Page 98 of Betrayed in Blood
“Be calm. The enemy has been vanquished.” Elijah gave him two more strokes before turning his attention to the vampire kneeling over Rachel. “I could hear her heartbeat before I shifted to human.”
The vampire nodded. “She’s alive. It’s a leg wound. My concern is the loss of blood. We just cleared the scene with Sergi. The healer is on her way.”
His words were barely out of his mouth before a car pulled up. Soon, Madame Saldano and another healer dropped next to Rachel.
“Can you make her shift?” Madame Saldano asked.
Elijah nodded and bent low. “Rachel, you need to shift.”
The wolf whined and began to struggle, but nothing happened.
“Rachel, I command you to shift. Now.”
Elijah’s fierce command rolled over Decker but kept him alert for danger. All the others took a step back as the gray wolf, whimpering in obvious pain, gave a short yip and morphed into a naked woman with blood soaking her legs.
The healer went to work, but Decker refused to change. Not until he knew Rachel was alright. Not until he was comfortable there were no more enemies.
His ears pricked when the vampires became agitated. When he shifted to wolf form, he’d lost his earbud, so he had to wait for someone to share the information that had rattled the team.
“What is it?” Elijah asked.
“It’s Simone. She’s near death.”
“Send in the healer. Rachel can wait.” Although Elijah said the words, Decker didn’t believe the Alpha meant them but understood this was the vampires’ mission. Their packmate would have to wait.
But the vampire and healer both shook their heads.
“The house hasn’t been cleared to send anyone in,” the vampire said.
“Besides, I need to get this bullet out before she can shift again,” Madame Saldano replied. “It’s silver. I’m impressed you actually got her to shift. It helped bring the bullet closer to the surface. Once I get it out, you’ll need to make her shift again.”
“But Simone—” Elijah didn’t get any more words out before the vampire spoke.
“Devon and the cadre’s orders. Treat who we can once the target area has been secured. Most grievous injuries first, regardless of species.”
Decker whined and howled. He understood Devon’s wishes, but Simone was his friend. He laid his head down and put a paw over his muzzle as Elijah rested a hand on his back. Madame Saldano would never defy Devon’s orders.
Blood donors stood ten feet away. Unable to do anything but wait.
The two vampiresexited the house together and raced toward Lucas. Not that they could see him. When they got closer, Lucas drew out a throwing star and was ready to let it fly when he saw the gun rise in the lead vampire’s hand.
He’d heard shots coming from the house and knew they were carrying, but what a cowardly action. Though he’d been aiming at the first vampire, he changed direction and threw the star. It flew by the vampire with the gun with less than an inch to spare, and though the whirling blade had bypassed him, he stopped to rub his cheek, discovering the throwing star had missed him.
Behind him, however, the second vampire stumbled and fell forward, face-first into the lawn. He wouldn’t be down for long.
The first vampire refocused on his exit strategy and lifted his arm, the weapon once again trained on Lucas. Before he could get a shot off, a blur raced in from the right.
He had no idea Ginger could move that fast, but she’d taken some of his blood before the mission. It must have hyped up her metabolism. At first, he assumed it was one of the other team members, but there was no mistaking the ponytail.
The second vampire was rising, but another team member raced out of the darkness and, with a single swing of her blade, removed his head.
Lucas went after Ginger, who must have wrestled the gun away from the vamp because it went flying into the night. The vamp pushed her off, but she was getting up, and as soon as she was on her legs, she gave him a roundhouse kick to his head before he could get off his knees. He went down.
Lucas grabbed her, but it was like pulling a wild cat from a fresh kill. She wasn’t done. He clamped his arms around hers and dragged her away as the vampire attempted to rise. He never made it to a knee before his head slid off his shoulders.
Lucas nodded at Roberta. Blood dripped from her sword, and she grinned at them as Ginger stopped fighting. He let her go, and they stared down at the headless vamp.
“We should get the gun,” Ginger suggested.
