Nick watched as Atl pulled out a gun and shot two of the teenagers who were trying to seize her. Her gun emptied, she tossed it away, then turned around and evaded one of Rodrigo’s goons. As a Tlāhuihpochtli Atl simply did not possess the greater strength of a Necros. But what Atl might not pack in strength, she made up for in speed. It was not impossible for a human to take her down in her current state, but it wasn’t that easy, either. And the man trying to get a good shot at her now was woefully unprepared.
She yanked his rifle out of his hands and blew his head off with a single shot.
Nick’s nostrils flared, the whiff of blood making him salivate. They were doing it wrong, bunch of amateurs.
“I don’t care,” Nick said, shoving Rodrigo away. “You want something done right you do it yourself.”
“Nick, you asshole!”
He gave Rodrigo the finger and headed straight toward Atl, snatching a stun baton from the nervous hands of one of Rodrigo’s goons.
Man, he was going to have fun. She saw him approaching and her eyes narrowed in recognition.
Yeah, bitch. It’s me again.
“Hey,” he told her. “How’ve you been? Long time no see, you cocksucking whore.”
CHAPTER
26
The moment Nick stepped forward, Atl knew things were about to get very messy. Humans were one thing. A vampire was quite another. She was really in no state to fight anybody, with just a bit of that girl’s blood coursing through her body. Atl was running on adrenaline and bravado, and both of these were evaporating, fast.
“Hey,” he told her. “How’ve you been? Long time no see, you cocksucking whore.”
“Fuck yourself with your glow stick,” she shot back.
Nick leapt toward her, slamming the stun baton in the direction of her head. Atl barely had time to raise the rifle and repel the blow with the weapon. Nick was strong, damn strong, and she felt the strength of his blow as it hit the rifle’s barrel.
She spotted a young man creeping behind her and shot him smack in the chest, jumping back as Nick lowered the baton a second time, missing her by a couple of inches.
She kept backing away, realizing she was getting dangerously close to a wall, while Nick tried to make contact with the baton. She darted to the left and took quick aim at Nick, shooting him in the chest, but he kept coming toward her as though she hadn’t shot him at all.
The vampire growled, opening his mouth and showing her multiple rows of razor-sharp teeth, like a shark’s. He flipped the baton from one hand to the other, eager to get closer to her.
“Tired yet?” he asked.
“Not yet,” she whispered, and jumped up into the air. She slammed her foot on Nick’s head and landed behind him with a grunt.
Nick turned and took a swipe at her, but Atl evaded him and hit him with the butt of the rifle, giving it all she had. The blow was enough to send Nick staggering back. Atl charged forward, ready to smash his head into a pulp.
A shot rang, then another, and she felt the bullets bite into her flesh. Atl hissed, flipping around to see the Jackal standing behind her. She kicked him and he flew against the crates, his gun spilling from his hands and rattling against the floor. When she turned around to face Nick, he was inches from her and the baton made contact with her neck.
The electric shock was excruciating. Her whole body vibrated and her hands opened spasmodically. She let go of the rifle, the weapon tumbling to the floor.
Nick raised the baton. Someone shot at her, just to make it even worse, and she gurgled, saliva and blood mingling in her mouth. She spat it out, felt the blood dribble down her chin.
“Who told you I needed help, you twat?!” Nick yelled angrily, turning toward whoever had shot. “Hold your fire, I’m enjoying myself!”
Atl raised her clawed hand and took a swipe at Nick’s leg. He yelped and she jumped up, pulling the stun baton from his hands. Before she could hit him with it, he roared, tackling her so hard she thought he’d broken her spine.
Breathless, she lay on the floor beneath him. He grabbed her head with both hands, slamming it against the floor. She could hardly breathe, but she forced herself to raise her hands and clawed him in the face, trying to go for the eyes. He snarled and bit one of her hands, his serrated fangs digging into her flesh. It felt like having her fingers caught in a bear trap. Atl tried to shove him off, but the teeth seemed to sink deeper in, until she finally managed to hit him in the head, at which point he let go.
Her chest was burning from the exertion and she panicked, thinking she might pass out. He probably had the same thought, because he smiled down at her, his white, sharp teeth making for a terrifying grin.
“Ready to give up?” he asked. “Should I hit you again?”
“Go to hell,” she said, the taste of her own blood filling her mouth, and she had to spit again.
“And I thought we were starting to get along.” Nick stood up, grabbed the stun baton, and promptly tumbled to his knees as Cualli began savaging his legs. Nick shrieked, trying to kick the dog away.
Atl reached for the rifle she’d dropped and pressed the trigger, blowing a good chunk of his jaw off with the shot. The vampire blinked and opened what remained of his mouth, massive amounts of blood dripping down his face. He began to shriek so loudly she pressed her hands against her ears.