Page 32 of Cursed to Be Mine
A horrible wrenching sound ruptures above us as the roof of the car is peeled back like a mere page being turned in a book. A werewolf’s head lunges down, and I instinctively grab Detective Henry, pulling him in front of me as Scarlett manages to wedge herself in the front seat. His screams increase in volume as he’s yanked out of the top of the car. Blood splatters around me, a waterfall of red bits that soak my clothes and mat my hair. The wolf on the roof of the van howls before jumping up and down, flinging bits of Henry everywhere. Metallic iron explodes in my mouth and nose until it’s all I can focus on.
The car shakes.
Glass shatters.
Scarlett screams.
Fumbling around in the footwell, I search for my Sig.
My fingers brush cold metal.
The monitors play a slasher flick of the other team north of the city, but my focus is drawn to my daughter. A naked man is on the hood of the car, down on his hands and knees, his fingers digging into the black paint. His teeth flash a bloody smile. His laughter rips into my chest and clenches around my heart.
His golden eyes are pinned on Scarlett as she fumbles to put the key in the ignition.
Punching through the windshield, he grabs hold of her hand. “Let’s have some fun, shall we?”
I grab the gun and jerk upright, but by the time I’m ready to line up a shot, my little girl is being draggedthrough the glass. He throws her out behind him, and I scramble forward as he turns. Athudvibrates the ground as she cries out in pain and fear.
Bang!
My gun goes off.
The man turns to me in slow motion. The very air, sound itself stills as he swivels his head, one arm out in my direction, blood pouring down his body from bullet wounds already healed. Holding my gaze, he smiles. Then opens his fist and down drops my bullet.
What the – A werewolf shouldn’t be that fast. That strong.
I pull the trigger again, aiming for his heart.
He appears a few feet to the left, his speed too fast to track even in his human form. Trembling, I jerk my arm to line up another shot, but before I can get him in my sights, someone grabs me from above.
I’m yanked up on a scream. The ragged jaws of the van’s roof cut into my side, and I flinch instinctively from the metal. Pain flaring across my body, I dig my fingers into the arm holding my hair. A teeth-filled face fills my own, but as the werewolf’s breath reeks across my cheeks and its jaws open to close around my throat, I shove my gun into its chin and pull the trigger.
Brains splatter across my face as I fall back into the van. The edge of the seat digs hard into my tortured side, making my eyes roll as a scream leaves me.
From my blurred peripheral, I see a charred monster fully crawl out of the rearview mirror.
Hope of survival abandons me as I struggle to breathe through the pain.
But Scarlett’s scream keeps me rooted in the moment. Keeps me fighting despite the lure of a pain-free sleep.
Dragging myself to the front of the van, I look out the open windshield.
And my entire world. My entire reason for fighting, for living, for creating a better future, vanishes as I watch the man rip off the last of his skin as he finishes transforming into his wolf. I raise my gun, but I already know it’s too late.
I’m too late to save her.
With a speed I could never hope to match, the monster drops down on my daughter, his jaws opening around her skull.
The creature from the mirror rushes towards me, its maggot-ridden fingers grazing my cheek as I fire bullet after bullet at the werewolf.
A broken scream ruptures from my lips as his teeth close around –
Air?
Flung off her by a force I can’t fathom, the werewolf spins, hitting a tree and cracking it in two. The thundering break is like another gunshot. He hits the tree behind it, then drops to the ground with a growl.
His muscles bulging, he climbs to his feet as two unnatural shadows dart across the ground.
