by Cecy Robson
His lips passed over mine. “Do you know me now, Celia?”
Rock-hard muscles passed beneath my palms as my hands slid along the silky skin of his broad chest. “Hmm?” I managed.
He nuzzled my neck, laughing once more. “I asked if you knew me.”
“No,” I groaned. “But I really want to …”
“Celia, Celia!”
I startled awake, pissed as all hell my dream was interrupted. “What?”
My sisters blinked back at me from their seats. Emme dropped her hand from my shoulder. It took me several seconds to realize we were parked in our driveway. “Are you okay, honey? You were making strange sounds and weren’t waking up.”
Strange sounds? Oh, God. Had I been that vocal during the best pretend make-out moment of my life? Based on my sisters’ shocked expressions, I had. “Um … I’m just hungry. It’s been a while since I’ve, you know, eaten.”
A wicked smile spread across Taran’s face. “That’s not what it sounded like to me.”
Shayna angled her chin. “Yeah, and why the heck were you touching yourself like that?”
I jerked my hands from my breasts “Uh …”
Taran busted out laughing as Danny hurried out of the house, practically falling in his haste to reach us. He banged on the window, even though we were staring straight at him. “Quennel called. He found my dad!”
* * *
We rushed to strip out of our blood-caked clothes and into old worn ones we could risk being re-bloodied in. To my surprise, Emme’s newfound touch had healed even my old scars. My butt was whole once more. Yippee. Too bad I likely only had more wounds to look forward to.
Shayna drove us in Danny’s truck. Now, we typically didn’t allow Shayna to drive anyone, in anything, anywhere. The tri-state area was packed with crazy road-rage drivers ready to smash into anyone who cut—or flipped—them off.
These same drivers were scared shitless of Shayna.
Case in point, she stomped on the accelerator almost the entire way to the Jersey Shore. “Brakes are for pussies” was Shayna’s unspoken motto. Her idea of slowing was releasing the gas pedal just enough to serpent around any cars ahead. No one passed Shayna, ever. And no cop could give her a ticket while Taran’s influence was around.
Since it was past midnight and Labor Day was now long gone, there were few cars on the parkway to compete with Shayna’s might. She laughed like the Looney Tunes witch chasing Bugs Bunny on her broom as she barreled through the night. No curve was too sharp, no speed too high. Shayna was a woman possessed by the ghosts of Indy racers past.
Damn those evil ghouls.
I gripped the armrest and kept my eyes glued shut. “What’s the plan, exactly?”
Danny screamed briefly as Shayna cut a sharp left, then an immediate right, then straightened the wheel. He’d made the mistake of opening his eyes when he tried to answer. His bad. I assured him she’d tell us when we reached Sandy Hook.
His voice trembled. “Quennel didn’t really say. He said to get to the fishing side of the beach. And that my father was there.”
“Giovanna must be either crazier or ballsier than we thought,” Taran muttered. “That’s not far from where the U.S. Coast Guard has their base. Why the hell would she risk drawing national attention to herself?”
“Probably because she has an army of vamps that can influence the minds of anyone who arrives.” I thought more about it. “And because she’s nuttier than a truckload of cashews.”
Danny attempted to slow his breathing when Shayna veered the truck hard enough to ram poor Emme’s head into my shoulder. “Giovanna supposedly has a place in Spring Lake,” he said. “Quennel found an informant, uh, willing to divulge her location.”
Or not so willing. “If Quennel knows she’s in Spring Lake, he’s already there. Why hasn’t he texted you to tell us what’s happening?”
“I don’t know, Celia. But like he admitted to us, he’s out for himself—he wants to achieve his own place among the masters. I doubt he’ll help us any more than he has.”
Shayna ceased her wicked cackles just long enough to speak. “No worries, dude. We’re here.”
I tucked Emme against me as we skidded to a harrowing stop. It was the only instance Shayna had used the brakes from the moment we’d jetted out of our driveway until now. My tigress rumbled, alert and ready to charge. Me? Not so much. I staggered out of the truck and into the brisk night, my brain and stomach continuing to lurch forward despite my steadfast position.
Shayna skipped out of the vehicle, twirling her wrist until her faithful bat transformed into a lethal sword. She needed a weapon when Taran crashed out of the truck and onto her knees, scraping her legs on the asphalt. “Son of a bitch. Who was the asshat who deemed you worthy of a license? There’s something goddamn wrong with you!”
Emme would’ve healed the scrapes soaking blood through Taran’s jeans if she wasn’t retching over a railing in the abandoned parking lot. I wasn’t sure why Shayna had chosen this location to dump us in, until I took in my surroundings. Holy hotness, by pure strategy or possibly dumb luck, this area was closest to the Coast Guard station. And all the action. “Danny, come here.”
He used the door to ease himself out and steadied himself against the hood. “What is it, Celia? What do you see?”
I stayed low and headed to the far corner while the sea roared like a beast and waves crashed along the beaten shore. The only streetlight blinked on the opposite side, far from where Shayna had careened us to a stop. Clouds covered most of the quarter moon’s glow, hiding Danny’s truck in darkness. “Look over there, near the dock.”
One by one the others joined me. “Near the bonfire?” Danny asked. He blinked several times and adjusted his glasses. “Celia, I can barely see the dock. And if it wasn’t for the light of the fire, I wouldn’t even be able to make that out.”
My tigress licked her paws within me, feigning indifference, but I knew better. She was giving me a taste of our new heightened senses. Okay, kitty, try not to get so full of yourself. “There’re about twenty vamps.” I squinted. “Uh, naked and dancing around the fire. Wait, no, they’re wearing fig leaves around their, you know, manhoods.”
Taran laughed, despite herself. “Did you just say ‘manhoods’? What the hell, Celia? Can’t you just say co—”
“Taran!” Emme admonished. She surrounded Taran with her healing light. More to distract than heal, I imagined.
I leaned forward, my tigress growling, when the men stopped dancing. A woman dressed in a sheer gown appeared; her white-blond hair was woven into multiple braids and she was leading a portly man in boxers on a leash. The man collapsed to his knees, then fell face-first into the sand, unmoving.
“Oh, God, Danny. That’s your dad.”
Chapter Nine
Danny swung his leg over the railing. I clasped his arm and hauled him back. “Wait. We can’t just rush in.”
“Is he all right? Did he look okay?”
I held tight to his arm. “He just collapsed in the sand.”
Danny went perfectly still. “Is he …?”
I peered out, but couldn’t bring myself to tell him what I saw. The female, Giovanna I presumed, straddled Mr. Matagrano, bouncing up and down on his butt while holding the leash taught. She lifted his head from the sand, but the stupid bitch didn’t know or care enough that she was strangling him.
Another vamp bent to speak with her. She didn’t like what he had to say. She released Mr. Matagrano and smacked the vamp hard across the face. The force of the blow sent the leech reeling, with blood streaming from his mouth.
Two more vamps approached her slowly with their palms out as she once more reached for the leash. She giggled at something the taller vamp with red hair said and allowed him to lift her from Danny’s father. The other vamp nudged Danny’s father with his foot. I thought I heard a groan, but I couldn’t be sure. When the vamp lifted Mr. Matagrano’s lifeless form over his shoulder, I knew we had to move.
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“Celia, what’s happening?”
Danny was brilliant. I needed his mind, and couldn’t allow panic to cloud his judgment. But I couldn’t censor what had transpired. “Look, I don’t know where Quennel is or if he’s even coming. He hasn’t returned your calls or answered your texts since first telling you where to find your dad.”
The muscles in Danny’s shoulders tensed. “Do you think he set us up?”
“I don’t know, Danny. What I do know is your dad is barely breathing. We have to move now.”
I leaped from the elevated lot and landed in a deep crouch in the sand, perfectly poised and ready to haul tail across the beach.
Until my sisters and Danny landed in a heap on top of me and I ate about half a cup of sand.
They rolled off me, moaning while I coughed out the nasty stuff. I scraped the excess with my nails while drooling like a dumbass.
“Oops. Sorry, Celia,” Emme mumbled.
“What the hell was that?”
Everyone staggered to their feet. Emme covered her face. “I thought I could lift everyone with my force. But I guess my aim is just as bad as always.”
I stood and lowered her hands away from her face. “Look, this is no time to try out our powers on each other, but it is time to hit and hit hard. Shayna, you stab, slice, or behead anything that gets in your way. Taran, you burn or electrocute things to cinders—I don’t care how. Emme, you toss everyone out of Danny’s way so he can get to his dad.” I locked eyes with Danny. “Get him back to the truck. If you don’t have a clear way back to us, get to the Coast Guard station. Honk the horn, smash into the fence, make a lot of noise. Do you hear me? There’re twenty vamps. We can’t take them on alone.”
Taran gave me a hard stare. “What are you going to do, Celia?”
I yanked off my sweatshirt and shorts. “Me? Consider me the first line of a very strong offense—shit, Danny, could you turn around!”
He whirled to the side. “Sorry, sweetie.”
My bra and panties hit the sand and so did four hundred pounds of raging feline.
The vamps had probably prepared for a great deal.
But I was betting they hadn’t prepared for me.
The sweeping sound of sand being kicked up by my paws was the only noise I made as I raced along the beach, yet even that subtle disturbance was muffled by the sea’s increasing turmoil. My stare homed in on Giovanna’s neck, and my fangs moistened with the thought of digging them into her flesh. I wasn’t afraid to let my tigress out this time. She needed to be here.
My paws dug deeper into the sand, propelling me farther toward my target. I knew Giovanna’s keep would try to protect her. Just as I knew they’d try to kill me. But all I needed to do was buy my family time to rush in and give Danny the opportunity to save his father.
Giovanna didn’t look my way. She was too busy twirling around in some kind of bizarre dance. Her sheer pink nightgown fluttered around her as she stopped spinning to thrust her chest up toward the dwindling moonlight. I almost felt sorry about how hard I tackled her.
Well. Not really.
My weight struck her hard enough to plow a deep ridge into the sand. We stopped several yards away, her stunned face staring at me before her furious hiss sent her family charging. Something heavy pounced on me before my tigress shifted all three of us beneath the sand. I surfaced farther down the beach alone. Giovanna and the vamp who’d tackled me hadn’t clung to me like Emme had. I left both buried deep within the sand.
A pair of bare feet wiggled above the surface. The hairy ankles told me they didn’t belong to Giovanna. That meant girlfriend was somewhere way down under. One vamp yanked at the feet uselessly while his buddies circled the surrounding area. I hid behind a small cluster of boulders, watching them and waiting to act. The vamps scratched their heads, befuddled as to where their mistress had gone. A blond swore. I recognized him as the James Dean vamp I’d nearly castrated.
My family and Danny inched toward us. Although I’d given them time, they still weren’t anywhere near me. I cringed, watching their sad lack of athleticism in action. They stumbled to a stop, pausing to catch their breaths, then continued forward in pathetically awkward jogging motions. What sucked was that their wheezing and pants were loud enough to attract the vamps, who snarled and raced toward them with their fangs and deadly nails out.
I pounced on the closest vamp to me and dragged him away by his throat. Each clench of my jaws brought on another of his gargled screams. I growled, shaking him hard to draw attention away from my family. James Dean and the vamps froze. Whether by scent or instinct, James recognized me instantly. His furrowed glare promised me pain. “Split up and take them out, now!” he told the others.
The vamp’s vertebra snapped beneath my jowls before he exploded into a pile of ash. Two vamps tackled me and another launched himself in the air, only to ignite as a bolt of blue and white lightning nailed him in the back.
Taran!
The vamps on top of me slashed me with their nails, eager to kill me fast. They raked at my skin while I swatted back with my front and hind claws. My opponents were strong and knew how to fight. I couldn’t kick them off me. I could only claw at their flesh and snap my fangs, moving fast and trying to shield my heart.
One had just gripped my throat when his weight, and his buddy’s, abruptly left mine. Emme had arrived and this time her crappy aim worked in her favor. The vamps’ skulls crunched against the stack of boulders.
Except they didn’t die.
They rose to their feet, wobbling and flailing their arms while searching for their dented heads. With hands-down the worst high-pitched battle cry ever, Shayna appeared, driving her sword through each of their hearts.
Sweat poured down her face. “Sorry it took us so long, Ceel,” she panted. “Running in the sand is hard.”
I licked her hand, just grateful she’d arrived in time—
The earth shook.
It was my only warning before Giovanna jetted from the sand, screeching. Taran launched a giant blue and white fireball, which Giovanna swatted back at her like a ball. It struck Taran in the chest, knocking her down and engulfing her with her own fire.
Shayna and I charged, killing two more vampires before Emme’s screams halted our strikes.
One vampire was dragging Danny along in a headlock. His father lay in the sand. He’d barely made it a few yards down the beach. James Dean twisted Emme’s wrist behind her back with one hand while the other grasped her throat. Another vamp held Taran. She’d reabsorbed her fire, but her staggering feet told me that no way was she ready to release it.
“Drop your weapon,” James Dean told Shayna, making Emme scream by tightening his grip on her wrist.
Shayna did as he asked, and the remaining vampires pounced on us. I don’t know how many held me down, but at least one wrenched my fuzzy head up so Giovanna could kick me in the face.
Stars exploded in my vision with each of her kicks. “They tried to take my pet,” she whimpered. She kicked again. “They tried to take my baby.”
I couldn’t focus enough to shift myself beneath the sand, and the dizzying blows barely allowed me to keep my beast form. My tigress urged me up. But even the boost of her power couldn’t help me. Giovanna cried miserably, accusing us of ruining her party. “We were getting married,” she said, motioning wildly to Danny’s father.
To make herself feel better, or to make us feel worse, she stripped and resumed her bizarre dance while the vamps sang every last nursery rhyme I knew.
Never again would “Itsy Bitsy Spider” hold the same meaning for me.
Every movement of her arms, every leap in the air, made me think Giovanna was falling deeper into Nutsville. Hell, she should have been the town’s damn mayor. Some of the vamps glanced at each other uneasily. They knew their mistress was crazy, but they feared her all the same. Most encouraged her, I suppose to stay in her favor. “Dance, my mistress. Dance! Oh, yes!” James Dean urged.
Kissa
ss.
I writhed, trying to gain some leverage and enough breath to shift myself underground. That earned me several blows to my back from the vamps holding me, forcing what little air I’d retained to leave my lungs with audible wheezes. My jaw snapped when it crashed into the sand. Shit, we were screwed.
The vamps applauded her when she took her final bow. She smiled, delighted, and then approached me. “You like your family, don’t you, tiger?”
My entire body tensed and I growled.
Her smile widened. “Drown them. And let her watch.”
My sisters kicked wildly. Danny lay draped against the vamp’s arms. I jerked my body hard, trying to move enough to breathe. The vamp dragging Taran burst into flames as she surrounded herself with fire. Giovanna laughed and tackled her. She held her face down in the water, laughing as a wave crashed over them.
James Dean winked at me as he dragged Emme into the ocean. “Masters are immune to flame,” he said.
I whirled and fought, barely able to breathe. Another wave, this time larger, crashed down, engulfing everyone. The vamps resurfaced, looking around frantically, their arms empty of Danny and my sisters. Giovanna shrieked and propelled herself onto the beach, followed closely by James Dean.
She wrenched Danny’s father to her and ran to the dock. I didn’t know what was happening until my sisters and Danny shot out of the water with Quennel and his vampires.
Chapter Ten
The vamps loosened their hold at Quennel’s appearance just enough for me to gather sufficient air to shift belowground. This time I yanked them with me. The travel beneath the sand disoriented them. I surfaced and rammed my claws through the chests of two of them and beheaded a third.
My pale sisters spewed seawater near the stack of boulders. Quennel lowered Danny beside Emme and motioned to me. “Come, Celia. We mustn’t permit Giovanna’s escape.”
Quennel’s vamps formed a protective arc around my family and friend. Shayna crawled along the sand to retrieve her sword, while the power building within Emme and Taran fired across my fur. They were recovering. And they were furious. They would soon attack. And Quennel’s vamps would make sure they weren’t alone.