Page 43 of Queen of Darkness
“We got out early,” he said, cutting me off. “Something about having to run from the bombs. Our exit time is still a few minutes away.”
“It’s also on the far side of them,” I pointed out. “So going this way won’t help.”
“Sure, it will,” he said. “It’ll keep their attention on us.”
“That might not be the attention we want.”
“We don’t have much choice.”
He was right. Corvis had caught us completely flat-footed. The bombs were an unpleasant surprise, depriving us of the easy access to blood that I needed.
“Did we save any?” I asked.
Aaron patted his vest. “Only four,” he said, dejected.
“Shit. Less than a quarter of what we’d wanted to take.”
“It’ll be enough,” he growled. “It has to be.”
“Concentrate on keeping them safe,” I said as Corvis and the Nacht Bringers approached.
“And what? Let you get chopped to bits by the swords? No, I don’t think so,” he said, pulling the packs from his vest and handing them to me, not giving me a chance to say no. “They stay with you.Youand them stay safe. This is about you. The plan requires you to succeed. Not me.”
“And what are you going to do?” I asked.
“Plan B,” Aaron said, pulling out a pistol from a shoulder holster I didn’t know he had and firing three quick shots at Corvis.
The motion was so swift and unexpected that none of us reacted until the vampire hit the ground with a trio of slugs in his chest. The other vampires paused for a moment.
“He has limited capacity. Together!” another shouted.
The vampires came at us in a blob.
“C’mon, c’mon,” Aaron growled as he backed up with me, holding on to his fire until the vampires were closer. “Hurry up.”
A car came barreling up the road, tires screeching as it whipped around the corner and into the parking lot, scattering vampires as it came. The door opened before it had even come to a halt, letting out a woman, her long brown hair flowing behind her.
“Looks like you could use some help,” Dani said as a sword appeared in her hands, runes glowing with purple energy down the blade.
The vampires came to a scrambling halt as my best friend in the whole world stepped up to meet them. She carved through the first one. The vampire didn’t have time to scream before she took its head, whirling and taking the arm from another with smooth, even strokes.
Aaron and I reversed our course and charged, even as the vehicle’s other occupant emerged, revealing a tall male with shoulder-length black hair. He whirled a hand in front of him, and a golden spear spun through the air before plunging deep into the chest of the nearest vampire.
The sight of the two newcomers was enough to drive the vampires back. They fled without much more of a fight. Not that I could blame them. They weren’t equipped to fight a god. Let alone two.
“What the hell happened here?” Dani asked, coming up to embrace me. I hugged her back, wondering if it was my imagination or if I could feel her stomach protruding ever so slightly.
“Some really bad luck. I’m just glad we’d made arrangements to have you two pick us up after.”
“I was surprised to get your call,” Dani said, a bit of reprimand in her tone.
“You know why I don’t come to you if I can help it,” I said, looking at her.
Dani was tall and lean. She had gorgeous hair that hung halfway down her back and green eyes like mine, though hers were a darker, more olive color. If you asked her, she would say she was blocky and without curves, attributes of mine which she craved. But I looked at her and saw her lithe power—and wished I had her height.
The grass is always greener, I suppose.
“I amnotmade of glass,” Dani growled.
