“Let’s move!” Carter shouted and everyone did.
“Goddamn you!” I shrieked and clawed at his body as I kicked at his back. “Don’t do this. I don’t know what I need to do! Put me down. Right now!”
Carter replied, “We’ll figure it out.”
“Figure it out, my ass! Put me the fuck down!”
“You should think about this,” Goose yelled from the doorway. “You’re playing with fire.”
Carter climbed into the back of the van, heedless of Goose’s warning, and someone closed the doors. The engine cranked, gears were shifted, and the vehicle took off. I fought Carter with everything I had as he shifted me in his lap, landing a solid fist to his jaw and a few heel-kick blows to his shins. The space was limited, and he held me so closely I couldn’t get good distance, but his grunts and curses were music to my ears.
I was not taking this shit anymore.
I arched my back and lifted my head.
We were chest-to-chest, hip to hip. He met my livid stare, and I smiled as I jackknifed my head, creating as much force as I could in the limited space, and sent my forehead barreling toward his nose with all my strength. The satisfying sound of bone giving way, as well as his outraged cry, made the you-had-that-coming-asshole angels sing. But the icing on the cake was the slack in his arms, giving me just enough freedom to make a break for it.
One of the men at his left lunged for me, and I rushed for the empty passenger seat. It wasn’t easy to scramble over the legs in my path. Another male tried to grasp me, and I brought my knee up to deck him in the chin. He fell back, giving me room.
It was just the window of opportunity I needed.
I jumped into the passenger seat and grasped the door handle. Just before I pushed the door open, I said a hasty prayer. Looking ahead, there were no cars in my path, just concrete.
Nothing like road rash.
This was going to hurt like hell.
I jumped from the van and rolled as I landed, taking the impact on elbows, knees and my chin as I collided against the cruel, unforgiving asphalt. The sound of squealing brakes brought me out of a fetal position. I scurried to my feet and took off in the opposite direction. The sun was low on the horizon. Soon the sky would be a beautiful orange hue. When that happened, vampires would be able to venture from their domiciles.
If I could make it back to Goose, I had a chance.
Unlike the barren city we’d traveled through in the van, people now blocked my path. I shouldered past them with what sounded like a bull stampede on my heels. Once more, the pendant resting against my chest went warm, then hot. Ghosts appeared, some so hazy they had to have died decades prior. They turned to me and became solid and, as they did, I felt energy surging through my body as it had in the library.
An arm looped around my waist and lifted me off my feet.
I decided to use the same tactic I’d employed in the van on Carter, but in reverse. I hiked my head forward and slammed it back. The solid crack of bone meeting bone—and a loudly roared “fuck”—soon followed. Once free and on my feet again, I hauled ass.
“How the hell is she running so fast?” a deep voice grumbled from behind me.
“I don’t know,” Carter snarled at my back.
Fuck!
I pushed harder—legs pumping, muscles quaking—and made a sharp right onto another, more populated street. Buildings that were once residences were now various shops with window signs. A few booths were spaced out here and there, providing obstacles I used to my advantage.
Or so I thought.
The crashing noises behind me indicated Carter and his pack of hounds were demolishing the things in their path. Screams from confused and terrified shoppers drowned out the sounds of shattering wood, glass and God knows what else.