That was way too close this time!

What a fucking shitty day.

As if watching Brianne walk into that God of Light church this afternoon wasn't enough, now I've got Jonh Hawkley's goons breathing down my neck, trying to convince me to join their little crew.

This time it's Frank Callhan—a bald, brainless musclehead.

Another demon, of course.

I ran into him in some alley in the Bronx. "Ran into" being generous—they've clearly been tailing me 24/7, I'm sure of it!

And I swear, one day I'm gonna kill every last one of them.

Jonh, Frank, and every single lowlife working for that bastard.

At least Jonh Hawkley is a demon with culture and intellect—he creeps me out, pisses me off, but at least he knows how to string words together.

Frank doesn't—he's a complete idiot.

Never read a book in his life, and even a toddler sounds more refined than him.

And if that weren't enough, he won't even let me eat in peace.

«You planning to keep staring at me while I feed, or what?!»

I just finished my usual nightly hunt.

This time, the guy I killed probably should've thanked me—judging by his state, I did him a favor.

He must've been on some cocktail of alcohol and drugs.

When he saw me, he even called me "mom."

Can you believe it? Mom... to me!

If I'd been a hot chick, maybe, maybe it'd have been acceptable.

But calling "mom" a virile man like me? That's a straight-up sign of mental collapse.

Killing him just ended his suffering—and probably the suffering of anyone who had to deal with him.

The taste of his blood is disgusting.

The guy was practically dead already, even before I cut his head off with a clean, swift strike from my solid blood scythe.

That's why I always need to cleanse my palate afterward—with a few drops of Isabelle's exquisite blood, whenever I can get my hands on it.

And now, sitting on the ground with my back against the wall, sipping this low-grade blood straight from the guy's skull like it's soup from a bowl, that bald idiot keeps staring at me like I'm some circus act.

As usual when I go hunting, I'm wearing a ski mask and one of those cheap tracksuits from street markets—easy to throw away if they get dirty.

Can never be too careful.

«Why don't you want to be one of us? You'd gain so many advantages joining Mr. Hawkley,» he asks, in his usual caveman voice.

And weirdly enough, that sentence actually made sense.

Must've memorized it.

What an idiot…

«Oh yeah? And what kind of advantages would those be?»

Frank mumbles something—just random words.

He probably forgot what he was supposed to say.

Not that I'm surprised.

Seriously, what the hell is going through Jonh Hawkley's head, thinking a dumbass like this could convince me to do something even he couldn't manage with all his charm and intellect.

In the end, Frank doesn't manage to say a single coherent thing.

Silence falls again between us.

But he still doesn't move. Keeps staring.

He's really starting to piss me off.

If he doesn't walk away in the next minute, I'll kill him!

But the silence doesn't last.

A white flash lights up the whole alley—it only lasts a second.

What the hell was that?!

And then, Frank says two words.

Way too clearly.

Way too worried.

Monster Reaper!

Shit!

Luckily, vampire reflexes are way better than human ones.

That's the only reason I managed to dodge the sword coming down on me at the last second.

But it's not a normal sword… it's insane! It's solid, but also made entirely of white fire.

And damn, it burns! It missed my face by a meter, and my skin is still stinging.

If it had hit me… no need to imagine.

I'd be dead.

And the one wielding that sword… is definitely a woman!

She's completely covered from head to toe in a long black cloak and even wears a mask, but her hourglass hips and those toned, trained thighs are unmistakably female.

No way I'd be wrong about that.

But the worst part is that even her body is glowing with those same white flames her sword is made of.

And now… what the hell am I supposed to do? She's going to kill me!

Some might say: Hey, there's two of you, you can take her.

No! That bastard Frank ran off the second he saw that flaming psycho drop down on me!

The one time that piece of shit could've actually been useful… he didn't even try to say «I'll help you, but only if you join us.»

If he had, I'm not saying I would've agreed right away, but at least I might've considered it.

But no, too stupid to think of that on his own!

This chick is crazy strong… and fast!

I didn't even have time to blink before she was right in front of me—she lunged forward, swinging that flaming sword. I managed to block it just in time with the handle of my scythe.

Too bad she sliced it clean in two a second later…

I'm gonna die, I know it! I'm gonna die! Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!

At least I'm wearing the ski mask… if I weren't, running would've been useless—I'd be recognizable instantly.

I need to think of something, anything!

I swear, if I make it out of this alive, I'll never hunt down random junkies for blood again!

Though honestly, they should be thanking me.

I'm cleaning up the filth clogging these streets!

It's not vampires' fault New York is one of the most dangerous cities in the world!

I deserve a damn medal for what I'm doing—I'm a fucking superhero fighting crime!

And this is how they thank me?! Getting slashed at by a Monster Reaper?! Screw that!

I barely dodge two more sword strikes by sheer luck, but I doubt I'll get lucky again.

Especially now that… I'm cornered.

Shit, why the hell did I run into a dead-end alley?

Note to self: no more dead-end alleys…

Oh right, I already said I wouldn't hunt humans anymore if I survived.

Fine. No more hunting humans… in dead-end alleys!

And now, Vampire God, please don't let me die! Wait… is there even a Vampire God? I guess there must be… whoever you are, save me, I'm begging you!

Another vow to add: I'll look up who the Vampire God is and start praying day and night.

That because… two beams of purple energy just shot down from the sky a second before that Monster Reaper could stab me with her burning sword!

The first one struck between me and her, forcing her to back off and kicking up a huge cloud of dust.

The second one hit the wall behind me, blasting it open—giving me the chance to escape.

On top of that, I think something's going on back there.

That Monster Reaper and whoever saved me are probably going at it.

But that's not my problem.

The only thing that matters is that, somehow… I'm still alive!