“Bitch,” she rasped, knocking me backwards with her elbow. She then jumped back off of Duncan, who was coughing and sputtering, and went after me.
“No!” I screamed, running away. Soon I was moving so fast that I felt as light as a feather. I imagined myself flying over the trees and before I realized what was happening, I actually was.
“Miranda!” raged Faye, coming up behind me. She grabbed my waist and both of us went tumbling down back towards the trees until we landed in a field of snow.
“Help!” I screamed, as she landed on top of me and held me down with her body.
She smiled in triumph. “You can’t escape me,” she said in a raspy voice. “Roamer or not. You’re just weak and pitiful.”
Just then I saw a flash of movement and Faye screamed out in anger as Duncan landed on her back and began beating the top of her head with his fists. She released her hold on me and grabbed one of his arms.
“Enough games,” she growled, snapping his wrist. “Now, you will die.” She hopped off of me, turned, and grabbed him by the neck, lifting him up into the air.
“Duncan!” I choked, trying to hit her so she’d let go.
“Oh, I do love the blood of a Roamer,” she rasped.
Realizing what she was about to do, I jumped onto her back and began beating her with my fists.
But it was like beating on a steel door.
She knocked me down and then pulled his throat to her mouth, impaling him with her long fangs. I watched in horror as she ripped his throat apart, spraying blood all over the white snow.
“No!!!” I howled in anguish as his eyes rolled back into his skull and his body went limp. I jumped back onto her rough, scaly back and wrapped my hands around her reptilian throat. With all my might, I squeezed until she finally released Duncan.
“Your turn,” she rasped, flying backwards. She slammed me back against a tree and I slid off of her.
“Oh…” I groaned in pain.
“Now,” she said, turning around to stare down at me where I lay, trying to catch my breath. “This party is over.”
I looked past her and my breath caught in my throat as I stared at the shadowed figure getting ready to pounce.
Faye attempted to turn around but it was too late, Ethan wrapped his hands around her throat, snapped her neck like a stick and then sunk his teeth into her scaly green skin. I watched as he drained her of all of her blood and then tossed her body aside.
“You’re alive,” I sobbed as he took me into his arms. “I can’t believe it.”
He kissed the top of my head and pulled me in tighter. “Thank God you are, too. Good thing I heard all the commotion when I was flying past.”
“How did you make it?” I asked, looking into his ice blue eyes.
He stared down at me. “The bloody cloth you left near my mouth started the process. I wouldn’t have survived if not for that.”
It was then that I remembered Duncan. I pulled away from Ethan and ran over to where he lay, staring lifelessly up at the stars.
“Duncan,” I choked, kneeling down next to his still form. There was so much blood running out of his neck and his cheek was ice cold. “Please don’t die,” I whispered, running my hand through his hair. I closed his eyes and kissed his forehead.
Ethan stood over us. “He won’t die,” he said. “If you can get him to feed.”
I looked up at him. “How?”
Ethan sighed. “Open his mouth,” he said.
I spread Duncan’s lips apart and watched as Ethan knelt down next to us. He opened up his wrist and allowed his blood to trickle down to Duncan’s lips. “I can’t believe I’m doing this,” he said, squeezing his wrist to get more out.
“Thank you,” I said.
“You can thank me later,” he answered with a twinkle in his eye.
Duncan’s eyes started to twitch, and within seconds, his throat began to form new patches of skin. Eventually, Ethan was able to place his wrist against Duncan’s mouth and he was able to feed on his own.
“I can do it if you’re getting too weak,” I said to Ethan, who appeared to grow paler by the second.
Ethan shook his head. “Nobody is feeding from you,” he said gruffly.
Duncan’s eyes slowly opened and he stared in confusion at Ethan. “No,” he mumbled, pushing his wrist away.
“Duncan, don’t be like that. Ethan just saved your life,” I whispered. I noticed that most of the wound on his neck was already healed when he stood up.
“Where is she?” he asked, his voice hoarse.
“Dead,” I said, motioning towards Faye’s body.
“Are you sure about that?” asked Duncan, stumbling toward it. “Apparently, being dead around here doesn’t last.”
Ethan laughed. “It’s a good thing for you.”
Duncan turned to him. “Is it?”
Ethan rolled his eyes.
“You need more blood,” I said to Duncan.
He bent forward and spit out some kind of bloody phlegm. “Yeah,” he agreed. “I suppose I do. What then?”
“Well, I’m still going to Vegas to search for my mom and brother,” I answered.
“You still want my company?” asked Duncan.