a whisper of a threat, he retreated.

That night, Tabby didn’t know what stunned her more: the fact that a Nightwalker carried a slayer’s weapon, or that he had her in as vulnerable a position as Tabby ever allowed—and he didn’t attack.

Most Paras’ senses started a-tingling whenever they came upon a slayer, some kind of sixth sense that kicked in, their sense of preservation.

He obviously had no problem swinging his sword around. He just never swung it at her.

When the Slayer’s Code plainly stated that their purpose was to police the evil that certain paranormal races were prone to falling prey to, Paras didn’t normally cross one of the fabled hunters. Those that did? They were the ones the code was written about. While she started to scramble back to her feet, one part of her was already plotting how to incapacitate the bloodlust-driven Nightwalker in the long, leather coat because that’s what slayers did.

Since her libido had already picked up on his strong jaw, sexy, slicked-back, blond hair, and the broad shoulders beneath that leather coat, the other half of Tabby marveled at—and, okay, was kinda horrified by—her sudden attraction to the enemy. In all her years’ slaying, she’d never once before felt any lust for a vamp.

But she did with that one. Even after he fled, even after she cleaned up the scene and reported that Aiko’s murderer was dispatched, Tabby couldn’t stop thinking about the Nightwalker who turned on his own.

And now he was back.

Watching him stalk into the alley, the falchion already drawn and engaged at his side, she seemed entranced again. No leather coat tonight, thanks to the warm June weather, but the loose t-shirt and the delicious grey sweatpants he had slung low on his hips almost made her forget that she was inches away from meeting the business end of a Nightwalker’s fangs.

Almost.

Gulping, foolishly drawing attention to the motion of her throat, Tabby realized that she was still as captivated by that male tonight as she was all those months ago.

Oh, shit.

4

Shake it off, Tab, she told herself. She could worry about the second Nightwalker and the way he seemed to affect her as soon as she took care of the one who looked at her like she was lunch.

Only she never got the chance.

Depending on her mood, sometimes Tabby would engage in a little hand-to-hand first with her target, take the chance to keep her skills from getting rusty. If her opponent was a known man-eater instead of one simply taking advantage of a bleeding woman in a dark alley, she would execute them without mercy. As a slayer, the hunt was her only purpose. She wasn’t cruel; she liked to think she was fair.

One look in his face and she knew what she was dealing with. She’d been tracking Nightwalkers all night, but the Nightwalker with the shaved head and the promise of death in every line of his alabaster face had tracked her down with only one purpose of his own.

She’d faced monsters like that countless times. She could always tell when they wanted a sip—or when they wanted everything she had. This guy? He was in the second group. No doubt in her mind, he deserved what was coming to him.

It just… it wasn’t Tabby who finished him off.

Before she could reach for the camouflaged sheath at her side, freeing Venice so that the two of them could get to it, the second Nightwalker moved.

And, like Tabby remembered, he was quick.

Strong, too.

He swept in from the side, barreling into the bald Nightwalker with his shoulder. Without expecting it, the hit sent the Nightwalker stumbling away from Tabby. He didn’t drop—as big as he was, the bald vamp held his ground, recovering quickly—but blondie managed to wedge his body between Tabby and the other Nightwalker.

Snapping at her to get away, blondie lunged toward the homicidal Nightwalker, forcing him to back up to avoid being gutted by the falchion.

Tabby didn’t move.

Run away?

Not in this lifetime.

Instead, she got a front row seat as the newcomer used his falchion to incapacitate, then decapitate the big bastard who had planned on draining Tabby.

Look at that, she thought as she fiddled with the charm around her throat, both impressed and in awe of how quickly and efficiently the blond Nightwalker took out the other vamp. A real champ.

Huh.