“Time to go, Molls,” I said, fingers scrabbling at the belts. “Can you wiggle out?” Behind me, Shadow had climbed to her feet and shaken herself vigorously. I’d known intellectually that she would be fine, but I still felt something tight in my chest release. “Shadow!” I yelled. “Can you buy us some time without killing those girls?”
Shadow walked—limping only for the first few steps—across the room to the doorway, where the lead girl was just pointing the gun at me again.
“You don’t want to shoot me,” I said conversationally. “I’m just trying to help your friend Molly. Remember her?”
The girl peered over the side of the table, confirming that yes, the girl strapped to it was familiar. “Molly?” she said tentatively. “I don’t understand—”
“I know, Harper,” Molly said, as Oskar continued to shout orders from behind the girl. I dropped the belt I was working on and scrambled to grab knives, throwing one at the girl right behind Harper, who still had a gun pointed at me. I hit the upper arm of her gun hand just before it fired. I felt the bullet whiz harmlessly past my face. Shadow stopped worrying at Oskar’s legs and turned on the shooter, sinking her teeth into the girl’s ankle. She yowled.
Molly had managed to wriggle her lower body out of the remaining belts, which had to hurt like hell with the bullet in her leg. “We gotta go,” I yelled over the chaos.
“Not without them!” Molly cried.
“What do you want me to do?”
“Get them out of here!”
There was fresh fire in her voice, and I suddenly understood. She wanted to take Oskar out herself, a sentiment that I could appreciate, even if she wasn’t exactly instilling confidence in me. Molly still looked like hell.
But how was I going to convince four armed, completely disoriented college kids to follow me out of this joint? “Tell them to trust me, then!”
“Hailey! Taylor! Louisa! Harper!” Molly roared, in such a commanding tone that all four girls froze. “Forget what this asshole told you. Drop the guns and follow my friend Scarlett to safety. You can trust her!”
The girls were crowded around the bottleneck I’d made with the hallway, and they were obviously about to lose it. Two were already crying, and the other two had trembling lips. Behind them, Oskar was trying to scream a new set of orders. They were currently human, so they had no biological imperative to obey him, but it contributed to the overall chaos.
Molly snatched the gun out of Harper’s hand and pointed it at Oskar, which made his mouth click shut as he realized that he was currently human. Suddenly, the whole room was dead silent. Shadow looked at me, whining uncertainly. I was busy looking at the four girls.
They were all pretty, and bedraggled, and nearly naked. Their clothes had been half-burned away, and hung in charred, smelly tatters at their shoulders and waistlines. Each girl had blood near her mouth, which meant Oskar had at least fed them when they woke up. But they’d been through a hell of a lot of trauma, not the least of which was being turned into fucking vampires without warning. If anyone deserved to be wigging out, it was them.
But we just didn’t have time.
I stood up, raising my hands to show they were empty. Then I stepped slowly over the table, gently took Harper’s hand, and picked up the hand of the next girl in line. I joined them together, and both women tightened their grip. I went down the line, linking the four of them together. Then I went back to Harper and took her free hand. “I’m getting you out of here,” I said as gently as I could. “Come on.”
They came along with me, docile as lambs. I honestly couldn’t believe it. When I looked over my shoulder, the four women were still holding hands in a chain, looking like toddlers on a field trip. As we moved past the downed table, Molly and Oskar stayed exactly where they were, guns pointed at one another. Oskar was breathing hard from the knife wounds, but Molly didn’t look so great, either. “Molls, you sure?” I called over my shoulder.
“Get them safe,” was her grim reply.
I extended my radius so that Molly and Oskar stayed human until all four women could get through the door. When the last girl in line was a few feet away, I couldn’t hold it any longer. I felt the two vampires pop out of my radius. Inside the building, things began to crash.
I picked up the pace. We went down the block to my van, and I opened the back so all four girls could climb up. At my gesture, Shadow hopped up behind them. I climbed in and closed the door partway.
When I turned to face them, the four women were crowded together, shivering. I’d been so busy running around that I hadn’t felt the temperature drop. It had to be in the high forties now.
Well, at least that gave me somewhere to start. “There are blankets in that compartment,” I said, pointing behind Harper. She turned and began unpacking them. “Okay, guys,” I went on, “I don’t have a lot of time, so here’s the deal. Molly, who is your friend, is actually a vampire. She has been all along, but she’s a nice vampire who wouldn’t willingly hurt you. Except that blond guy, Oskar”—I pointed a thumb over my shoulder—“forced her to. Did he at least explain that you’re vampires now?”
The girl farthest from me, a redhead with smudges of ash on her cheeks and a short, curvy figure, said, “Yeah. He gave us blood to drink. It was . . .” she shivered. “It was good. But I don’t want any now.” Tears began to roll down her face. “I kind of want a hamburger. And I want my mom.”
“That’s because I’m close to you,” I said, trying to sound kind. Scarlett is not a good candidate for group therapy leader. Scarlett does not play well with others. “That’s what I do, I’m a null. As soon as I move away from you, you guys are going to be vampires again, and that means you’re going to be . . . mmm . . . emotionally connected to Oskar. You’re going to want to get out of this van and go help him, but if you do, he’s just going to force you to sell yourselves for him. He’s a pimp, a murderer, and just an all-around evil guy. Okay?”
Three of the girls nodded. The one who wanted her mom was still sniffling, which I decided to accept as a yes.
I was itching to go look for Jesse, not to mention help Molly, but first I pointed to the bargest. “Shadow here has superpowers. I’m going to leave, and you guys are going to be vampires again, but if you try to get out of this van to help Oskar, Shadow will hurt you. A lot.” I made eye contact with each of them. “If she absolutely has to, she will kill you. So just wait here until either Molly or I come for you.” I reached for the door handle, but remembered just in time. “Oh, and there’s an ex-cop named Jesse here, too. Latino, about six feet tall, insanely good-looking for a mortal. He’s with the good guys. You can trust him.”
None of them spoke, but I didn’t have time to sit there, hold hands, and sing “Kumbaya” until I was sure everyone understood. I looked at Shadow, who licked the air in front of her face. “Good girl,” I said, and then I was out of the van and running around the building to find Jesse.
Chapter 44
Jesse had actually thought a lot about what it would be like to fight a vampire. Years ago, Jesse had had a . . . mild disagreement with Dashiell, and the vampire had used just a little bit of his strength to mess with Jesse. After that, he’d thought a lot about what he’d need to do if he ever went up against a vampire for real. And yet here he was, in that exact situation, and his mind went completely blank.
Jesse was still lying on the ground, trying to get his breath back from when Frederic had kicked the air out of his lungs. Seeing that Jesse wasn’t going to be an immediate threat, the vampire turned toward Lee Harrison. “Don’t look in his eyes, man,” Jesse said in a groan. He actually wasn’t feeling that bad anymore, but Frederic didn’t need to know that. “He can mess with your mind.”
The vampire turned his head to glare at Jesse, who avoided his gaze. “Shut up, Mr. Cruz,” Frederic barked. “My employer has some questions, but if you open your mouth again I’m going to conveniently forget that he wanted to talk to you.”
Jesse went qu
iet. But Lee must have listened to the warning, because the next thing Jesse heard was a grunt of frustration from the vampire. He changed his grip on Lee, grabbing the old man by the head, but the biker president hauled off and hit him. Jesse winced. It was a damn good hit. Lee had probably broken his hand.
Frederic chuckled. Jesse couldn’t see Lee’s face, but the biker was cradling his hand, shaking his head in disbelief. “Look at me,” Frederic said in a voice so seductive that it probably made heterosexual women drop their pants on the spot.
Jesse began easing his body slowly toward his Glock, which had landed about six feet away on the sidewalk encircling the building. “Open your eyes!” Frederic said impatiently. Lee was putting up a fight. Good.
“All right, fine,” Frederic said in a bored, resigned voice. “Have it your way.” He grabbed Lee’s injured hand and squeezed hard enough to draw a cry of pain from Lee. The distraction caused the old man to forget all about his resolution not to meet Frederic’s eyes. “Yessss,” Frederic hissed. He was pressing the guy.
Jesse started moving faster.
“You will continue working for Oskar and me,” Frederic was saying. “You will not ask questions. You will not interfere with our plans. You will only obey.”
Lee nodded his head mechanically, and Jesse actually felt sorry for him. But Frederic would be done any second, so Jesse focused on flopping his body over the gun, wrapping his fingers around the cold steel.
“Good. Now, sit down on the ground until Oskar or I call you,” Frederic said, giving Lee a rough pat on the cheek. With that, the vampire turned around to face Jesse, immediately forgetting Lee’s existence. Faster than Jesse could even follow, Frederic hurtled through the air and kicked him in the face. Jesse felt his nose give way, and warm blood exploded across his face. A groan escaped his lips.
“Mr. Cruz,” Frederic said with a sigh, “I know you’re used to hanging out with Dashiell’s little whore, but I’m a vampire. Do you really think I can’t hear the sound of metal scraping on concrete?”
Fuck it. Jesse rolled onto his back, his shoulders braced against the ground, and raised the gun, putting two bullets in Frederic’s chest and one, the money shot, right through Frederic’s left eye.
But the vampire didn’t drop.
He swayed on his feet for a moment, a look of amusement crossing his face. “Congra’lations,” he said. The word was slurred, but his voice was still confident, even pleasant. “You pierced my fron’al lobe. But in jus’ a momen’ the bulle’ will come ou’. And I will scoop ou’ your en’rails.”
He took a determined step toward Jesse, who raised his gun toward the guy’s eyes again—and then had an idea. He stood up, got his shoulder in front of him, and charged the vampire like a billy goat, hitting him in the chest. He angled the blow to push Frederic closer to the building.
“Did you jus’ shove me?” the vampire said incredulously. “Wha’ do you poss’bly hope ’o—”
Jesse pushed him again. And again. Each time, Frederic stumbled back a few feet, looking more surprised and annoyed than actually hurt. The bullet holes on his chest had already nearly closed, and Jesse knew he had only a matter of seconds.
The fourth push did it. Frederic’s back hit the side of the building, and something changed on his face. He abruptly crumpled like an empty puppet. Jesse had spent enough time around Scarlett to recognize that look. He grinned. Just as he’d hoped, Scarlett had expanded her radius, and he’d pushed Frederic far enough to force him into it—while the bullet was still in his brain.
Jesse leaned over for a minute, hands on his knees, panting. He was out of shape, and exhausted, and his nose was still bleeding. He could hardly think through the pain in his nose and eyes, which were both already swelling.
A tremendous crash came from inside the building, and Jesse thought, Scarlett. He pulled a spare magazine out of his back pocket, reloaded, and ran into the building.
And right into an epic vampire fight.
That’s what it looked like, anyway. As Jesse entered the building, Molly and another vampire—this had to be Oskar—came flying over what looked like a regular McDonald’s counter, hitting and punching each other in the air, which Jesse had never seen outside of a martial arts film. He stood there openmouthed for a moment as they crashed into a large round table, upending it. Molly was tangled in chair legs, and Oskar saw his opening. He grabbed a chair and drove one leg through Molly’s exposed shoulder. While she was struggling to pull out the chair leg, he picked up another chair, taking the time to angle himself over her heart this time—
And Jesse shot him five times in the chest.
Five rounds from a .45 only made the vampire take two small steps backward and lean a hand on a nearby table, but it was enough for Molly to jerk the table leg out of her shoulder and pull herself to her feet. She sidled to the left, putting herself in between Jesse and Oskar, who was now glaring at him.
“Oskar,” she said, her voice pleading, “stopio, nid oes rhaid i chi wneud hyn.” Jesse didn’t even know what language that was. The other vampire only curled his lip in a snarl.
“Of course I have to,” he spat. “You killed him. He set you free, and you betrayed him.”
“He betrayed me first. He betrayed both of us,” she said, her voice heated.
Oskar straightened up. His wounds were healing quickly, and Jesse didn’t understand why she wasn’t finishing him off. “Step aside, Molly,” he said, raising the .45.
“No, don’t,” she said, turning sideways so she was holding up a hand to each of them.
Twenty feet behind Oskar, the side door opened. Jesse trained his gun, but it was only Scarlett. He sighed with relief.
“Jesse! You’re okay!” she cried, darting forward.
“Stop!” Molly screamed. Scarlett froze, seeing Oskar and his injuries for the first time.
“Molls, what the fuck,” she began, but the other woman shook her head.
“I don’t want you to make him human yet,” she said, tears in her voice. “He’ll die.”
Scarlett looked from Molly to Jesse, completely flabbergasted. Jesse was pretty sure his own expression reflected hers. “We want him to die, remember?” Scarlett reminded her. “He killed your friends. He’s trying to take down our whole way of life.” Oskar was smirking at her. “He’s the bad guy.”
“He’s my fiancé,” Molly said with a sob.
Chapter 45
I don’t think I’d ever really understood the phrase “knocked me over with a feather” until that moment. When Molly said the word fiancé, you probably could have walked up to me and blown on my hair a little, and I’d have collapsed.
“How—” I sputtered, at the same time Jesse said, “What?” in an equally bewildered tone.
Then a phrase popped into my mouth, and I spat it back out. “The midnight drain,” I blurted. “He’s the midnight drain. This happened to you twice?”
Molly nodded, her eyes never leaving Oskar. “We were just kids. Seventeen, and engaged. Alonzo let him live, but later . . . later . . .” she choked on the words, swallowed hard.
“When did you find out?” I asked. I don’t know why that was my first question, I really don’t. But part of me just couldn’t handle the thought that Molly might have lied to us this whole time about not knowing who was after her.
“The moment I saw him tonight,” she said in a soft voice. She was giving Oskar a complicated look, sadness mixed with longing and grief. “He looks just like the boy I knew. Before Alonzo twisted him.”
There was the slightest tinkling as the bullets from Oskar’s chest hit the tile floor. He was almost all the way healed. “Well, dipshit?” I said to him. “You tried to murder the woman you were going to marry?”
His lips curled. “This whore murdered my true father. The one who gifted us with immortality. Who gifted this harlot with—”
“Yo, Kylo Ren,” Jesse snapped. His gun was still trained on Oskar’s chest. “Say one more horrible thing about Moll
y, I just fucking dare you. You might heal fast, but I know you still feel pain.”
“You don’t understand,” Molly said in a helpless voice. Her face was twisted with anguish. “All this, everything that’s happened, it’s my fault.”
“How the fuck is this clown your fault?” I demanded.
“Alonzo promised me he would leave my family alone if I came willingly,” she whispered. She turned toward Oskar. “But I didn’t know that Alonzo knew about you.”
“Because you never asked,” Oskar said, with acid in his voice. “I was right there, the whole time, if you had only looked.”
“I thought you would marry someone else,” she said. “I thought you would forget all about me. It would be better.”
“Forget about you?” He laughed. “I suppose I did, for a little while. But then Alonzo began visiting me. He would knock on my door in the dead of night and tell me things. Some of them were about you, beloved.” He spat this last word like most men would use the c-word. Like she was filth. “How you were defiant. Rebellious. Alonzo bestowed the gift of vampirism on you, and you were so ungrateful that it hurt him.”
Molly just stared at him with her mouth open, and I couldn’t blame her. Katia’s words rang in my head. Sometimes he would set his revenge in motion even before he had been betrayed. Alonzo had noticed Molly’s independence and begun grooming her former fiancé, intending to use him against her.
But Oskar wasn’t finished. “I begged him to turn me. I would make you fall in line. Make you obey, as you were always meant to obey me. Alonzo made me wait, though, until I was ready.” His voice turned worshipful. “And then I was. He chose me to be his heir. His son.” There was enormous pride in his voice, and if I hadn’t thought the guy was nuts before, this would have tipped the decision.
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