Web of Death - (Elemental Assassin, #1.5) Page 0,1

a bear's claws wouldn't be able to rip through.

Another scream echoed through the mountain air, before abruptly being cut off. Whatever had been chasing the screamer had just caught up with her.

Hmm. I had two choices now. Go investigate what the fuss was all about and amuse myself for maybe an hour, or stay here and haul boxes of books into Fletcher Lane's ramshackle house. Along with teaching me everything that he knew about being an assassin, the old man had also instilled a healthy dose of curiosity in me. Something that always seemed to get the best of me, no matter how hard I tried.

Which is why I palmed another knife and headed for the woods.

Despite the falling twilight that painted the landscape in increasingly dark shades of gloomy gray, it was easy enough for me to make my way through the thick woods-I just followed the screams.

Only they weren't so much screams now as choked sobs, stutters and whimpers of sound that told me that the woman making them was in serious trouble.

Thwack-thwack-thwack .

The new sounds echoed faintly through the dense pine trees, followed by another choked sob. My gray eyes narrowed. I knew what that sound was too-the screaming woman getting the shit beat out of her. Well, well, well. Looked like there was a different kind of bear in the woods tonight.

I moved more carefully now, quieter, making sure that my boots didn't scuff and smash and crackle through the piles of ruby- and citrine-colored autumn leaves that covered the forest floor like jewels that were slowly losing their sparkle. Slowly, the half-swallowed sobs and thwacks of fists hitting flesh grew louder, sharper. A low hiss of a laugh curled through the air like a copperhead getting ready to strike. Someone was enjoying the show.

I stopped behind the knotty trunk of a particularly gnarled pine tree. Its sharp, tangy scent tickled my nose. Then, I slowly eased to one side, my face hidden in the shadows from the overhanging branches, and stared at the scene before me.

The pine tree that I was standing behind was one of several that bordered a small clearing here in the cold, remote heart of the woods, a mile or so from Fletcher Lane's house. A few rocks bubbled up like blisters here and there on the surface of the forest floor, but for the most part, the ground was smooth and clear, with the rich black earth peeping up through the shallow scattering of disintegrating leaves.

In the middle of the open space, a man towered over a woman. A giant, given his almost seven-foot-tall frame and oversize, bug-like eyes. One of his ham-sized hands was twisted in the woman's long, curly red hair, further tangling it. He used his other hand to punch her in the stomach.

Thwack-thwack-thwack .

He hit her three times before a second, much shorter man, stepped forward and put a restraining arm on the giant's bulging bicep. The woman choked back another moan of pain.

"Geez, Billy," the second man said. "Don't kill her. We haven't had nearly enough fun with her yet."

His lips drew back, revealing a set of white fangs. A vampire, then.

Well, things had just gotten that much more interesting. Because in addition to their enormous strength, giants' thick musculature made them tough to bring down. And vamps were no pushovers either. They weren't nearly as strong as giants were, but those sharp canines of theirs could rip out a person's throat in a second.

Both men were dressed in outdoor clothes-thick jeans, hiking boots, and flannel shirts partially covered up by fleece jackets. The vampire also had a small backpack slung over his shoulder. All of which told me that they'd planned to be out here in the middle of nowhere tonight-probably so no one could hear the woman scream.

"You're right, Tommy," Billy, the giant, rumbled. "Fucking them isn't nearly as much fun after they're dead."

Tommy nodded in a sage way, as though Billy had just revealed one of the great secrets of the universe to him. "And we need to teach this bitch a lesson, remember? One that she and my other girls won't ever forget."

Tommy walked around the woman, who swallowed another low moan. Her lips drew back in a pain-filled grimace, and I spotted a set of fangs in her mouth as well, marking her as another vampire.

She would have been a pretty thing, with her red hair and wide hazel eyes, if not for the thin, crimson scratches and violet bruises