I sighed and looked at my friends. “Well, let’s go see.”
What did a vampire fight even look like? I was torn between the mental image of fancy men waving hankies at each other and slapping each other with gloves and something more animalistic.
I just hoped that we didn’t end up as collateral damage.
TWENTY-ONE
Emma
We ran outsideto total chaos. Vampires ran around everywhere fighting one another. Most of the people that had been in the meeting were fighting tooth and nail against what looked like a bunch of roided up football players. I was instantly aware of the fact that the big vampires, who hadn't been in the meeting were the aggressors.
"Back inside!" Daniel shouted, whirling around, he yanked on the door, but nothing happened.
Beside us, a vampire hit the wall. He shook himself, looked at Daniel, and sneered, "Shifter!" Before launching himself at Daniel.
We gasped as they fought, taking a step back. But all around us was fighting. There was no safe place to go.
"Inch toward the truck!" Daniel shouted, breaking the vampire's arm as the big man wailed.
Inch toward the truck? Okay, got it. We can do that.
I turned away from him, trying to have faith that he could handle himself. If he thought he was okay fighting, I had to assume he knew what he was doing. So, instead, I stayed close to my friends, all of whom looked more than a little freaked out. But in front of us was a sea of warring vampires. And, I knew. We wouldn't be getting out of here safely, at least not without a little help from karma.
So, I let my magic flow. Karma. In all its glory.
The first man I turned my magic on slipped, seemingly on nothing, and went flying across the floor before crashing into the side of the club. Another big guy sucker punched a woman. My mouth curled and I focused my powers on him. He shrieked, literally shrieked, and I realized that he'd peed himself. He looked down at himself, then went running out of the parking lot.
Another man was just running through the crowd, punching the older vampires left and right while laughing. A woman stepped into his path and hit him right back, knocking him down onto the pavement. He snarled and leapt to his feet, but I directed my magic at him.
A minute later, he began to vomit. And vomit. And vomit.
People cleared away from him, and I saw the woman look back at me with a smirk. She knew darn well what I did, while the big guy rushed off to behind the building, where I was pretty sure he'd be puking until he was drive heaving.
But that's what you get when you act like a jerk!
In the midst of all the chaos, I caught sight of Jeffrey, one of the vampires Vance had me looking into at that dinner party. I hadn’t seen him or heard anything about him since then, but his voice rose above the rest.
“You’re all fools if you consider this idea,” he yelled, his face bright red as he screamed at the crowd.
Oh, boy. Was this idiot on the side of all the big guys? Did he really feel so passionately that vampires should be Turned younger that he'd start fighting like an animal in the middle of a parking lot?
Vampires, it seemed, were unexpected in many ways. Rather than just being blood-suckers, they seemed to have families, loyalty, and a desire for things to run smoothly among their people. And at the same time, just like humans, they had idiots among them that didn't seem to understand logic.
Was it because Jeffrey was young for a vampire? I wasn't sure. Maybe he was just a fool. I guess I could ask someone later.
My friends formed a tighter circle around us as the fighting continued. I inched them toward Daniel's truck, realizing that our group diving into this chaos was not a good deal. Not one bit. I should have asked Dreven more questions. I should have made certain we were ready for anything and everything.
Beside me, Beth threw a bottle that shattered between two fighting vampires. Instantly, they both got a weird look on their faces and fell down, seemingly fast asleep. Carol was murmuring a spell I could barely make out on my other side, and suddenly, one of the giant vampire's pants fell down. He glanced down, and it was just enough time to give the guy he was fighting a chance to shove him down to the ground.
"Come on you freaking losers!" Jeffrey shouted. "We're bigger! We're stronger! Teach them a damn lesson!"
Unfortunately, the jerks that were attacking listened. They seemed to take this little fight of theirs to a whole new level, shouting and punching and shoving even harder than before. Vampires everywhere were hissing, flashing their fangs. One vampire leapt onto the back of one of the huge ones and tore into his throat. The big vampire reached behind him and threw the vampire off.
All around us, more fangs came out. More blood. It was like whatever rules of civility they were practicing a moment ago had gone out the window.
My heart raced. This was not good. Our truck seemed way too far away. Maybe we needed to take another route to get out of here. But everywhere I looked, there were more and more vampires. So, I guess, our only choice was to keep going.
A second later, several fighting vampires nearly plowed Carol, Beth, and me over. A shriek escaped my lips as I pulled my friends closer, hating myself for putting them in danger. Knowing I'd never forgive myself if they got hurt.
