fifteen
LiamandItooka step backward as the sentinel ripped his left leg out of the building, sending chunks of brick and plaster flying. Next came his right. It tore free with a harsh grinding sound that I knew was going to feature heavily in my next nightmare.
Unencumbered by the restriction of concrete and steel, the sentinel took a wobbly step. His second was a little steadier. By the third, he was moving faster.
Liam grabbed my arm, tugging me in his wake. “Don’t look back. Just run.”
There was a heavy thud behind us, making me forget Liam’s warning as the ground under our feet trembled. I chanced one last glance over my shoulder as we rounded the corner and wished I hadn’t.
Hope was a fragile thing that was easily destroyed. And seeing the sentinel drop to all fours and lope after us like a damn cheetah killed the illusion that we could outrun this thing.
We finished rounding the corner, the building acting as a barrier against that disturbing sight. At least for a short time.
I heard the heavy fall of its footsteps chasing us as I raced after Liam, following him down one street and then the next. We couldn’t go back to Liam’s car with the sentinel and hunters waiting between it and us.
That left only forward and onward.
Behind us, the sentinel barreled onto our street with the same creaking, cracking noise as before. Like the kind rock made when the earth exerted incredible pressure on it.
“Move!” Liam tackled me, rolling us out of the way as the creature exploded past. It collided with a store front at the end of the street.
Liam and I didn’t wait to see it shake itself free before we were up and sprinting down another street in an effort to lose the sentinel.
Gunfire opened up as we crossed an intersection.
I dodged as Liam burst past me. He reached the first hunter, grabbing his arm and shoving it in the direction of one of his companions as the gun went off.
There was a scream and then the crisp scent of blood.
Before the third could react, I reached him. I slapped the gun out of his hands. The protest he made was cut off as I punched him in the throat.
He choked, dropping to his knees.
In the intervening silence, it took a second to process that the confrontation was over and that none of the three hunters were in any shape to continue the fight.
As my adrenaline faded, I realized the three were different than the ones who had ambushed us earlier.
“How many of you did they send after us?” I muttered.
Shouts from the end of the street warned me that we were out of time and that these guys weren’t alone.
“Liam, that’s enough feeding. We have to go,” I ordered, heading toward a brick pathway that cut between two buildings. I hesitated to call it an alleyway because it was clear it had been created intentionally. An arch hung over it with fancy planters framing either side of the space.
Liam’s mouth and chin were covered in blood as he lifted his face from the neck of the hunter he’d grabbed. He curled his lip at the sight of the humans pounding toward him.
For a moment, I feared he wouldn’t listen and would go on the attack instead. A vampire’s instinct was to fight rather than retreat. And normally, I wouldn’t stand in his way, but with that wound he was in no shape to tangle with an unknown number of hunters.
I took a step toward him. “Don’t you dare. There will be plenty of time for that later.”
He scrubbed a hand over his mouth, wiping away the traces of blood. “But it’s so much more satisfying when they struggle.”
“See—this is why I sometimes lie awake questioning my life decisions.”
“I am a vampire. This behavior is natural for us,” Liam defended.
A car embedded itself in the glass frontage a few stores down from me. A human flew through the air after it. Their scream was cut short with a meaty thunk.
The hunters that had been locked on us, shifted their attention to the sentinel.
