Page 57 of Because the Night

And I have him. It actually works! The muscles in his face slacken and his gaze goes dazed. That’s the thing with humans…they’re trained from a young age to look at people when speaking to them. Hooray for having good manners.

“Get the chains off me,” I say. “Now.”

He rushes to do my bidding, dropping the gun on the floor in the process. A couple of layers of my skin peel away with the silver chains, which stings like hell. But at least I’m free. My leg doesn’t want to support me at first. A break obviously takes a while to heal. I, however, don’t have time to waste. The great thing about a background in administration is the ability to give clear and concise instructions under pressure.

“Pick up your gun and go shoot the vampires outside,” I order. “Be quick. Use all your bullets. Aim to kill.”

He all but runs for the door with his weapon back in hand. I limp over to the selection of torture implements. I’m going to need all the help I can get. The long, sharp, serrated knife is tempting. Same goes for the hammer. But in the end, I grab the old baseball bat with a selection of truly dubious dark stains in the wood. Keeping some distance between me and them seems smart. Not having to get in quite so close to cause the most damage is paramount.

I swing it a time or two to test my arm. It’s about time my childhood P.E. classes come in handy for something.

The bang of the gun goes off again and again outside.

Time to go. If Marc catches me here, it will not be fun. A broken femur will be the least of my worries.

Outside are a lot of pipes and electrical wiring with the same concrete walls. We’re in a basement underneath a big building, but that’s about all I can tell. This time the concrete rooms formmasses of hallways running every which way. Some random human stands there screaming. It’s a shrill, piercing sort of sound. Blood seeps from the messy bite wound on his neck. The way the scent of it calls to me, making my mouth water, gives me pause.

One of the vampires is already on the ground with a gunshot wound smack bam center of the forehead. His body turns to ash before my eyes. Seems my hypnotized human knows his way around a gun. Lucky me. But the other one is fighting back despite a nasty bullet graze across his face and one embedded in his chest.

My hypnotized human fires the remainder of his bullets. Another hits center body mass before the gun clicks empty. However, the vampire is still standing. Not okay. I am done with being hurt today, so this asshole has got to die. Right now, while he’s focusing on the human instead of me. Because the element of surprise is my very best friend.

Without hesitation, I rush him and swing. The meaty thwack of the bat hitting the side of his head is disgusting. Just truly fucking awful. How his skull caves in and everything. Down he goes, lying still at my feet. I bare my teeth and bring the bat down on his head two more times. Then he finally turns to ash.

To the screaming human, I say, “Be quiet and follow us.” Then I turn to my friend with the gun and order, “Show me the fastest and safest way out of here.”

The human leads us through a maze of tunnels. With each step my leg is a little stronger, but it’s still not great. My bare feet scrape against the cold, dirty ground. When we reach an elevator, my stomach twists nervously. Here is where the people always get caught in the movies. When they’re almost out and safe. It’s when the bad guy arrives, and everything goes to Hell.

But the elevator dings and the doors slide open and it’s empty. I could almost cry again from relief.

As soon as we’re inside, I drop the bat and grab the guy with the gun. I need what he has. I have to heal. As soon as I sink my teeth into his neck, fresh warm blood fills my mouth. It tastes so damn good. Much better than the packaged stuff. Lucas was right about that. It rushes through me, strengthening me.

I drink and drink, and it doesn’t even occur to me not to drain him of every last drop. Nothing could stop me from taking it all. Which is horrifying, but I don’t have time to deal with the morality of it right now. His heartbeat slows before it finally stops. I toss his body into the corner. Hard to feel bad about killing someone who was more than willing to do the same to me.

The other human stands docile and silent. But the look in his eyes says I’m a monster. And he’s right. He is absolutely right. Because I just killed someone without hesitation, and I am absolutely willing to do it again to get out of here.

With the fresh blood in me, I feel a lot better. Ignoring the twinges and lingering ache in my leg, I pick up the bat and hold it in a good tight grip. Ready for whatever awaits us. The sire bond thing in my chest tugs…Lucas is reaching out to me. But it’s not like I can answer him. I don’t even know if he has a phone number for the house. Nor do I have any money or anything useful on me.

We arrive at the ground floor and the doors slide open. It’s a pretty standard sort of lobby. Rows of mailboxes and a plastic potted plant. Along with another vampire guard. His head rolls across the floor as his body crumples. Then both turn to ash.

And standing there with an axe in hand is Lucas.

I have never been happier to see someone in my life. Seems my undead heart is every bit as messy as my beating one was. Because the need I have to throw myself into his arms and cry up a storm is huge. But I guess I am becoming more vampire minded, because the idea of looking weak grates at me.

“Hello, little sister,” says Henry, standing behind him. Blood covers the front of his white button-down shirt. “We’ve been looking for you. So rude to leave a party without saying goodbye. I, for one, was outraged at such shoddy behavior.”

“I think we can safely assume it wasn’t by choice.” Lucas’s gaze is frantic while his lips are a straight, pissed-off line. “Look at me. Are you okay?”

I nod. “Yeah.”

The tension in his shoulders eases just a little at my words. But he still doesn’t seem happy.

“Henry, what happened to you?”

“There I was, waiting for you in the hallway, when some idiot tried to stake me. Can you believe that shit?” he asks, with comically wide eyes. “Sadly for them, they botched the job and wound up on the receiving end of that particular piece of sharpened wood.”

“Thank goodness for that.”

“I found the entrance they used hidden in a wall. But you were already gone. I am sorry for failing you.”

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