She didn’t have a loving dad, and never had. So what. Her dad had walked away and never looked back. So what. Her mom had seemed to forget about her entirely the day she’d moved out of their trailer. Again, so what. She’d built a great life for herself.
“So. We’ve talked about this before, but you were drunk and not listening. So listen now. I’m glad you’re giving someone a chance. Even someone who once belonged to me.”
“He never belonged to you.” Ava still didn’t like the thought of McKell being owned by anyone but her. Even her best friend. And yeah, she’d realized that before, but now, weak as she was, she didn’t have the strength to rationalize why. The statement was as much as part of her as her lungs or her heart. Just like McKell.
Her eyes widened. She liked him that much?
Noelle grinned, gray eyes sparkling with an undeniable I-told-you-so. “Alls I’m saying is that you have a fear of abandonment, so you leave before the guy can leave you.”
True. She’d already realized that, too. Didn’t mean she liked having it pointed out. “What are you, a doctor now?”
“Yes. Dr. Love. And Dr. Love is also very glad you stopped caring that McKell’s a vampire and an enemy. I mean, Mia’s willing to use him, so AIR doesn’t view him as a bad guy. You shouldn’t either.”
She tripped again, over a rock this time, and her arm bounced. The subsequent sting had her wincing. A quick glance down showed that her shirt and the waist of her jeans were completely soaked through with blood—and she was still bleeding profusely. Great.
“Can we continue this conversation when I’m not dying?” she asked. One more block, and they’d reach the clinic.
Noelle cast her a glance, and worry replaced the teasing sparkle in her eyes. Okay, no. They couldn’t continue the conversation at another time. Noelle needed the distraction, and Ava now needed to ease her own sense of guilt.
“I’m not keeping him,” Ava said. Not forever, at least. She wasn’t that far gone.
Grateful, Noelle picked up where she’d left off. “See? You plan on leaving him before he can leave you, and you—” She gasped excitedly. “This is it! This is it! We’ve picked up a tail!”
“Who?” Ava barely restrained the urge to turn and look. Only the thought of tripping and kissing concrete stopped her. “Where?”
“Remember the car at the first crosswalk? The girl who wanted to help?”
“Yes.” Human in appearance, young, sweet voice.
“She followed us. In fact, she just pulled over and is getting out of her car.”
“How can you tell?”
“Duh. The reflections on the shop glass.”
“Oh.” Good thinking. “I, uh, just didn’t think of that because of my tremendous amount of blood loss.”
“Of course,” Noelle said dryly.
“She could have just reached her office.”
“Nope. Now she’s following us on foot. And there’s a guy with her. He got out of the car, too.”
Excitement raced through Ava, which increased the blood flow in her veins. Which increased the throb in her wound, and the rate at which she drained. The weakness grew more apparent, as did the trembling.
“We need cover.” Noelle wrapped her fingers around Ava’s forearm and tugged her into another alley, not stopping until they were in the center, at the edge of a Dumpster. “Pretend you’re resting. I’ll pretend I’m fixing your bandage.” As she spoke, she slapped a pyre-gun in Ava’s hand and palmed one for herself.
Ava kept the weapon at her side, hidden from the entrance to the alley. Sure enough, the pretty female from the car turned the corner and approached, along with an unfamiliar male.
Neither spoke. There was too much hunger in their eyes. Eyes narrowed on Ava’s wound. The female licked her lips, revealing sharp fangs. Fangs. Even while the sun shone on both of them, their skin remaining unaffected.
Bingo. Daylight vampires.
“Can I help you?” Noelle asked them, unconcerned.
“Mine,” the male slurred.
“Oh, really?” Noelle laughed. “Let’s see about that.”
Ava and Noelle flashed their guns at the same time and fired. Blue beams erupted, momentarily chasing away the shadows cast by the buildings on either side. Both beams hit their targets dead center. Only, the vampires didn’t stop. Didn’t even slow.
Ava blinked in surprise. “What the hell?”
The answer immediately slid into place. Along with immunization to the sun, the vampires who drained humans to death also developed an immunity to stun rays. Shit! Why hadn’t she thought of that?
Another answer didn’t have time to form. The vampires launched at her, and there wasn’t even a spare moment to dial her gun to its burn-and-kill setting. The gun was swiped out of her hand, and she was knocked to her ass.
Still at full strength, Noelle snapped into action, and stopped them from jumping on top of Ava. The three rolled on the hard concrete, arms and legs flailing. Teeth slashing. Noelle yelped, but she didn’t let go. She punched and kicked, and somewhere along the way, she managed to withdraw two blades. She, too, slashed. Only, her weapons were sharper.
Blood squirted. From Noelle, from the vampires, but none of them slowed. The vamps continued to bite at her, and she continued to swipe at them. Just as Ava gathered the strength to insert herself into the fight, the female slipped past Noelle. Ava’s hair was nearly ripped from her scalp as the vampire raced around her and jerked her backward, dragging … positioning.
Ava tore free and straightened. Breathing was a thing of the past, but she twisted, already swinging. Her fist connected with the woman’s jaw, but weak as she was, the blow barely registered. And then the woman punched her back. Her jaw exploded with pain. She saw stars, was falling down … down …
Hell, no. She wasn’t losing this fight. It was two against two, and she liked those odds, even destabilized as she was. When she hit, she grabbed a handful of gravel and kicked the woman away from her, then again made her way to her feet. Without hesitation, she chucked the rocks in the vampire’s face. A howl rent the air as her opponent staggered back and rubbed at her eyes.
Ava could see that Noelle was still struggling with the male. Bite marks marred her arms, and she was covered in blood. His, her own. Her friend was clearly tired, panting, sweating, her movements at last slower than usual.
Shit. Perhaps doing this without McKell hadn’t been such a good idea. Perhaps? Ha! But there was no help for it now. She withdrew another gun, a taser, and aimed. Her arm shook, and her grip was feeble. She wasn’t sure how long she could hold on.