Page 80 of Death Wish

As I tried to jump out of the way of the third hungry vampire, Andre’s shoulder slammed into my chest. The strength behind the blow knocked me off my feet and stole the breath from my lungs. I hit the carpet with a grunt. Colors danced before my eyes. Then the weight of a fully grown man hit, his body pinning me to the ground.

I stared into Andre’s beautiful and terrifying face, his eyes soulless and his canines slowly extending past his bottom lip.

Not my neck. Not today.

I bucked my body, but it did nothing to move him. He even chuckled, and that only made my blood boil. When he grabbed both my wrists and pressed them into the floor on either side of my face, making my neck completely accessible, I kicked out as hard as I could. My boots did nothing but slip against the carpet.

Kay’s frantic cries rang above the chaos. “She’s my friend! Stop! Please!”

Andre seemed lost to his hunger now, like he hadn’t heard a word.

The other vampires stayed back to allow their boss first taste, I guessed.

No way.

I summoned the power to my hands again, took a deep breath, then released it. The white light shot out, hit Andre square in the chest, and catapulted him across the room. He smashed through the glass wall and disappeared as he fell to the floor below.

As if snapped from a dream, the four vampires ran to the window.

I didn’t wait another second. Snatching Kay by the hand, I half dragged her out of the room, down the staircase, and toward a back door labeled Emergency Exit.

I kicked it open. A siren blared.

Briefly glancing over my shoulder, I shoved Kay outside and noticed Andre rising to his feet slowly. Half his face was burned from the blast, the flesh pink and glossy, with bits of glass sticking out. Just in those few seconds, his skin began to knit back together before my eyes.

Yikes. Looked like I made a fast enemy.

No need to stick around any longer. I pushed the heavy door open and rushed into the early night.

Kay and I ran down the street in silence. Only until the tall city buildings began to change into the cobblestone roads and brick-faced homes did we slow down. No one was following us, at least that I could see, so I let Kay rest for a few minutes. Sweat dripped from her forehead, and her chest heaved.

With her hands on her hips, she said, “Can you believe I used to be a competitive runner in high school?” She gasped between words. “I used to be able to run for miles without a wheeze.”

I scanned the area and realized we were close to Kay’s shop, but still some ways away from the motel. We needed to tell Cole about what had happened at Red. But more importantly, I needed to tell him about Xaver and the final part of the cure. If Kay was willing to offer herself up as bait to lure Xaver in, that meant we needed a plan.

And weapons. Lots and lots of weapons.

“Can you keep moving? Or do you need to catch your breath some more?” I didn’t feel safe staying in one place, but I wasn’t going to show that fear to her. “Cole is waiting for us in a motel under the freeway.”

Kay’s lip turned up in disgust, probably knowing the area wasn’t a good one, but she nodded.

We hurried the rest of the way. When we reached the familiar ugly orange door with the crooked number two on it, I paused. Two male voices came from the other side. One was Cole’s. I’d know that overconfident, sarcastic tone anywhere. It was the second one that confused me.

I stepped closer and pressed my ear to the door, gesturing for Kay to stay quiet.

“Your job was simple, Masters. Keep her occupied. Whatever it took, remember? Yet I find out you have her chasing demons all over the city. And her powers have triggered.”

“It would have been nice if you told me about that,” Cole shot back to his guest, sounding annoyed. “You could have made my job a lot easier. How was I supposed to know she was going to stumble across some ancient text and find the demon cure?”

A warning prickled up and down my spine. They were talking about me. They had to be. But that meant Cole was working with someone else to keep me running around, distracted?

Fury surged. I was an assignment for him? All of this—everything, even the sex—had it been part of the job?

My next question was why? Why me, of all people? It didn’t make sense.

My fingertips glowed white. Energy crackled across my skin like tiny lightning bolts, unable to be contained by the leather gloves I wore. I gasped.

The Greed demon, Monnie, had said I had been touched by an angel; that was what my tattoo had been about—I was branded by them. Had he been telling the truth? Could that be what this was all about? Me?

---