Page 52 of Cooper’s Passion

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“Fuck!” Cooper cursed.

He’d sensed somebody in the shadows, and had briefly seen the aura of a vampire, even though he hadn’t seen the man’s face, but he’d perceived him as a threat. The stranger had watched them, maybe followed them from the apartment building. As a result, his fangs had descended, and his eyes were glaring red. He was ready to defend Anita against any hostile vampire. Too late, he’d realized that by allowing his protector instinct to take over, he’d revealed to her what he was.

The shock of it was painted on her face. She stared at him, horrified, and he could see her chest heave from the effort of pumping more oxygen through her body.

“Anita, don’t be afraid.” He stretched one hand out. “I’m not gonna hurt you. But we have to leave. Now.” Because the stranger was still lurking somewhere, though Cooper didn’t know exactly where.

“Don’t come any closer!” she warned, her voice breaking.

“Anita, please, listen to me. We’ve gotta leave. There’s somebody here, watching us.”

“I’m not going anywhere with you.”

“Please, you’re in danger.” He made a step toward her. “You’ll be safe with me.”

She let out a bitter laugh and shook her head. “No.” She reached into her handbag.

“Damn it, Anita,” he ground out and marched toward her, intent on dragging her to the car kicking and screaming if he had to.

Anita aimed her gun at him. “Stop.”

He heard a sound from a few yards behind Anita but couldn’t tell what it was. Had the vampire left? Was it just another pedestrian walking to their parked car?

“I’ll explain everything at home,” he said and made another step toward Anita.

The sound of a gunshot echoed in the night, and something struck him, making him lose his balance for a moment. Stunned, he looked at his chest. There, just below his right clavicle, a blood stain was spreading.

“You shot me!” Pain seared through him, and for an instant he paused and stared at her in disbelief. “What the fuck, Anita!?”

She continued to aim the gun at him. However, he knew that he couldn’t be killed with a regular bullet and rushed toward her. She pulled the trigger a second time, hitting him in the chest, before he reached her. Despite the pain caused by the two gunshot wounds, he wrestled the gun from her. She fought him, kicking him in the stomach, making him stumble backwards. He fell, the blood loss clearly weakening him.

Not knowing whether the stranger was still in the area, he couldn’t risk being unable to protect Anita and himself, so he reached for his cellphone. Time to call in the cavalry. He punched in his emergency code and hit send. Just in time, because Anita lunged for him, trying to snatch the gun from his hand. But he tossed it behind him and instead, grabbed Anita and wrestled her down to the ground.

“Damn it! Will you stop?” he hissed, while he finally managed to pin her beneath him.

She tried to free herself, and punched him in his chest wound, making him cry out in pain. Just because the bullet couldn’t kill him—only a silver bullet could do that—didn’t mean that it didn’t hurt like a bitch.

“Let go of me!” she cried out.

“Not a chance. I’m not gonna let you run into danger.”

“Oh, that’s rich!” She glared at him. “You’re the danger! You’re a vampire!”

“Vampire hybrid actually, half vampire, half human.”

He pressed one hand to his chest wound, trying to stem the flow of blood, because the more blood he lost, the more likely it was that he lost consciousness.

She pushed against him, trying to free herself, but he continued to pin her, though he could feel his strength waning. He had to last a few more minutes. The distress call he’d sent out would automatically go to those Scanguards employees who were closest to his location—a task that was accomplished automatically by pinging all Scanguards owned cellphones.

He suddenly tasted his own blood in his mouth. “Oh, fuck!” His next breath was labored. “You… you punctured…” His voice broke.

He was losing his strength and eased off Anita. She freed herself from beneath him, while he braced one hand on the ground, trying to keep his torso upright. He looked at Anita, and with his last ounce of strength he snatched her wrist.

“Don’t leave…”

“Cooper? Sweetheart?”