Hunting Tess Kathryn Summers (books to read in a lifetime txt) 📖

longer see Tess. Biting and slashing my way through the pressing hordes, a sharp scrape slides the length of my side and I fear for a moment that I was disemboweled. Ripping off the arm of the vampire wielding its nails like a dagger only puts another fully functioning monster in its place. Shouts ring out into the night, echoing off the buildings and intensifying the fight which now leans more toward a battle.

A cacophony of new voices blends together into a discordant song, but the one voice I am actively searching for stays silent. Barking and snapping at anything remotely close, a searing heat flies overhead nearly scorching my ears. The fireball erupts against a section of paned glass windows covering one of the buildings.

My ears thrum with rushing blood. My singular purpose is to end the existence of as many vampires as possible. Perhaps then Tess will have a chance to escape.

***

My throat burns and my side feels like someone is shoving a white-hot six-foot long poker up against it. But the stench of now decaying flesh and death is replaced with sweat and the alluring fragrance of rose. Blinking away the frenzy of the fight, my body unwinds at the warm arms clamped around my neck.

“Well that could have gone better,” Derek, a member of Marc’s team, chimes from somewhere behind me. I nuzzle my face against Tess, trying to fill in the blanks of the fight and vowing to never leave her side again.

“We were lucky they retreated,” Marc comments. Straightening up I eye the leader and nod my head. Tess must have found out through Marc, and though I wish she hadn’t come, I’m grateful he did. The reinforcements he brought is the main reason I’m still alive.

Swinging my head in search of Leo, I find him standing in his human form and exhale my relief. When I didn’t feel any emotions coming from him, I feared the worst. Guilt assuages me at what nearly happened to him. To him and Tess.

“Your side looks pretty bad, but from what Rebecca said you’ll recover.” Tears prick Tess’s eyes and I step back to do a full visual scan making sure she wasn’t injured. “I’ll be fine,” she says, giving a watery chuckle at the thorough examination before growing quiet for a moment.

“He knew who you were.” She tears up again and I want to change back to hold her in my arms, but doing so without clothes would send the wrong message. “He knows how much you mean to me. Parker, you’re not safe anymore.”

“Hey, do you want to change?” Leo comes up to ask, stepping around the remains scattered across the grass. “I’ve got another set of clothes in my car. We’ll need all hands on deck to clean up this mess.”

A tear trails down Tess’s soft cheek so I do the only thing I can.

“Eww, gross,” she laughs, wiping away the spit covering half her face.

“Thanks for showing up when you did,” Leo states to Marc who stops before us, his face all business.

“I want to know everything that happened today, starting with Dallas. The team there was able to get facial software recognition set up in record time, and I want to know how they were able to jumpstart things so quickly when we’ve been working on tracking the Master for weeks.”

“I think Stephany Wares is the person responsible for this fiasco.” Tess pulls out her phone which has a large crack now running down the center of the screen, her quick fingers already swiping a message. “I’ll see if I can find anything out about her.”

“And by that you mean?”

“She’s gifted. Or do you suppose vampires would work with any ol’ person? I want to know what she can do. After selling us out to her boss, I want to pay her a little visit.”

“Did you expect anything less?” Leo asks.

“No. But I expected Grant’s team to handle her better.”

“I had a brief talk with Grant,” Marc informs as his team drags bodies of the undead now officially dead out of the quad. We could leave them to turn to ash in the sunlight, but I’m sure campus will see some activity before then. Cleaning up Pete’s fire damage will be another problem. “His team paid Ms. Wares another visit only to find an empty space. She packed up and left without a trace.”

Leo claps Tess on the shoulder. “Looks like your plot for revenge will have to wait.”

I want to ask about the other security guards since Leo obviously hasn’t pieced together that they’ve been killed, but a muzzle isn’t suitable for talking.

“Parker, I need you to do a quick scout and make sure there aren’t any lurkers. After that we’ve got work to do.”

CHAPTER 16

HER

“You’re amazing, you know that, right?” I laugh, bouncing in my seat when the SUV goes over a speed bump.

“I have been told once or twice,” Ben replies over the phone. His networking skills are impressive to have discovered Stephany Wares history this quickly. “Anyway, I should go. Eliza and I have a movie date in about ten minutes.”

“Then what are you doing still talking to me? Go, go!”

Hitting the end button, I look up into the expectant face of Parker. “Turns out I was right. Stephany Wares has the very interesting ability to see a person’s greatest bond. Whether it’s another person or object, she can tell what makes a person vulnerable. It’s a pretty nifty talent.”

“Especially when working for vampires.”

“We’re a few minutes out,” Landon informs from the passenger seat without diverting his attention from the fancy phone in his hands. While the man has silver hair streaked in with his brown, his biceps are the size of a small child’s head. What I’ve gathered from Parker, Landon has been working at this profession for quite a while.

Excitement runs down my arms causing the hair to stand on end. This could be the one.

For the past few days Marc’s team has been