Page 8 of Hungry for the Vampire

"Are you safe?" he asked.

"Yeah," I breathed, "I'm inside."

"I am coming. Stay inside."

Roman ended the call. I looked at the blinking phone screen for a second before forcing myself to take a deep breath. Knowing that Roman was coming over helped.

He hadn't driven to the party, but he must have had a car. Our places were a few miles apart, and I doubted he would have told me to stay put if he was planning on walking here. It might be like five minutes before he got here, though. And then...

Then what? What was he planning to do against three wolves, exactly? In the forest, with his big cape spread out, maybe he had gotten lucky. Intimidated them, looked even bigger than he really was. But here in broad daylight, in a parking lot?

Shit, what had I been thinking? He could get hurt, he could get mauled, all because I'd called him in a panic instead of doing something rational.

Maybe the wolves were already gone. I could go and get a look through the window in the hallway. And if they were still there, I'd call Roman and tell him to stay back while, ideally, an entire team of professionals handled this.

I left my apartment again, hustling down the hall to reach the little recessed area where a rounded window looked toward the south parking lot. I raked the sheer curtain aside and looked down toward my car.

Fuck. They were still there, all three of them. Big and gray and terrifying, circling my car slowly. Thankfully, nobody else seemed to be around. Anyone with any sense would run in the other direction once they saw these things. Except for one guy, who was on his way here to do the exact opposite.

I opened up my phone to dial Roman back, and that was when I saw him walking toward the wolves.

Chapter 6

"What...what? Roman!" I yelled through the glass. Mostly out of shock, because I knew he couldn't hear me. How had he gotten here so fast?

That didn't matter. He was going to get hurt. I called him, letting the phone ring, begging for him to pick up.

But he didn't, and all I could do was watch.

Even without the cape, Roman looked plenty big. He wasn't in costume now, just dressed in jeans and a dark gray T-shirt that squeezed down on the muscles in his arms. He stared down the wolves without flinching, walking through the parking lot with huge strides.

The creatures turned toward him. Even from this far away, I could see the lead one snarl, its white teeth shining as its small pack moved along with it.

"Get the fuck out of there, Roman," I whispered, clutching the curtain.

Roman stopped about fifteen feet from my car. The wolves moved toward him with slow, prowling steps. I saw Roman's mouth move—he shouted something that I couldn't hear. The wolves were unaffected.

I had to get down there and help him. The two of us, maybe...

The lead wolf leapt at Roman. It had to have been ten, twelve feet away, and it sailed through the air at him, jaws wide. I gasped, and my breath stuck in my throat.

Roman moved fast. Unbelievably fast. In a flash, he was three feet to the side, and the wolf passed right through where he'd been standing. It landed on all fours and turned, skidding on the asphalt.

Holy shit.

Roman didn't let another wolf close in. He turned, casually, to keep all three of them in view. There wasn't a hint of strain on his face. He spoke again, to the wolves, and god only knew why or what the hell he was saying. Roman pointed to each of them, then he opened his hand. I saw a small rivulet of blood oozing down his palm before he closed his fingers in a fist.

Then he pointed his other hand toward me, right at the window where I stood watching with my jaw open.

More words to the wolves; a glance upward, meeting my eyes for a second before looking back to the animals. Roman shook his head, then widened his stance and set his jaw, as though inviting the wolves to come at him once more.

The wolves looked at each other, which was somehow more bizarre than anything I'd seen so far. It was a movement that seemed decidedly un-wolflike. Like, what, they were taking a vote amongst themselves? I almost burst into a nervous giggle at the thought.

That was it—they ran. The vote must have been a resounding nay, the three huge animals bounding out of the parking lot and back toward...well, wherever the hell they had come from. Leaving Roman alone, slightly bloodied, and holding his phone up to his ear.

I answered, completely unable to speak first.

"Can I come inside?" Roman asked me.