Midnight's Kiss(50)

Fighting back tears, she tucked the gun into her waistband.

She might not be able to do anything for that long-ago young man, but she could by gods do something for him now.

When she had a good, strong grip on her stake, she strode forward.





Nine




The pack of ferals had thinned markedly. Now there were only thirty or so, but those would be the hardest thirty to kill. They were probably the strongest and the smartest of the pack, while she and Julian were at their most tired.

Standing to one side of the open gate, just out of reach, Melly watched them closely until one strained too far between the bars in an effort to grab her. She snatched its arm, hauled it hard against the bars and lunged forward to stake it.

At the same moment, one of the others darted forward to snatch at her. Fire exploded along her shoulder and upper arm, as it raked her with its talons. Shit, shit, shit. Clutching her shoulder, she stumbled back.

Goddammit, Melly — go back to the cell! Julian roared in her head. At the same moment, he lunged at the feral who had attacked her and tore its head from its shoulders. It vanished in a spray of dust.

Quickly, she inspected her new wounds. While they were painful, the deeper muscle underneath appeared to be undamaged. Experimentally, she flexed her arm. Ow, ow. It hurt like hell, but she could use it if she forced herself.

Don’t be a wimp, Melly. Suck it up.

The good news was, the scent of her fresh blood had attracted more ferals away from Julian.

(That was good news? Man, their lives needed to get better fast.)

She told Julian, I wonder when it’s going to occur to you that I’m never going to take any of your orders.

Turning his head briefly, his gaze fixed on her new injuries. He hissed at her before lunging into another whirlwind flurry of fighting.

The sight of him took her aback. Gods, he could be a scary-looking son of a bitch sometimes. Easily the most muscular and powerfully built of all the combatants, he looked every bit as feral as the Vampyres he fought. She was only glad he was on her side.

You’re already hurt again, he snapped.

So are you, she pointed out, exasperated.

One of the ferals was trying to inch behind Julian, its red gaze fixed on her. Ew, it was salivating.

With a massive kick, Julian launched its body into the air. It slammed into a wall and hit the ground, rolled over and started to stalk her again.

Adrenaline tried to dump into her bloodstream, and her body sneered at the effort. Finally, she had to face facts — she was cooked. It took serious concentration for her to remain on her feet, and she didn’t have the physical strength left to drive her stake into another Vampyre’s heart.

Oh, hell. Pulling out the gun, she shot the feral between the eyes, and it collapsed into dust.

I wondered what you were saving those two bullets for, Julian said.

I was trying to hold them in reserve in case Justine returned before we got out.

He told her, Better to use them now when we know we need them.

There was a pause in the battle. Five ferals remained, along with Julian and Melly. Everybody was injured. They all took stock of each other.

Damn it, Melly said. She took the last shot, and another feral vanished in a sprinkle of dust.

The remaining four ferals were the smartest ones of all. They edged back down one of the tunnels, red gazes fixed on Julian’s menacing figure.

“Oh, no you don’t,” he growled. He started after them.

Alarm pulsed. “Julian, no. Let them go.”

“I’ll be damned if I’ll creep through these tunnels wondering when they might come at our backs.” He tossed the keys at her. “Lock the gate.”

Her hands were too unsteady to catch them, and they fell at her feet.

He ran after the ferals and disappeared into the darkness.

This time, she didn’t have any choice but to obey him. She didn’t have the energy to run after them. Nor did she feel capable of guarding the open gate by herself if more ferals appeared.

More ferals?

The thought caused her to sag where she stood. After fumbling with the keys, she found the right one and locked the gate. Then she slid into a heap against the wall while she waited for him to return.

In the normal course of events, she didn’t have a single doubt that he could take all four of the ferals without breaking into a sweat. But he had been fighting for a long time. He was injured again, and before that he had been tortured and drained almost to death.

Closing her eyes, she huddled into herself and whispered, “He has to be okay. That’s all there is to it.”

The way he had kissed her earlier. She touched her lips with unsteady fingers, reliving the moment.

The world was full of beautiful, strong, wise women, but he had held her and kissed her like she was the only woman in the world. The only one. And she had kissed him back in just the same way, because for the last twenty years, he had been the only man.