Page 79 of Accidental Vampire

“Fuck,” he held my face, his eyes scattered everywhere, “we need to go…”

“Get the fuck away from her.” Monique’s voice crashed into me, making all the hairs on my head stand up.

“Monique.” My whisper was heavy and dense.

“Tiffany Elizabeth Hartford.”

Oh no, she was using my government name. I swallowed.

“Step away from him.”

Her hand was outstretched to me, her collapsible baton hanging from her wrist. I took three stuttered steps towards her. Lachlan’s iron grip snatched me back. He pulled me into his body, an arm like a barrier across my stomach.

“I would take your hands off her.” Monique shrugged off her hoodie and settled the baton in her fist.

“How are you here?” I cringed at how loud my voice was. She was the last person I expected to see. A grumbling in my stomach had me licking my lips.

She snapped the baton open with a sharp flick of her wrist. It was a practiced move from that self-defense class we took. It was supposed to show you meant business. She used it to point to the building.

“Your phone is in there. We’ve been sharing our location for years, and you think you drop off the face of the earth and I’m not going to track you?” Not taking her eyes off Lachlan, she dipped her hand into her back pocket, and flash the metal she pulled out. Monique believed brass knuckles were old school enough that most people would dismiss them and not be prepared for the ass beating they provided.

“What the fuck is going on here, Tiff?”

I swallowed again, drool pooling in the corner of my mouth

“We need to go.” Lachlan’s voice was soft in my ear.

“No, you need to go. Tiff, come here.” She held out her hand, palm up. I could see her pulse jumping at the vein in her wrist. A cramp hit, intense and sharp. I could hear her pulse, like all other sound zeroed out and nothing existed but her heartbeat.

“Lachlan?” I crumpled, his hands the only thing keeping me up. I covered my ears. Monique’s pounding heart echoed in my head. She darted forward, then stopped short.

“Playing with your food?” said a tall, lean vampire as he stepped around the corner. I knew him. How did I know him?

“Carmine. Leave. This is none of your concern.”

“Who the fuck are you?” Monique pointed the baton at the new guy, who completely ignored her.

Carmine, the guy who threatened to do unspeakable things to me when I fell off the roof. He sauntered between us, half bent and put his hands on his knees, like he needed to steady himself, get a real good look at me.

He whistled through his teeth. “Whewboy, she’s newly made. That can’t be good.” He straightened with smug satisfaction on his face. Then it shifted into delighted shock. He looked from me to Lachlan and back again, doing the math. “You’re her maker. Oh, that’s good.” His voice shivered in some dark anticipation.

“Leave. I’m not asking.” Lachlan angled me away from the guy.

“Legate. Seems you’re about to learn payback’s a bitch.” Carmine said, his voice dripping with glee. He eyes my wrist where that ridiculous watch hung. “I can’t wait to take my watch back.”

“Monique, go.” It came out as a groan. I could hear her heart beat getting faster.

“Not without you.”

We all moved at once. Monique lunged for me. Lachlan spun me around behind him. Carmine caught Monique by the neck. Monique changed the grip on the baton and jabbed him right in the nuts. Vampires might not die, but a punch to the nuts still hurts.

Carmine doubled over. He kicked his head up and snarled, flashing a fang from under a curled lip. Monique paused, did a double take, leaned forward like she didn’t believe what she was seeing. And I felt it, it rang enticingly through my whole body - her heart beat, it jumped like it was screaming for attention. In a blink, he was behind her, pinned her arms, had her head wrenched all the way over to the side. He looked me dead in the eyes as he curled back his lips. It was over in a flash. He let her go and got out of the way.

He bit her. Oh my god, he bit her. Bright red spilled down her neck. It was a messy gash, the skin torn, not cleanly sliced.

“What the fuck you lunatic!?” Monique slapped her hand over her bleeding neck and twisted to place him, figure out how he moved so fast.

“Monique…” I fell to a knee and clutched Lachlan’s pant leg. My mouth began to water. Everything fell away, the scent of her blood becoming the very air.

---