Page 72 of Death Deals

Claws sank into my abdomen, and I cried out, the pain breathtaking. Whipping around, I saw the other Halfling grinning at me—at least it would have been if its mouth wasn’t sealed shut.

I elbowed it hard enough for it to let go. Blood instantly drenched my shirt. I couldn’t heal while on this side of the veil, so I pressed my hand against it, stumbling with my next step.

Something grabbed my legs and yanked hard. I fell onto my backside, but before I could do anything, I was being dragged along the rooftop. The closed-lipped Halfling had me by the boot and was sprinting toward the ledge, about to take me down with it.

Fumbling around my pockets, I pulled out the extra ammunition I’d stuffed in one and reloaded. With the roof’s edge fast approaching, I pointed my gun and fired.

First shot missed. Damn, looked like I was still a terrible shot, but I managed to get the second to at least hit it in the arm. The creature released me immediately, screaming, as the Holy Water did its job and melted its scaly gray skin off the bones.

As it rolled off the roof, my boots hit the ledge, halting me. An inch more and I would have fallen over, too.

My ears rang just at the thought.

Too close.

I crawled backward, not able to get away fast enough.

Scrambling to my feet, I knocked another encroaching Halfling across the face with the gun. Across from me, Eli whipped his spear through the air and impaled his foe right through the gut before it could creep too close to Kay. As more approached, he spun it again with lightning speed and precision, slicing two more in half.

Nearby, Andre grabbed his Halfling by the head and twisted. Hard. Black goo spurted as it detached from its body. Another with clawed hands as big as a bear’s grabbed him from behind, it’s talons burying into his chest.

Panic rocketing to the surface, I fired blindly. The creature bucked—hit in the side, but as it collapsed, its nails raked up Andre’s shoulders, the wounds deep. Sputtering, he stumbled forward and blood spilled from his mouth as he continued to hack and cough.

I hurried to his side.

As I assessed his wounds, all the air left my lungs. It looked bad. He was losing blood at an alarming rate, even for a vampire who had the ability to rapidly heal.

“Jade,” he whispered as he struggled to take his next breath. The claws must have punctured his lungs.

His knees collapsed, and I went down beside him, wondering what I could do to help—if anything. My head spun. I couldn’t come up with a damn thing.

“You…keep saving me.” He spit out more dark blood and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand.

“Don’t worry. I’m keeping a tab running for you.” With a quick tug, I ripped open his shirt and was shocked to see the wounds were already patched over with new skin. Even with the vampirism, a wound like that wouldn’t have fixed itself that quickly.

Andre peered down, too, appearing just as surprised as I was. Glancing up at me, he said, “Your blood… It must be.”

“What do you mean?”

“The blood I took from you. It’s allowing me to heal faster.” His speech was already improving, his insides healing over as fast as his outside.

“Well, then, I’m adding that onto your tab, too,” I said. “You’re going to owe me big after this is over.”

He wiped the blood from his mouth again and peered down at my own blood-covered clothes and torn shirt. Something passed over his face. Not blood lust, which was surprising since I was covered in the stuff.

No, not hunger. It was dread, a rare emotion to see from him.

“I’m forever in your debt.” When his gray eyes lifted, his gaze roamed my face. I could see the words he wanted to say hovering on his lips, but doubt was there, too. That seemed to outweigh everything else.

The sound of more bullets firing snapped my attention right. It was Sean firing his father’s sawed-off shotgun into a crowd of Halflings. His eye was purple and a nasty cut ran down his chin, but he continued to shoot and reload at a rapid pace. Cole must have stocked him with some magic bullets as well because suddenly every one of the beasts collapsed, convulsing violently as the scent of burning flesh carried on the wind.

Taking in the scene, I realized that despite our small numbers, we were doing well holding our own. But with all these Halflings, it did make me wonder where Monnie was hiding. Had he just sent his minions to grab me or was he waiting for his perfect time to arrive. I wasn’t sure.

Fighting didn’t really seem like Monnie’s M.O. He might, you know, get his hands dirty or something.

“They’re retreating!” Arianna’s excited shout rose above the noise. An unused fireball floated in her open palm. “Look!”

To my surprise and relief, in one huge wave, the Halflings raced toward the rooftop’s edge and scurried down the side as if spooked by something. Once the last of them disappeared, Eli walked over and peered down.

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