The next moment, Simon was on the move. His hand found the crystal decanter, smashed it against the table edge, and drove the jagged neck into the vampire's throat before anyone could react.
The vampire gurgled, hands coming up to the wound. Blood—the expensive,ethically sourced blood—splashed everywhere.
"Simon!" Emerald shouted.
"Oh shit," Maya cursed, accurately summing up the situation.
Two of the other elder vampires lunged for Simon. But Simon grabbed a candlestick from the table's center and swung it in a wide arc that caught one in the temple.
Apparently, having had to surrender his weapons didn't meanshitto him. It seemed everything could be a weapon in Simon's hands.
And when the other elder got his hands on Simon's shoulders, Simon twisted and used the vampire's own momentum to slam him face-first into the wall.
In the meantime, the gray-suited vampire had pulled the glass from his throat, the wound already starting to close. He smiled, blood coating his teeth. "You fight like Reuben's boy. All rage, no?—"
Simon grabbed a chair and broke it over the vampire's head.
"That was antique!" Emerald protested, then quieted when she realized that was the least of their problems.
The vampire went down but rolled away from Simon's follow-up strike. Not dissuaded in the least, Simon dropped on top of him, hands finding his throat.
Charlie started forward, but Viktor caught his arm. "Don't get between him and?—"
A soft chime echoed through the room. Not the gentle meal chimes from before. This was an electronic, urgent sound.
A few seconds later, the dining room doors burst open. In came men in tactical gear, weapons drawn.
Organization hunters.
They were coming for Simon.
"Oh fuck," Charlie said, and his body made the decision before his brain could catch up.
One moment he was human, the next?—
Pop.
He was a rabbit.
"Did he just…" one of the hunters began.
Charlie did what he did best.
He panicked.
Which, unfortunately, meant he ran.
Straight at the hunters.
It was an objectively stupid idea, but it was all Charlie had. Also, braking wasn’t really an option at his current velocity.
The lead hunter had just raised his tranquilizer gun toward Simon when seven pounds of flailing bunny slammed into his ankles.
The hunter went down hard. His shot ricocheted off the ceiling lamp, which exploded dramatically.
"What the—WHY IS IT FAST?"
Charlie rebounded off the fallen hunter like a furry rubber ball, careened into a second hunter’s shin, slipped on his own momentum, accidentally clawed someone’s pant leg, and somehow launched himself directly onto another hunter’s face.
