"What do you mean, it's not Hunter?" Kade said. "Then who the hell--" Another hail of incoming rounds ripped through the darkness from a point unseen. Metal pinged. Aged brick shattered. Kade and Brock returned fire, shooting toward the source of the assault but seeing nothing solid to aim for. More bullets flew at them. Brock shouted in sudden pain. "Fuck! I'm hit." "Goddamn it," Kade snarled, glancing over in time to see that the big black warrior had taken a bullet to the upper biceps. It was an impairing wound, but nothing fatal. Chase, on the other hand... shit, the guy was in real bad shape. Fury over his wounded brethren roared through Kade's veins as he squeezed off a hellish volley of rounds. He caught a flash of movement--dark against the darkness--and saw their assailant leap to the rooftop of the adjacent building. "Fucker's on the move. I'm going after him." He left Brock to cover Chase and hauled ass after the huge vampire who was jumping from building to building like a cat. Not being Gen One, as his quarry obviously was, Kade didn't have that kind of speed, but he had determination. He kept up, navigating the assorted clutter of ventilation systems, access doors, loose pipes and tools, and other items that had somehow found their way up to the rooftops above Boston. Just as he was gaining ground on the son of a bitch, he got a glimpse of more trouble heading his way. On a distant rooftop, another Gen One dressed in black emerged. This one had an automatic weapon, too.
If both of the vampires came after him with guns blazing, he was more than screwed. But the second Gen One didn't open fire on him. He opened fire on Kade's fleeing quarry. There was an awful racket as both guns lit up the night. Kade stood on the nearest rooftop and watched in amazement as the fight across the way turned from firearms to hand to hand. The struggle was savage. Bones were cracked, flesh was torn, and sounds that were nothing close to human split the air as the battle intensified. Kade held his own weapon aimed and prepared to open fire, but amid the scuffle he couldn't be sure which of the vampires to take out. Finally one gained control over the other. He slammed his opponent's head down into the concrete of the roof, then grabbed what looked to be a length of pipe and raised it high over his head. The Gen One who held it let out a furious roar, then brought the pipe crashing down like hell's own hammer. A sharp, metallic clank sounded in the instant before a blinding flash of pure white light shot out against the darkness. Kade hit the deck. Instinct took him down on his belly and kept him there until the piercing ray went out a moment later.
When it was dark again, he sat up on his haunches. On the other rooftop, the victorious Gen One was also starting to get up. Despite most of his muscles and nearly all of his good sense telling him to keep his ass planted, Kade grabbed his weapon and leapt across the distance to confront him. He cautiously approached, finger poised to load the bastard with a lot of lead. As he moved closer, he got a look at the dead Gen One. His head was separated from his body, burns still sizzling in a perfect circle around his neck and those familiar dermaglyphs Kade had spotted on the vampire he'd run into last night. On the ground next to the smoking corpse lay a black, dented collar rigged with some kind of electronic device. A small LED was blinking red, then faded out. Kade peered down at the face of the dead vampire and cursed under his breath. Chase was right. It wasn't Hunter. It looked close enough to be blood related--brothers, even--but it wasn't the Gen One assassin who'd come on board with the Order a few weeks ago. No, Hunter stood and walked up beside Kade now. He cast a dispassionate eye on the grisly death he'd just dealt to someone obviously very close to him genetically. He moved forward, then bent to retrieve the strange collar from its nest of gore.
"The last time I saw Dragos, he said there were others like me," Hunter said flatly. "I've been tracking this one in the city for the past three nights. He is not alone. And more will be coming. Soon." Kade raked a hand over his scalp. "Well, aren't you just a lovely ray of sunshine." Hunter pivoted his head and stared at him without replying. "Come on," Kade said. "Let's go take care of the others and report back to the compound."
He didn't want their evening together to end. The stroll around Newport had been pleasant enough, if only for watching the way Claire lit up as she showed him all the places she recalled as a young woman, the places that still seemed to matter to her. This was her home, not Germany. She belonged here, with the salty breezes and the crisp New England autumn flushing her cheeks a deep, ruddy red. Reichen couldn't see her returning to Germany. He didn't know what was to transpire in the coming days or weeks, however long it took him to find Wilhelm Roth and remove him from existence. He didn't even know if he himself would be alive once all of the smoke cleared. But he knew this: The time he had with Claire, right now, this unlikely--and far too brief--reunion they were experiencing would prove to be the most precious hours of his life.
In truth, if he did not survive his confrontation with Roth, his death would be worth it, just to have known Claire again like this and to have the certainty that Roth could never do anything to harm her. "It's really too bad you can't share any of this chocolate with me," she said, biting into a piece as she sailed past him into the house. Closing the door behind them, he flicked on the lights for her and watched the fluid sway of her h*ps in the form-hugging black skirt. That view had been tempting him most of the night. "You sure I can't convince you to try even just a little taste?" He closed the space between them in about the time it took for her to blink. He kissed her, sweeping his tongue past her soft lips and into the delectable warmth of her mouth. The chocolate was bittersweet on her tongue, but nowhere near as tempting as the feel of her in his arms. "Delicious," he murmured against her mouth. "I think I might just have to eat you." She laughed and gave him a teasing push, but her eyes were bright with interest as she looked up at him.