The Virus Within: The Road Ahead (Book 1 - SERIES COMPLETED!)

Chapter 22

I made no effort to start a conversation, and the men didn't seem to know what to say.

The one called Frank finally asked, "Why are you wearing sunglasses? The sun set quite a while ago."

"I like them," I replied shortly.

What was it with people and my sunglasses? Simply having these guys around was putting me in a bad mood after such a long day – and this wasn't helping. As irritated as I was right now, there was no way I could change my eyes to brown. Besides, the fire was too bright to look at without the tinted lenses.

Another guy, Kal, snorted. "Right. I bet you can't see anything. You're probably going to fall off the ladder when you go down."

"Then that's my problem," I said with a dismissive shrug.

"No, that's just being stupid." Kal scoffed.

The insult hit my awakening instincts harder than I expected, and I gritted my teeth to contain a snarl.

The younger guy, Joel, sighed and said, "Leave her alone."

He sounded like he was tired of their talk already. That made two of us. It had been a long day, I was out of patience, and I didn't feel like putting up with this kind of crap right now. Before I could get more annoyed, I got up and walked away.

Kal snickered. "Running away already? Wow. I haven't even gotten warmed up yet. Don't fall off the roof."

His words were triggering my instincts and making me fight for control. I took a deep breath to suppress the rage. I stood at the edge of the roof while trying to calm myself. Perhaps silence would shut the man up. I was beginning to wish Daniel hadn't dumped out that water – I wouldn't have minded drenching Kal in dirty dishwater.

"Too shy to even reply? I think I know how to make it up to you. I have a set of fluffy pink handcuffs that I bet would look good on you."

"Your bright red blood would look even better if it was on the ground," I snapped.

It was possibly the worst comeback I'd ever made, but it should get my mood and my message across. My vision was going redder, which wasn't a good sign, and I knew my control was approaching its limit with this man. Killing Kal was beginning to sound like a pretty good idea at this point...

Frank snorted and informed me, "A little thing like you wouldn't have a chance at hurting us. Even if we let you get the first punch in, it wouldn't make any difference."

His words were another blow against my Nightstalker pride. My fully-awakened instincts surged forward, demanding their blood as retribution. My muscles were tense as I took a slow, deep breath to get a better handle on my control.

These two men were managing to press the exact worst buttons if they wanted to survive the night. Numerous insults, check. Accusing me of running away, check. Flirtation from an insulting guy who hadn't washed in a week, check. Declaring that they would win any fight with ease, check. They were cruising for a bruising.

Footsteps on the ladder heralded the return of the other three. Nina and Nicky headed back to their seats as Daniel trailed behind, gazing in my direction with a concerned frown. With his keen hearing, he would have heard the entire discussion and probably had a good idea of my mood and how much danger they were in, especially since I had moved away from them.

Nicky flopped down in her chair with her usual indifference to the atmosphere, although Nina paused as she looked between me and the men.

"What's going on here?" Nina sounded like an irritated parent with troublesome teenagers, although she was mostly blaming our new guests.