Page 68 of Just Dare Me
“It’s Capra,” Jay says.
“We’ve got eyes on the revenant,” I announce. “A-team, close in. Let’s box him—” My voice is stolen by fright when the vampire Jay shot suddenly shoots to his feet with a snarling hiss and grabs my jacket collar through the window.
Jay reaches his left foot across the center console and slams it down on top of my foot, flooring the gas pedal. My Crap-pile rakes along the corner of a pillar, swiping the vamp away with a crunch of bones as his arms get pinned in the window, then yanked out. We leave his painful screams behind. The three vamps ahead leap aside, clearing the way for Capra.
Jay leans out his window and levels his pistol—loaded with ash wood bullets—but Capra dashes away, zigzagging between pillars.
“Headed west!” I shout. “Damn, he’s fast!”
Nora sounds panicked. “Which way’s west? I’m all turned around.”
“Toward Russo and Hillerman. Everybody look for my headlights and come to me. Close in!”
“Can’t see shit in here,” Charlotte says.
“Use your brights,” Jay says. “The light reflects off his eyes.”
As we skid around a pillar, I see the revenant’s silhouette in the halo of Russo’s headlight. “There! Coming right for you!”
Both Russo and Charlotte answer at the same time with, “I see him.” There’s a sudden flash from Charlotte’s assault rifle. Sparks ping from several pillars, and Capra veers away, changing course back toward us.
“That’s it!” I spin the wheel to turn us down a lane that will cut him off. “Corral him. Box him in.” He flashes across my headlights, half a second too fast for me to catch him. “Dammit. He crossed back. Nora, coming to you!”
“Already spotted him. Ilren?”
“Be right back,” he says.
I hear a grunt, then a clang of steel striking pillars. I catch a glimpse of sparks down the lane to my left.
“Right back to you,” Ilren says.
I shake my head. “No, I don’t see him. I don’t—wait, there!” My heart leaps at the sight of those cataract eyes flashing between pillars. It’s just enough information for my fox brain to calculate speed and trajectory. It all happens effortlessly, without thinking. I stomp the gas and make the slightest adjustment to the steering wheel, not the least bit surprised when my Crap-pile clips the bloodsucker mid stride.Ka-thunk!He slams against the windshield, caving it in.
Elle screams, startled. Jay aims to shoot through the windshield, but I act first, shoving both my feet on the brake pedal. Tires screech against the salt road, Elle and Oliver are thrown against the back of our seats, and Capra soars through the air like a rag doll. He slaps hard against a wall of glittering salt. We’ve cornered him at the end of the chamber.
Both motorcycles arrive, one on either side of him. All of us keep our headlights pinned on the revenant as he struggles to his feet on quivering legs. He takes deep, ragged breaths, clutching at his ribs, clearly in pain.
Stepping into the circle of light, Ilren twirls a sword playfully.
“Ilren,” Nora warns.
With a weary sigh, he replaces the sword in its sheath. “I know, I know. But I could have it over with so quickly. Are we not in a hurry?”
I throw the car in park and step out. “Yeah, the hurry was to get to this moment.”
Jay gets out, stepping in front of the headlights. His shadow stretches long across the chamber, covering the revenant, eclipsing the cataract eyes.
Elle and Oliver join me. Nora leans her bike on its kickstand. Russo and Charlotte do the same. As all of us spread out, forming a circle around Capra and Jay, the revenant finally understands what’s happening. He laughs through the pain of broken ribs. “A cage fight? Is that what you want? With who? With him?”
None of us say a word. If anybody’s going to clue him in, it’ll be Jay, but I doubt he’ll even give this bastard the courtesy of knowing who’s about to kick his ass, or why.
Jay steps forward, tightening his gloves, clinking their steel knuckles together. Capra spreads a finger and thumb along his pencil-thin moustache. He raises one brow with a smirk. “Am I supposed to know what this is all about?” When there is no response from any of us, he scoffs. “Maybe I should be flattered. So many bigger fish down here, but I get all the attention? Why?” He looks from face to face, growing visibly frustrated at our silent treatment.
Jay takes two more steps toward him. Capra looks him up and down, narrowing his eyes. “A human? So much for flattery.”
At last, Jay offers a response, though not verbally. He pulls his pistol from its holster. Capra’s face darkens. “Not just any human. The one who killed both my brothers. Isn’t that right?” He sighs, running a hand through his floppy, golden hair. “Say no more. This kind of grudge can mean only one thing. We snacked on someone, and you wish we hadn’t.”
Jay aims at his heart.
