Page 22 of Lucas
Lucas lay at the back of the car, face down in a puddle. He couldn’t drown, but it didn’t stop the panic when I noted how red the puddle was. He grimaced when I turned him over, and I leaned over him to shield his face from the rain.
“Lucas. Lucas. Can you hear me?”
His arm barely lifted an inch before it fell to his side. His clothes were sliced in dozens of places. It was impossible to tell how bad it was, but the cuts had to be deep if he could barely move.
I glanced around the parking lot, thankful the rain kept people indoors. Or at least kept their heads down.
Think. Damn it. Think.
A cool chill swept over me as I slowed my breathing.
What would Cressa or Simone do?
I took off my light jacket and covered Lucas’s face then turned to the two dead vamps. I found the keys to the rental in Lucas’s pocket and opened the trunk. My steps were slow as I approached the first headless body. I’d helped Lucas move two bodies in a similar condition a couple of days before. I could do this.
Before dealing with the bodies, I grabbed all the weapons I could find, whether lying in the mud or on their person, and dumped them in the trunk. Next was checking pockets for wallets. Neither had any identification on them. They might have left it in their car, wherever that was. But they were carrying money, and I took it all.
I stood and surveyed the lot. We had parked by a small stand of trees, which turned out to be the best spot to dump bodies. I dragged the first one under the canopy, then leaned against a tree as I struggled for breath. The mud hadn’t made it any easier to move the dead weight. Once the second body had been laid by the first, I collected their heads and dropped them in between the vamps. I had no idea which head belonged to which body, and it didn’t matter to them now. The local sheriff would have a headscratcher with this one.
Next was how to get Lucas in the car. I tried to rouse him, but he was barely conscious. It had been difficult enough to drag the vamps. Lifting Lucas into the car would be next to impossible. I pulled out my dagger, and without a second thought, slit the fleshy part of my hand below my thumb.
I pressed it to his lips. “Drink, baby. Come on. Some nice donor blood. You need your strength. We need to get you in the car.” I held his head up and after a long minute, I felt the pull and a tingling sensation as he began to drink.
He must not have realized who he was drinking from; otherwise, he wouldn’t have drunk so deeply. Maybe I waswrong because he’d only taken a few swallows before he stopped. Though he might have passed out. I glanced at my cut. It was going to hurt like hell. I hadn’t thought this through. I’d sliced my best hand for wielding a dagger. Sergi trained me to use both hands, but my right hand was the strongest.
I glanced where the dead vamps had laid. So much blood. Then it hit me, shocking my brain like jump-starting a battery.
Blood worked both ways. Human blood nourished vamps, but their blood carried healing properties. I found a fresh pool of Lucas’s blood where it dripped onto his jacket. I pressed my hand into it, not sure how long it took. After a minute, I wiped the blood away and checked the skin. The cut was no longer bleeding, and it was beginning to scab over. The skin would be pink in another minute. Crazy.
Lucas stirred. “Ginger?”
“I’m here, baby. Do you think you can stand long enough to get in the car? We can’t stay here.”
“The others?”
“You killed two. If there were more, they’re gone.”
“Just the two.” His breaths were short rasps.
“Don’t talk. Let’s get you in the back seat so you can lie down.”
I opened the back door, then squatted behind his head and pushed him to a seated position. He was lethargic, but with some inner strength that I attributed partly to the beast and the rest to my blood—meager as the amount was—he half stood, half crawled into the back seat. He rolled over and collapsed before he got his legs in.
I raced around the car and yanked open the passenger door. I grabbed him under the arms and pulled him the rest of the way in, then stuffed the softest duffel under his head before closing the door and rushing back around to push the rest of his legs in to get the door closed. The last thing I could think to do wasconfirm no evidence had been left behind other than the pooled blood. Footprints were already fading into the mud.
Once in the driver’s seat, I checked to ensure my purse was on the passenger seat and Lucas’s wallet was in the console. I drove the car over the area where the fight had gone down, covering as much of the scene as I could before turning for the street.
The rain was still heavy, and there wasn’t a single person in sight. Even the street traffic was light. The gas gauge showed more than half a tank. I took a slow left turn out of the parking lot and kept within the speed limit as I headed for the main highway.
“Lucas? Are you with me?”
A groan would have to satisfy for now. We’d barely had the rental for one day, yet the damn vamps were still tracking us. Until I found out how they were doing it, we were in grave danger. I considered calling Sergi, but he was hours, if not a full day away. He’d have to fly commercial since Lorenzo was probably monitoring Devon’s jet.
I had to remain focused. Stay calm and leave the emotions on lockdown until we were safe.
First things first. Find a secure location and check Lucas’s wounds. Then find a way to get the vamps off our trail.
Chapter Nine
