“And those who do,” Antonio came into view, “are being attacked by those who haven’t fully returned to themselves. Silly monsters, they’re harmless. Ugly as—”
“They’re venomous,” Rachel said, and someone, I assumed Ivan, scooped me up.
“Lea, do you need to feed?” Ivan tipped me so I could look at him. I tried to shake my head, but nothing happened. Damn it. I didn’t think feeding would help, but I wasn’t sure what would.
“She’s full up,” Rachel snapped. “Is there any antidote left?”
“Drops.” Antonio shook his pack, and the smallest sloshing noise was audible. Ivan put me down and ripped the tank in half. This was intolerable, being the weakest one of the group, dependent on someone else to save me.
“Welcome to the club,” Rachel muttered. I shot a look at her. I’d never thought of her as weak. She gave me a tight smile.
Slow as molasses in February, but not weak.
“Keep it up, we can always leave you behind,” she snapped, but there was no real heat behind the words. Ivan grunted. “If you two are done.” He held up the bottom half of the broken tank of antidote. Antonio grabbed my head and forced my jaws open. “If it works on the skin, this might make it work faster.”
His gaze stayed fixed on my fangs as Ivan poured the remainder of the antidote into my mouth, making sure to get some on my skin. My throat convulsed, the liquid sticky sweet and tasting faintly like melons, of all things.
“That’s all of it. Now we wait.” Antonio let go of me, dropping me the short distance to the ground so my head bounced a little.
Ivan snarled and the two men were suddenly nose to nose. I glanced at Rachel as best I could. Apparently we weren’t the only ones who sometimes had difficulty getting along.
“Boys,” Rachel snapped. “Perhaps you can have your pissing contest another day? The sun is almost up, and we’ve got to get under cover.”
Lying on the ground, I felt the wolves pounding toward us before I heard them. Werewolves. I all but screamed the word in my head.
Rachel’s head snapped around and her hand came up with a gun. Two shots fired off. Ivan hit the ground beside me, three of the twisted half-dead werewolves on him.
And I could do nothing to help them.
CHAPTER 38
RACHEL
The werewolves had us surrounded, but there were only six this time and they seemed most interested in Ivan. Several were attacking him at once.
I pushed the crying girl behind me as I shot off several rounds, stopping a werewolf that was headed straight for Lea and me while Antonio shot the two who had knocked him to the ground. “I hate these fuckers,” I mumbled as I turned my weapon on one of Ivan’s attackers and fired. But they were moving so quickly it took several shots for me to kill one. Ivan killed another with his bare hands.
That left one zombified werewolf for the men to handle, allowing me to give my attention to another pressing matter.
The little girl clung to my leg, her crying subdued as she watched the werewolves in horror. I pried her arms from my legs, saying in Arabic, “We will keep you safe.”
She nodded, staring at me with terror-filled eyes.
I only hoped I hadn’t lied to her.
I squatted beside Lea, checking for signs the antidote was working. But she remained unmoving, her eyes dull and blank as they stared up into the last stars before dawn. Her reaction to a few simple scratches scared the crap out of me. I thought of her as invincible. I sure as hell didn’t think one of those awkward creatures in the village could kill her.
The moans still filled the night behind us, but screams now joined them. I felt sick to my stomach. I hope Stravinsky’s heart got pierced by a stainless steel beam.
I’m sure he got out. He’s on the loose.
I shot her a glare, letting anger overcome my fear. It was an easier emotion to stomach. “Then you better get your ass off the ground and help me find the son of a bitch. Stravinsky isn’t going to get away with this.”
“So happy to hear you agree,” a woman with a thick accent said in the darkness.
I jumped to my feet and lifted my gun, unsure of what I was aiming at, keeping the child behind me.
Vampire was Lea’s thought.
“Shit,” I muttered.
Antonio pulled out his blade, but I kept my gun aimed in the darkness.
A yelp came from the last werewolf as Ivan ripped the top of its head off and tossed it down in front of him. “Friends of yours?” he asked in disgust.
“My welcome committee,” the woman said.
That surprised me. From what little I knew, vampires and werewolves usually hated each other.
They do. They are pets.
Since these weren’t genuine werewolves, it made sense that a vampire would use them to do her dirty work.