He didn't want to leave his hiding spot, hereallydidn't want to, but Simon needed him.
With a surge of terror-fueled courage, he bolted from his hiding spot, zigzagging across the open ground toward Viktor's car.
"There it is!" one of the two hunters who'd remained behind shouted. "Nine o'clock!"
A dart whizzed past Charlie's ear, but his powerful back legs propelled him in erratic leaps, making him a difficult target. Another dart hit the ground where he'd been a split second before.
"Don't damage it!" the hunter yelled. "We need the bunny alive!"
Charlie reached the car and dove underneath.
The hunters approached quickly, one on either side.
Charlie's heart hammered so hard he thought it might burst from his chest.
"Come out, little vampire," one hunter cooed, kneeling to peer under the car. "We just want to?—"
The man's words cut off as Viktor appeared behind him, slamming his head into the car's frame with a sickening crack. Before the second hunter could react, Viktor had relieved him of his weapon and delivered a blow to his throat, dropping him to the ground gasping.
"Move, Charlie!" Viktor yanked open the car door.
Charlie shot out from under the vehicle, allowing Viktor to scoop him up and toss him inside. Viktor slid behind the wheel and got the engine running.
Just as shouts erupted from the main building, he reversed the car. Through the windshield, Charlie saw hunters pouring out, weapons raised.
Viktor threw the car into drive, tires spitting gravel. "Hold on to your tail."
The car lurched forward, accelerating hard down the driveway. Charlie tumbled across the seat, his small body lacking the weight to stay in place. He ended up wedged between the seat and door as Viktor swerved to avoid the first volley of darts.
Gunshots cracked behind them. Not tranquilizers now but real bullets. The back window exploded, raining glass across the interior. Charlie squealed, pressing himself smaller against the door.
"Apparently they're willing to damage youa little," Viktor remarked with unnerving calm, taking the first curve so fast the car nearly went on two wheels. "Good news is they care more about Simon than us."
Charlie's mind raced with rabbit-fast thoughts. Simon. Captured. The bond muffled but still there. He had to get back to human form. Had to think. Had to?—
Another shot pinged off the car's frame. Viktor swerved, taking them off-road and into the trees that lined the property.
"Shifting would be really helpful right now," Viktor called over the engine's roar and the branches scraping against metal. "No pressure."
But pressure was exactly what Charlie felt, crushing him into this panicked, useless form. All those vampires at the retreat… they'd seemed so normal, so accepting. And it had all been a lie. Another place where Charlie didn't belong.
The car burst from the treeline onto a narrow service road. Viktor accelerated again, putting distance between them and their pursuers.
Charlie closed his eyes, trying to focus through the terror. Simon needed him. Viktor needed him. He couldn't stay a rabbit forever.
He thought of Simon. Not Simon the hunter, but Simon who'd saved him from the roof. Simon who'd chosen Charlie over everything he believed. Simon with his sparse apartment and his sushi with cucumber. Simon's mouth on his, Simon's hands cradling his face like Charlie was something to hold on to.
A tingling started in Charlie's paws. Then his ears. A stretching sensation that was almost painful but also right. He fought against the rabbit brain's frantic signals to stay hidden, to stay small.
"I'm not prey," Charlie thought fiercely. "I'm a vampire, and Simon needs me."
Between one heartbeat and the next, the tingling became a wave of transformation. Fur receded. Limbs lengthened. His consciousness expanded beyond rabbit survival instincts.
Charlie flopped awkwardly across the passenger seat, naked and disoriented but human-shaped again.
"Oh thank god," he gasped, his voice rough. "I couldn't—I was stuck—Oh no, I'm naked."
"You are indeed," Viktor said, reaching behind him to grab a duffle bag from the back seat. He tossed it to Charlie. "Clothes."
