"Banks, L A - Vampire Huntress 5 - 2005 - Forbidden" - читать интересную книгу автора (Banks L. A)

master."
"Git the fuck outta here," Stack said, panic making his voice tight. "Rivera's
rank just got knocked down a notch, maybe, but—"
"Feel it!" Yonnie shouted. "Lock in on the females. Where are they?"
Stack slowly opened his arms, palms facing out toward the crumbling walls, and
he turned in a shaky circle. He blinked twice and balled his palms into fists.
"Ash." Swallowing hard, he tried again. "The seriously old, fine ones are…"
Stack's voice trailed off as he watched his hands darken and his arms fall away
before his eyes.
Yonnie stepped back from his two-hundred-year-old friend in horror. Stack's
expression of terror became frozen in a face that crumbled away as the others in
the squad hit the ground beside him, leaving only their recently tailored suits.
For a moment, Yonnie couldn't move. He brought his hands to his face, wondering
why he hadn't disintegrated along with the others. Feeding now was imperative.
Yet he couldn't muster the energy for flight or transport. Breathing was more
than an effort; it was nearly impossible. His hands went to his face, feeling
its skeletal remains. Then he spotted a pair of golden yellow orbs low in a
shadowy corner.
Yonnie immediately bulked up. His strength was severely compromised and he knew
he was in trouble. The predator in the corner suddenly lunged. Huge were-demon
jaws narrowly missed his face as he leapt back, but the claws of the beast
opened five deep gashes in his chest. He gasped at the pain. In his weakened
state, he was no match for a were-demon.
Sections of wall gave way as the were-demon slammed against support beams,
pillars, missing Yonnie as he dodged with what was left of his vampire strength
and leapt up to a ceiling beam and held on. However, exhaustion was rapidly
slowing him down, and the were-demon seemed to sense that. It waited for a
moment with a leering smile on its wolflike face—the form it had chosen to take.
Its elongated fangs glistening in the full moonlight that now shone through a
missing portion of the left wall, it stood on hind legs, flexing in a
spectacular display of strength and power, clearly challenging Yonnie.
"Now, what's your strategy—since the Vamp Empire is mere ash?" a snarling, low
voice asked.
Yonnie stared at the creature from his perch on the high fragile beam. What the
hell had happened out there? He needed to keep this dumb motherfucker talking.
The portals to level five were wide open.
"Who said we ain't running shit?" Yonnie said through a snarl. "Just because you
caught us on a slow night don't mean we won't have your ass seen."
The were-demon laughed and dropped to all fours and began circling beneath
Yonnie. "Where's your master, bitch?"
The question taunted Yonnie. He gripped the beam tightly, his fingernails
digging into the wood.
He glanced around, knowing that were-demons, especially those of the wolf
persuasion, usually traveled in packs. But he couldn't detect any others. He
could only assume this one was walking point for those soon to follow.
"I thought so," the stinking thing said with a sneer. "I told them your forces
were vulnerable, now I know for sure. It's just like all your other vamp
hidey-holes. Vulnerable throughout the empire." The beast laughed, vicious and
triumphant, as he threw his head back and released a long, bloodcurdling wolf
wail.