“Under ten minutes. Vice’s team should be there in five, and Kase another twenty. What’s going on?”
Swallowing, I rattle off the plan. I don’t put a block in place to save me from his panic making me doubt myself, even though I can’t afford anything short of total confidence right now. It’s been too damn long without him, and I’ll happily take his rage and fear if it means that I can feel him again.
Beck mentally shouts as he’s tearing up the steps and I meet him at the door. He’s covered in a spray of blood, none of it his thankfully, but he’s breathing pretty heavily. He made it back unscathed though, and I intend to keep him that way.
“Sink.”
I gesture with my hammer and he sighs at the impending relief, dipping his head beneath the running faucet and drinking his fill of fresh water for the first time in days. By the time he’s done, so am I, and I swipe an arm over my sweaty face, tossing the hammer on the table.
“You ready for this?”
The look he gives me is full of such love and fear that it almost talks me out of it, but feeling Kasen’s voice in the recesses of his mind as he finally comes within range only solidifies my confidence that we can do this. They’re close. We don’t need to do everything, we just need to get the ball rolling and hold down the fort until backup arrives.
“No, I am not ready for you to be bait,” Beck snaps, taking my hand as I unlock the door and start walking down the porch steps into the clearing. “Only person that gets to eat you is me, babe.”
A startled laugh slips out, wildly inappropriate when facing the carnage in front of us. It helps to disconnect me from what we’re about to do, though, and I love him for trying, even when he’s terrified and pissed off at me.
To Kasen, I toss out a quick,“I get to pick the movie tonight, okay? Can’t take any more documentaries.”
“Scarlett? You scared the fuck out of me, angel. You’re okay?”
Pressing my lips into a grim line, I slash down the length of my forearm, sending a spray of blood onto the grass. Smearing my hand through it, I rub my palm all over my neck and the front of my shirt, a sad smile twisting my lips when Beck copies me. He’s not just here to protect me, he’s all in, even when he hates that I have worse ideas than he does.
“I will be when you get here.”
Focusing on the savage display in front of me, I whistle a loud, ear piercing note that makes everyone flinch, their heightened senses making it nearly unbearable. While the vampires continue to attack, it still draws their attention my way. And when they see all of the blood and two human figures, they narrow their eyes.
They’ll go for anything they can get their hands on, but the goal is to feed. Seemingly human targets are easier prey than animals snapping and clawing at them. Two seconds later, they’re on us, and Beck and I turn and sprint back into the cabin.
“Shut and hold the door when they’re in!”
We vault up the stairs and race through the main room of the cabin. We left the back door open, so as soon as both of us are out, we turn and slam it shut. Beck braces his palms against the door while I drop to my ass, using my back to hold it shut and bracing my feet against the bottom of the porch railing.
We both grunt at the impact as the first vampire throws himself at the door. We settle in for the long haul, gritting our teeth and taking each thud as they collectively attack the door, threatening to tear it clean off of its hinges.
“Shit!” The pressure against my back increases until my knees bend as Beck jumps away from the door to intercept the vampire that’s coming at us from the right, rounding the cabin.
I lock my legs in place with a determined scream, keeping them at bay and praying to every god I once cursed that someone listened to me and is manning the other door, barricading it for when they realize they can’t get out this way and turn back. I’m forced to watch as Beck does everything in his power not to kill the male vampire attacking him, but we just don’t have anything to restrain him with.
Beck ducks to the side and avoids a swipe before palming the back of the vamp’s head and slamming it into the side of the cabin. Unperturbed by the pain, the vampire kicks a leg out and there’s a sickening crunch as Beck’s leg snaps and he drops with a howl of pain. Still, he manages to hold his own, and when the vampire descends to feed off of his fallen victim, Beck grabs its head and twists with an inhuman snarl, snapping the guy’s neck.
His body falls in a heap, and Beck stares at it for a second with regret before stowing the emotion away behind a trained mask, crawling over the corpse to get back to my side. Silent tears are streaming down my face as I continue to hold the door, knowing this is my fault, but not knowing the first thing to say.
Sorry doesn’t really cut it.
I’m sorry all of this happened, but they would have attacked the camp eventually, even if they weren’t chasing us. I’m sorry that Beck got hurt following along with my plan, but I still think it’s our best chance for as many people to walk away from this as possible. I’m sorry for myself that I even have to make these sorts of choices when the biggest problem in my life should be covering the bills every month and where I left my keys.
And I’m sorry that I’m so tired of feeling like everything is my fault that I can’t bring myself to apologize when he slides into place beside me to help brace the door with his good leg on the groaning porch rail.
A series of shots make me jolt, but Beck grunts, “Too quiet for bullets. Tranq darts.”
Closing my eyes, I nod rapidly, an embarrassing squeak of surprise slipping out as I’m shoved forward an inch from a bone-jarring slam against the door. Within minutes, a translucent barrier distorts the air as it coats the cabin and I quickly pull Beck away from the door before we get trapped inside.
Panting, we eye wait until it touches the floor before breathing easier, turning our focus to the world around us for any more stray vamps. Instead, we’re treated to a set of violet eyes in a stern face beneath a blonde mop of hair, the man looking like one wrong breath out of line will have him tearing someone’s arm off simply to make a point.
“Ms. Drake?” he asks, all business. At my nod, he taps an ear piece. “Got her. Crawford too.” His gaze never ceases assessing our surroundings. “Let’s go.”
When I start helping Beck up and the new guy sees the damage, he curses. Coming over, he helps haul him up and absorbs most of his weight, his other hand on his gun and ready to react at the drop of a hat. We round to the other side of the cabin and Malcolm’s eyes instantly lock on mine, widening when he sees all of the blood and filth coating me.
