Death's Rival Read Online Free Page A

farfarfar. Magic tingled on the air, the magic of the earth itself,
     still alive here in this place. Beast wanted to
Hunt! Now!
    With a hard shove, I pushed Beast back down and unbuckled the belt. Stood. Pulled
     on my boots—Lucchese western dress boots, dark green snakeskin with a four-inch toe
     and a three-inch heel—seriously cool boots, the color matching the green vest I wore
     over the black silk button-front shirt that was unbuttoned to show off a bit of chest.
    I unlocked the weapons cabinet where my weapons—both edged and handguns—had been secured
     for the trip and did a quick but careful check of each. They had thumped around a
     bit in flight, but nothing had been damaged. I strapped on the shoulder harness for
     the Heckler & Koch nine-mil under my left arm, checked the .32 six-shooter in one
     boot holster, and slid a two-shot derringer under my braids. All the guns were loaded
     for vamp, with silver—which worked well on blood-servants too. I’d checked the weapons
     exhaustively in New Orleans, and I’d check them again in the car. It wasn’t obsessive-compulsive
     disorder. Really. It was survival instinct, honed over the years.
    I adjusted a new vamp-killer in the sheath of my other boot, carefully and deliberately
     not recalling the way I lost the old one. That was one of the memories I tried not
     to think about. The blade was half knife, half small sword, with a deep blood groove
     along its eighteen-inch length and heavy silver plating except for the sharp, steel
     cutting edge. Strapped to my waist, under the vest, went two more silvered blades
     and three backup silver stakes in sheaths and loops. I was going armed to the teeth,
     into the clan home of a vamp who had once been loyal to Leo and now was under the
     control of another. A sick vamp. Vampires were unpredictable at best. As Leo’s self-proclaimed
Enforcer
—which was going to cause me trouble, I just knew it—I was expected to be armed. Everywhere,
     everywhen.
    Normally, half a dozen silver crosses were around my neck, my waist, and tucked into
     my clothes, but at the moment, there was no reason to cause pain to my hostess on
     my unexpected and unannounced visit. I carried only one, sterling, in a lead-foil-lined
     vest pocket. I twisted my tightly braided black hair into a fighting queue around
     the derringer, and slid four silver-tipped, ash-wood stakes into the bun as hair sticks.
     I hooked the silver-over-titanium collar around my neck. Protection against vamp-fangs,
     vamp-hunger, and vamp-anger. Into a pants pocket I tucked a mountain lion fang. I
     had begun to carry the fetish I used for emergency shifting more often, as my job
     working for vamps, rather than just staking them, seemed to result in more life-threatening
     violence, not less.
    Lastly, I pulled on my summer-weight wool jacket and clumsily adjusted the fit. It
     was a gesture I’d been taught to do by the woman who had designed the clothing. It
     felt silly, but the small tug made my weapons hang right. Though it was November,
     it was too warm for my silver-studded, armored leather, and I felt naked without it;
     nothing protected against vamp claws and fangs like silver and leather. But, despite
     the weapons, this visit was not a challenge, a hunt, or an act of war; it was a fact-finding
     mission to discover who the enemy was. With the letter of introduction in my pocket,
     I was supposed to be safe even without the armor. Not that “supposed to be” ever meant
     anything in my line of work.
    And while working for vamps is never smart, Leo’s money was too much of a lure to
     do anything else just now. I did the little jacket tug again and felt everything fall
     into place, which was what should happen when a jacket cost nearly five hundred bucks.
     Way too much for a jacket, but it wasn’t my money, it was Leo’s. I was expected to
     look good. It was part of my job description. I smeared on bright red lipstick and
     dropped it into the