Page 29 of Don't Bite The Boss
“Tristan’s note said I should ‘try not to kill you’ I mutter, “and I’ve only managed that by not having anything to do with you in the last six months. So, I’d suggest you keep your teenage prattle to yourself and focus on the task at hand.”
“I’ll do what I want,” she sniggers, “you can’t hurt me.”
“Do you know how long it takes for a vampire’s fangs to grow back if they are pulled out?” I swivel and stare at her, my own fangs down, eyes narrowing.
“Vampires heal,” she shrugs.
“Fifty years,” I hiss, “so unless you want to be drinking from a sippy cup for the rest of your youth, I’d suggest you shut the fuck up now.”
“Jeeze,” she rolls her eyes and flicks her blonde hair, “chillax.”
“I’ll ‘chillax’ when I’ve killed all these minions and freed your uncle,” I growl, “now for Christ’s sake, zip it so I can think.”
“I’ve got an idea,” she quips.
“Oh, Jesus, thrill me,” I snort.
But actually, her plan is pretty solid.
The fuel tanker does a little more damage than I had anticipated – a lot more actually, after a few nail-biting minutes of waiting for its engine to start, a bunny hop, restart, and finally a rather strange and erratic drive into the hangar.
As I see Valerie dive from the truck, it hits the interior of the hangar and the row of fuel barrels stacked just inside, causing an explosion of massive proportions, and I run towards the plane. Even though she very nearly destroyed the jet holding the man I love, three of the vampires are taken out in the explosion leaving, to my estimation, five to dispatch.
I know I need to get up the stairs and kill the two vampires standing guard outside the door, that is my only thought at this stage. Valerie is on her own now, I’m trusting her to get on top of the plane and hide until I absolutely need her.
Running at a speed no human could absorb, I hurtle towards the jet, the hot wind from the explosion searing the skin down one side of my face and one bare arm, but not slowing me. The guards, however, are not as stupid as I had hoped and see me before I breach the stairs.
They have the advantage of height and automatic weapons, and I don’t see the latter coming as one fires at me and two bullets, thankfully not silver, manage to get me, one in the stomach and one in the thigh, before I rip the gun from his hand. Normally, now would be a good opportunity to get in a few quick ninja moves and dispatch them with ease, but I’m at the top of a small metal stairwell. Behind them is the door, and behind me, well, quite a fall if you are not prepared for it.
I hit the ground with a thud, the wind momentarily knocked out of me, and blood loss beginning to set in, and flick straight back to my feet, swaying where I stand. The gut shot would be a killing blow if I were human, and as it is, I know time is not on my side before I collapse. I will heal, but it will likely take weeks, providing I get some medical care in time.
Right now though, I’m running on adrenalin and rage, and I don’t consider the possibility that I might fail in my task to rescue Tristan.
Thankfully, Valerie jumps from her perch on top of the plane without me asking, landing on the back of the one aiming his gun at me for a second time and ripping his throat out with her teeth.
I stagger up the stairs and rip the arm off the second as he grapples with her, but he is strong, and I see he doesn’t know who she is, obviously has no instructions to take her alive, right as he pushes his hand into her chest cavity.
Whipping out my gun, I blow his head off with one of Tristan’s silver bullets and manage to push Valerie off the steps and onto the tarmac, just as I’m grabbed by a female vampire with extraordinary strength, and a silver chain is wrapped around my throat.
“Gotcha,” she laughs, “struggling will make it tighter.”
She pulls hard, and I choke as I whip my arms behind me, attempting to poke them into her body and rip out something vital. I pant as smoke begins to rise from my throat and enter my nose, and my ears start to ring as the flesh around my neck begins to melt. She is strong, much stronger than me.
I cease my struggles momentarily and withdraw my fingers from her ribcage as I reach for my gun, but realise, too late, that I must have dropped it when she first came upon me. The pain from the chain is now intense, and I can’t breathe. I can barely think, and casting my eyes around, I see no way of using anything as a weapon as she begins to drag me back inside the jet. I see Valerie is lying still where she fell onto the tarmac, a massive hole in her chest. I know her assailant didn’t manage to take her heart, but still, such a wound for someone so young...
“I need to stop this,” I croak.
“Yes, quit playing around,” Tristan’s voice says in my ear as I feel the pressure of the silver chain ease.
I stand still, panting, wanting to scream at the pain, as he unwinds the chain from my throat and some of my skin goes with it. Turning, I open my mouth to issue a warning, but my throat is so badly hurt no sound comes out as another female vampire jumps towards him.
Still standing on the body of the one who had initially chained me, he spins, does a backflip and decapitates the new foe with a flick of his wrist, his watch evidently birthing a curved silver blade about half the circumference of a baseball.
As I watch her fall, incredulous at the move he just pulled, the earth begins to spin a little, and I reach for him.
‘He and I are going to have a serious talk when this is all over about where he learned to move like that. Why is everything turning red?’
“Steady now,” he smiles, wrapping his arm around my waist, “I think there are about six more yet.”
