I leaned back—getting out of range of that wicked hair stick of hers—then shifted my weight. I tapped my vampire agility, slipping to her back.
Jade, however, matched my pace and moved with me. This time, when I stopped, she held her gun to my chest.
“See?” I said, delighted.
“Stop wasting my time.” She took a step back, then another, before she lowered her gun and turned to her teammates. “Patrol?” The word came out slightly warbled, and I knew it wasn’t because she was afraid of me.
Oof. When she’s not locked into battle, she’s just as awkward with her teammates as she is our neighbors. At least she’s consistent.
The werewolf casually rubbed at his nose, but his eyes were on me. “If you think we can,” he rumbled deep in his chest.
Jade flicked the safety on her gun, but she didn’t holster it. “Yes.”
“We should report to Sarge that we took care of the pretend vampire.” The blonde vampire sounded bright, but she seemed reluctant to put her back to me as she side stepped down the sidewalk, keeping up with Jade.
“I’d say I’m surprised a human had the guts to pretend to be a supernatural.” A tap of my vampire agility and I’d caught up with Jade, occupying the open space on her opposite side. “But I fear this is a side effect of the soft weak image the supernatural community has chosen to foster.”
Jade rested her index finger on her gun’s safety—she really was amazingly trained; no wonder the O’Neils were considered elites among slayers. “You disagree with that decision?”
“No.” I tucked my hands into my pockets and studied the werewolf’s back—he was leading the group, his shoulders hunched up to his neck. “But there will always be downsides to any strategy. This is an example of one of them.”
The werewolf turned around, his blue eyes glowing in the low light of the streets. “Just how much did you see? You weren’t in the pub with us.”
“Correct,” I said. “But you ranted in great detail at the worm before letting him go.” I swooped in, trying to snag the firearm from Jade’s grasp.
She yanked her hand away from me and spun so that her left side faced me. She stabbed her hair stick upwards and I heard the click when she switched her safety off, but I’d already retreated from the range of her hand weapon.
She was so fast—and didn’t hesitate to attack. Unlike the cowardly Dracos offspring, she never backed down. It was absolutely delightful!
“Easy, Slayer. I’m just testing you,” I said.
A part of me itched to peel off her slayer mask—she was probably making an irritated face right now, her nose scrunched up in a way that made the freckles on her pale skin pop.
“Don’t,” Jade warned me before she turned to face the front again and started walking. “Brody, radio. Please.”
I ignored her warning and trailed after the trio. Auberi is a right fool. Jade is as close to an equal as it gets—I can’t even command her since her slayer powers make her immune.
Except, I belatedly remembered, Auberi had been criticizing Killian and his wizard One. He hadn’t been talking at all about Jade, and I had no reason to be upset—I’m not upset.
I stopped in the middle of the sidewalk, barely registering when Jade’s team stopped too.
I’m not upset, I mentally repeated to myself. It was just that Auberi said something stupid—which he does all the time—and was being an idiot about humans. It didn’t involve me at all.
The werewolf growled something into his handheld radio, and I didn’t even hear Jade’s footsteps when she ghosted up to me.
“Ruin.”
I fixed another smile on my face. “What’s this, you’re willingly engaging with me now? Don’t tell me you have another giant snake you’re hiding somewhere that you need help killing, so you’re finally speaking to me of your own volition?”
Jade tilted her head to the left, then the right. “Did something happen?”
Whatever I’d been expecting from her, that certainly wasn’t it. “What?” I asked, some of my lightheartedness falling from my voice.
“You’re acting off.” She paused. “Almost as if you’re upset—”
“I’m not upset,” I flatly said.
She bobbed her head twice. “Okay.” She twisted to look back at her teammates. The werewolf was still muttering into the radio, but the vampire was watching us.
Jade gave them a thumbs up, then turned back around to face me. “Is trouble coming? A vampire war or something?”