Coming to a stop, he swung out with his free hand and clasped the next beam only a foot away from them. Mollie kept her head tucked into the hollow of his shoulder and her arms around his neck as she flattened against him.
I will get you out of this, he vowed.
Gripping another rafter, he swung out with one leg and hooked around it before swinging over. He glided through more of the beams before coming to a stop close to the edge of the hayloft but a hundred feet away from where he’d knelt before. Feeling secure in the fact the vampires wouldn’t know exactly where they were, he nudged Mollie a little.
When she lifted her head to look at him, he pointed to her and then the rafter. Understanding his meaning, she eased her grip on his shoulders and reached for the overhead beam. Mike pushed her up until she spun around to straddle the rafter while he hung underneath her.
Her eyes met his before he swung away from her and onto the next beam. Mollie watched as Mike spun himself around the rafter and perched on it. He’d carried her a good fifty feet across the loft, yet sweat didn’t bead on his forehead, and his breathing was no faster than before.
Who is this guy? She wondered as he leaned over to peer down at the barn below.
“Little piiiiiiiiiggies!” the asshole with the gun called. “Come out, come out, wherever you are!”
Mike remained still as the man stopped near the ladder to the loft and tapped the barrel of the gun against a rung. The man couldn’t see Mollie from where he stood, but he could see Mike if Mike moved.
“This little piggy went to market,” the man said as he slung the gun over his shoulder and grasped the rungs. “This little piggy stayed home; this little piggy had roast beef.” The vamp climbed the ladder as he spoke. “This little piggy had none, and this little piggy cried all the way home because I gutted him and feasted on his blood!”
Mollie recoiled at the words and the vehemence with which they were declared, but more than that, she recoiled from the amusement in the man’s voice. This monster would enjoy doing such a thing to someone—to them.
Mike tensed when the vamp’s ascent briefly made it so he couldn’t see him on the ladder. Mike used that moment to drop out of the rafters and place his feet silently on the ground.
“Stay,” he mouthed to Mollie, who frowned at him but didn’t make a move to leave her spot.
Mike glided toward the ladder. He’d prefer Mollie didn’t know what he was, but Mike doubted he’d be able to keep it from her if they succeeded in getting out of this alive. And her staying alive was far more important than keeping his secret.
He doubted metal bullets filled the vamp’s gun, so he had to disarm him the first chance he got. Mike’s heart thudded as he listened to the creaking ladder and the Savage growing closer with every passing second.
Then the vamp’s head poked over the edge of the loft. While he’d been out of Mike’s view, the Savage had unslung his gun, and the barrel of it was aimed directly at Mike’s chest. The bastard had known where he was the whole time.
“Sooooooey!” the Savage shouted as he pulled the trigger.
When the muzzle flashed, Mike twisted to the side. The wooden bullet skimming across his chest tore his shirt and sliced his skin, but it didn’t hit his heart. Mike charged the Savage as the man pulled the trigger again. The next bullet slammed into his shoulder but didn’t deter him.
The Savage released the gun and fumbled for something as Mike leapt at him. Wrapping his arm around the Savage’s neck, Mike yanked the monster backward. The vamp scrambled to keep his grip on the ladder, but Mike’s heavy weight ripped him free.
The air rushing around him tore at his hair and clothes as they plunged toward the barn floor.
Chapter Eight
Mollie gasped when Mike and the man vanished. Mike had been shot! She’d seen the blood on his shirt and his grimace, yet it hadn’t deterred him from attacking the man. Frozen in disbelief, Mollie’s fingers dug into the beam as a crash sounded below, and she realized they’d fallen on top of one of the cages.
She remained frozen for only a second more before sliding down the rafter and descending to the ground. Mollie fell to her knees at the edge of the hayloft as Mike and the man rolled across the top of a cage and tumbled off the side.
They punched and clawed at each other as they hit the ground. The occupant of the cage lunged forward and snatched the man’s coat. He yanked their captor back and pinned him against the bars as the man was lifting the rifle to bash Mike in the face with it.
The gun fell from his hands as he reached behind him to claw at the hands of the prisoner holding him. The prisoner snarled as Mike pulled back his fist and smashed it into their captor’s chest. Mollie slapped her hands over her mouth to stifle her scream as bone crunched and blood slid from the corner of the security officer’s mouth.
Once, caught up in the clamoring excitement spreading around her school, she’d gone with a group of kids to the local park and listened to the chants of “Fight! Fight! Fight!” as two idiots pummeled each other.
The only difference was, when those kids hit each other, their fists hadn’t gone into the chest of the other. She wanted to deny it because it could not be possible, but her eyes were telling her Mike’s hand was now buried up to his wrist in the cruel bastard’s chest.
What’s going on? What have I gotten involved in? What are some of these things? What is Mike?
She had no idea what the answers to any of those questions were as her mind labored to process what she was seeing. She didn’t want to look anymore, yet she couldn’t turn away.
Mike dug deeper into the vamp’s chest; he almost had his hand around the Savage’s heart as the bastard lunged against the vampire holding him, but the vamp in the cage didn’t let go.
“Mike, look out!” Jack shouted from another cage.
Plunging forward, Mike enclosed his hand on the Savage’s heart as someone leapt onto his back. The fingers digging into his neck pulled back his flesh, and blood ran free. The animalistic sounds the Savage on his back issued became more excited when the scent of his blood hit the air.
Mike tore the heart from the Savage’s chest and reeled backward. Throwing his weight back, he smashed the killer on his back into another cage before leaning away and doing it again, but the vampire only grunted and dug in deeper.
The occupant within the cage, a human, cowered in the corner. He had to find another vampire; they would tear into anyone who had imprisoned them in this place and pounce on their chance to feed. The vamp who had caught the Savage with the gun didn’t care he was dead as he drank his blood.
“Mike! There’s another one on your right!” Doug shouted.
Despite his increasing unease over this situation, relief filled him at the sound of Doug’s voice; his friend was alive. The breath of the one on his back tickled his neck as fangs scratched his flesh. Mike’s pulse skyrocketed when he realized it was going to bite him, and if that happened, he was as good as dead. The agony of having his blood drained unwillingly from his body would most likely render him almost useless.
He clasped the Savage’s hair as its fangs started to pierce his flesh. He yanked its long hair forward so violently, he tore a handful of it from its skull. He realized the Savage on his back was a woman when she squealed; her fingers shredded his skin as she scrambled for purchase while Mike continued to drag her over his back.
“All three of the others are coming!” Jack yelled at the same time Doug shouted, “Move to your left!”
Mike succeeded in dragging the woman over his shoulder as he staggered to the left. Grasping hands stretched through the bars of the cage he crashed into. Inhuman, ravenous sounds issued from within as the vampire in the cage slammed the woman against the bars.
She screeched and tried to pull away, but the imprisoned vamp yanked her arm into the cage with enough force to break it before sinking his fangs into her wrist. The woman’s squeals went on for a few seconds more before her legs gave out while the vamp gree
dily consumed her blood.
With his back against the cage, Mike rolled around to the side of it as two Savages pounced on top of it and a third stalked him from the other side. Turning, Mike ran behind the cage and into the maze of them. He had to figure out a way to kill off these last three before more Savages arrived, as he seriously doubted the five who had entered the barn were the only ones behind this operation.
Metal clattered behind him, and when he glanced back, he spotted the vamps running across the tops of the cages in pursuit of him while the other remained on the ground. Those on top of the cages stayed to the ones housing humans as vampires crouched in wait for them in the others.
Mike came around the side of one of the cages and ran back toward the ladder. As he sprinted through the maze of bars, he spotted Mollie kneeling next to the Savage he’d killed. She had her hands in his pockets. She pulled something free and shoved it into the pocket of her jeans; it was only then he realized she clutched the rifle.
Rising to her feet, she leveled the gun at his chest. For a second, Mike was sure she would shoot him, and he wouldn’t blame her after what she’d witnessed, but then she shifted the rifle and fired at something over his head. A screech filled the air, and Mike turned to find one of the Savage’s clutching its chest while it tumbled off a cage. The shot had struck its heart.
Mollie spun the rifle toward the other man chasing Mike and fired. The vamp had been poised to leap, and she caught it in mid-launch when she fired. Off the mark, this shot pierced the man’s shin; he howled in response.
Is it a man? She pondered as he fell to the ground only feet away from her. Well, it was obviously male, but was it human? And that’s where she would have to answer with a big old no. But what exactly was it, and what was Mike?
She refused to look at the creature still drinking the blood of the bastard who’d nearly killed her in the hayloft, but the disgusting slurping sounds were all she heard.
Are they vampires? I did remove wooden bullets from that guy’s pockets, and they are loaded into the rifle…
No, that’s insane. There is no such thing as vampires. This isn’t a horror or romance novel; no one is going to sparkle, and no cross will deter these beasts. Then what are they?
She might be okay living the rest of her life never knowing the answer to that question. Unfortunately, she didn’t think she’d have the option.
Mike stalked the man Mollie had shot in the shin and cornered him against one of the cages. With no time to waste, he seized the man’s throat, lifted him, and twisted his head around. He tore his head from his shoulders and lobbed it aside as the nearby humans sobbed.
He ran back out of the maze of cages and found Mollie where he’d left her. She had the rifle against her shoulder as she surveyed the barn for the remaining Savage.
“Mollie, look out!” Mike bellowed when he spotted the monster slipping through the shadows toward her.
A sound from her left drew Mollie’s attention as the remaining security thing lunged out of the shadows at her. Staggering back, she lifted the rifle and aimed at the man who not only wanted to kill her, but would do it in the vilest ways possible.
Fangs! The sight of them hanging over his bottom lip registered even as the guy advanced on her with inhuman speed.
Off balance, Mollie fired seconds before fingers curled around her wrists and the bullet dug into the ground at the man’s feet. The thing’s fangs and reddened eyes filled her vision when he lunged at her.
He’s going to kill me. She didn’t doubt it as the more she struggled, the deeper his fingers dug into her flesh.
Mike poured on the speed as the Savage dragged Mollie toward him. Lowering his shoulder, Mike barreled into the man’s side and flung him back, as if he weighed no more than a child. The Savage tried to cling to her, but the force of Mike’s blow knocked him free. Mollie staggered back and collapsed near one of the cages while the Savage scampered into the shadows.
Mike spun to make sure Mollie was okay before chasing after the Savage. The vamp hadn’t made it far as the breath wheezing from it alerted Mike that he’d broken some of its ribs and those ribs had pierced its lung.
Keeping his back to Mollie so she couldn’t see what he was doing, Mike knelt next to the vamp and placed his knee on the creature’s back. Bearing down on it, he ignored the crunch of ribs and spine as he gripped its head and twisted it to the side. The creature squealed and kicked its feet while its fingers clawed at the barn floor. When Mike succeeded in rending its head from its shoulders, silence descended.
Mike watched the blood seeping from the headless Savage. Usually, the sight of death made him turn away, especially if he was the one who unleashed the brutality necessary to do such a thing. But for the first time, he didn’t loath the ruthlessness residing in him if it helped to keep Mollie alive.
He didn’t look at the head before lobbing it into the shadows and dragging the body behind some of the cages. Maybe he couldn’t keep the truth from her, but he would hide as much death from her as he could.
When he reemerged, Mollie stood where he’d left her, looking dazed, but her eyes were resolute when she lifted the rifle and aimed it at his heart.
Chapter Nine
“What are you?” she demanded. “What are they?”
“Mollie.” Mike raised his hands in a conciliatory gesture. “Lower the rifle. I won’t hurt you.”
Under normal conditions, she was far enough away that he’d be able to move in time to avoid taking a kill shot from her, but he still had the other bullet embedded in his shoulder, was losing blood, and had broken a rib when he crashed into the cage with the first Savage. If she fired that weapon, there was a chance she might kill him.
“Now is not the time for this,” he said. “We have to get out of here before more of them arrive.”
“Then answer my question. What are you?” Mollie bit out as she sensed the other occupants of the cages creeping closer to them. “And don’t lie to me.”
Mike debated how to answer her question; would the truth cause her to fire the gun anyway? But after what she’d witnessed, she had to suspect the truth, even if she didn’t want to admit it to herself.
“Vampire,” he said, and her finger twitched on the trigger. “I am a vampire, and those things we just killed, and the ones who will be coming for us, are monsters.”
“Aren’t they vampires too?”
“They are, but we’re not all the same. If I wanted you dead, you would be.”
Those words were more comforting to her than they should have been because they were true. She’d seen what Mike could do and the speed with which he could move. He could drain her dry before she could count to two. In the hayloft, he could have left her to fend for herself and allowed her ass to be blown off; instead, he ran toward the danger, used his body to protect her, and carried her into the rafters.
But he’s a vampire! This whole mess had her wondering if she’d somehow ingested magic mushrooms and was hallucinating everything. Maybe she’d hallucinated her entire life. That seemed as plausible to her as the actual existence of vampires!
Blinking, Mollie stepped back as she realized mushrooms had nothing to do with this situation. This was real, Mike was real, the gun in her hands was real, and Aida was in the hands of the creatures Mike had just described as monsters.
“Mollie—”
“I’m going to find my sister; will you help me?” she demanded as she cut off Mike’s words.
“Yes,” Mike said without hesitation. “I will help you find her, and I will get you out of this.”
Mollie wanted to believe him, but she didn’t know what to think in this strange world she’d been forced into. “The wooden bullets in this gun, will they kill you?”
“Yes,” Mike answered, knowing she needed the reassurance of her weapon. “Me and any other vampire you shoot through the heart.”
“If you’re lying about helping me or if you try to attack me, I’ll kill you,” she vowed.
“Okay.” She didn’t see what other choice she had. After what she witnessed here, she’d require his help to get Aida back, and he hadn’t done wrong by her yet. Lowering the rifle, she slid it over her shoulder and secured it against her back with the strap connected to it. “Don’t make me regret trusting you.”
“I won’t.”
Mike didn’t tell her he’d easily be able to take the weapon from her now that it wasn’t aimed at him. He had no intention of taking it from her. Allowing her to keep it would help build her trust in him, and the rifle could kill any enemy who came after them.
“Please let us out of here,” a woman pleaded from the shadows.
Mollie gulped as she examined the numerous cages. There were so many of them, but which ones contained humans, and which ones were vampires? She’d prefer not to have more of the bloodsuckers crawling around this place. Mike had agreed to help her, but that didn’t mean the others wouldn’t eat her the first chance they got.
She shuddered as Mike knelt next to the body of the bastard she’d taken the gun from. “What are you doing?” she asked.
“Looking for keys.”
He would not leave here without Jack and Doug, and he’d like to get as many of the others free as possible. Some of the vampires had been here too long. They would have to remain caged as he couldn’t trust them around Mollie and the other humans he intended to free, but the other vamps would provide an excellent distraction to the Savages who would pursue them. Some of the vamps would flee, but others would seek revenge.
The enemy of my enemy and all that.
Something jingled behind him, and he glanced over his shoulder to discover Mollie dangling a set of keys from her hooked index finger. “I already took them from the guy.”
Rising, Mike walked over and held his hand out to her.
“Are they going to eat me if you let them out?” she demanded.
Consumed: The Vampire Awakenings, Book 8 Page 5