Page 115 of High Stakes and Soulmates
I shoot the guy in the head who’s dragging me and roll up onto my feet before I try to rush back to Ezio, but a wall of vampires blocks my path. Anxiety tears through me as I’m forced to stop and face them.
I know I really,reallydidn’t want to be a werewolf, but right now… I think I could fucking enjoy being a werewolf because I can’t outrun them. But how the hell do I shift? And why the fuck didn’t I try to learn earlier? Julian could have helped me, or even Ezio. And instead, I’m just blindly running from the vampires,well aware that running is likely doing nothing when they could catch me at any moment. Are they just toying with me?
I turn and I seehim. I see Louis, and this time, I get a better look at him than the brief glance I’d gotten as he’d gone into Donovan’s office. But just as soon as I see him, others crowd around me. Fuck. I need to run. I need to get away.
A hand grabs me, yanking me back, and I whirl on them, planning on blowing a hole in their head.
“Shhh, it’s me. Fucking hell,” Joaquin says, squeezing me close as he presses up against a tree. “What part of this is staying out of it? I asked you to stay out of it. To let me… Fuck.”
Relief washes through me as I grab on to my brother. “Oh fuck, Joaquin.” I dig my fingers into his arm while I try to think about what to do. “We have to get back to Ezio and the others.”
“If Ezio and Casimir can’t kill them… what the fuck do you think I’m going to be able to do?” he asks. “I wish I’d have told RealLifeWoman6969 that I loved her.”
“Is this the time for a joke?” I demand.
“You have your phone?”
I grab my pocket and realize that at some point during all of that, my phone must have fallen out. “Fuck.”
“You know Ezio’s number? You can call him on mine. I can just… get you away and you can call him.”
“I don’t think you realize that they’re not going to let us get away,” I say as I quickly reload my gun and discover how much my fingers are trembling. Joaquin sets a gentle hand on my shoulder to reassure me. And when I see a vampire coming toward us, I realize that Joaquin doesn’t notice them. “Move!”
His attention snaps to them before he picks me up and rushes into the trees. “Why are there so many?”
“I don’t know,” I say as he keeps running.
A vampire slams into him, but he doesn’t lose his hold on me while he runs. And just when I’m afraid they’re going to catch up, I hear another explosion.
“Here, let’s use the distraction of the explosion to hide. I can’t outrun them. Maybe we can… I don’t know… hide or something? Maybe Ezio and Casimir will find us in here,” he says as he hurries over to a large warehouse. He pushes the door open, but before we can get inside, a vampire smashes into Joaquin. I fall from his arms and twist as I shoot them four times in the head.
Joaquin jerks back when their body hits the ground. “FUCK. Why the hell did you come here?” he asks me.
“Why did you?”
“I was just going to see what I could find. I didn’t know what the fuck else to do! I thought maybe someone would have heard something after last week’s attack.”
He drags me after him as we go farther into the storage warehouse. There are large shelving units that nearly reach the ceiling. We quickly move along them while anxiety eats at me.
“Come on. Come on,” Joaquin urges.
“They’re going to find us in here. They were probably pushing us toward this building.”
“We’re going to find a room to hole up in. We’re going to find one and… fuck if I know. Block the door? We have to stay safe long enough the others can get to us.” He hesitates and I look over at him.
“What? Did you hear something?”
“Come on,” he says. “It was nothing. Keep moving.”
“Joaquin, please, I can’t lose you, and this guy… he wants to kill me, not you. Can you please just go?”
His grip tightens on my wrist as he gives me a look of disbelief. “You really think I would just go? You think I’d just leave you here to be killed? I know I can’t do much, but I’m not going to leave you.”
I hear a noise and turn quickly, well aware someone is in here with us. Joaquin knows it too and is moving me as fast as he can to the far end of the warehouse. The person is rushing between the shelves, but we’re stuck on a long aisle with no way to go but forward. Joaquin grabs me and starts running as the sound of their footsteps follows us. If it’s only one person, maybe Joaquin and I can kill them.
Unless it’s Louis.
Unless it’s the man that even Ezio is afraid he can’t kill.
