When he was in front of the hole in the window left by the video game, I charged him, ducking low to avoid his mouth. We spilled out the window into the parking lot, pounding each other on the asphalt. I only had a couple knives left on me, not expecting losing so many of them to Chucky's thick hide. I had to make sure I chose my moment.
"Mommy, make themstop," a child wailed, and I cursed inwardly. This was theworst setting for a vampire takedown. From the sounds of it, the guys were having a hard enough time keeping the parents and kids from fleeing to the parking lot in a panic, which would compound the problem even more. Dave barked out orders to have the dark-haired vampire Belinda had wrestled out secured in the capsule. Smart. He'd be no threat there, and we could cart him off and stake him at our leisure later.
I was ducking to avoid a roundhouse punch that would have snapped my neck when I saw Belinda, no longer restraining the other vampire, suddenly seize Zachary, a newer recruit, and bury her fangs into his throat.
"Tate, stop her!" I screamed, helpless to do anything as Belinda gave a jerk and Zachary fell back, clutching his neck with red streaming between his fingers. Then Belinda ran.
I heard gunshots, cursing, and the scrambling of feet as several of the team rushed over.
"Hostile on the loose, secure the perimeter!" Cooper shouted.
I gave the vampire in front of me a grimly cold stare. "I don't have time for this," I growled, and charged him, knocking both of us over. His fists pummeled me, but I didn't defend myself. I took the battering, holding his mouth away from my throat with one hand and ramming my knife into his heart with the other. Three rough scissors of that blade and he was dead the permanent way.
I crawled off him. My ribs hurt tremendously, but I didn't cradle my aching sides like I wanted to. A scuffle to my left made me whip my head around, just in time to see the dark-haired vampire who had been about to be pronged in the capsule fling the two soldiers nearest him to the ground. Most of the team who weren't guarding the exits had gone after Belinda, except for the ones kneeling by Zachary. This vampire had taken full advantage of their distraction.
Dave leapt for him, but the vampire ducked under, slid like a macabre penguin on his belly, and then took off at a flat run.
I sprinted forward, following the sounds from Tate and Cooper as they chased after Belinda. But being human, there was no way they could catch her.
I made my decision in a split second and went after Belinda instead. She was the bigger threat. Belinda knew the names of my team. She knew intimate details about the workings of Don's organization, and she'd had enough experience being trapped by the security system in the compound to give detailed descriptions to anyone who might be crazy enough to try to breach it. There was no way I could let her repeat any of that.
I ran as fast as I could, quickly catching up to Tate and Juan. Up ahead, I couldn't see Belinda, but I could hear where she'd been by squealing brakes and excla mations from people as she crossed what must have been a busy intersection.
"Get the car," I gasped out to Tate, darting past him. "Track me!"
I had a transmitter in my beeper, and by car, they could follow faster. Plus handle any police, if it came to that. There were more tires screeching and I headed in that direction, bursting through an intersection and catching a glimpse of Belinda right before she darted down a side street.Oh no you don't, I thought.
I put more effort into it, wishing my ribs didn't feel like they were breaking with every step. Inside I was praying that Belinda didn't dash into someone's home and try to get a hostage, but maybe she'd seen and heard enough about me and the team to know that wouldn't work in her favor. No, she just ran like hell, and I was cursing her even as I kept up.
Belinda leapt over a fence without even a pause in her stride. At least she wasn't a Master vampire who could fly; I'd be screwed then. I took the fence almost as quickly as she had, but the gash it gave me when a jagged edge of metal scored my leg didn't heal instantly, as it did for her. There were days when I envied undead healing abilities. Just not enough to turn myself fully into a vampire to get them.
When I gained on her enough to take the chance, I threw my knives. I only had two of them left, so these had to count. The blades landed in the right area in Belinda's back, making her stagger, but she didn't go down. Dammit, I missed her heart! My accuracy while running full-out over uneven ground with a weaving target wasn't nearly what it was if we'd been in close quarters while I was stationary.Note to self: Work on knife-throwing skills while in a chase.
But the blades began to slow her. All that jostling must be driving the one dangerously near to her heart, and Belinda couldn't stop to get a good enough grab on the handles to pull them out. She tried swiping at her back while maintaining her breakneck speed, but all she succeeded in doing with her flailing was to slant a knife deeper in her back instead of pulling it out. Belinda staggered again, and I willed myself to go faster.Almost there...hit the gas, Cat, you can't let her get away!
I gathered my strength and sprang, managing to grasp Belinda's ankles and knock her over. She whipped around, her fangs snapping at any piece of my flesh they could find. I ignored that and flung myself on top of her, bearing all my weight into her torso.
Belinda stilled at once. Her wide, cornflower-blue eyes met mine for a second, and then her lids dipped even as she let out a scream that was cut off in the next moment. Those blades, still in her back, had been driven through her heart.
I wasn't about to take any chances. I flipped Belinda over and gave both knives a hard twist, feeling her go completely limp under me.You should have taken the ten-year deal, I thought coldly.Instead you brought it to this.
A scream alerted me to my surroundings. Belinda and I were on the edge of someone's lawn, it looked like. The homeowner, an older woman, was clearly upset at seeing two women fight to the death in her backyard.
I sat back with a sigh. "Go ahead, call 911. It'll make you feel better." Even though the police would never get their hands on me. No, not with Don's credentials. Besides, Tate and the guys would be here soon, and so would Bones, I'd bet. He didn't need my transmitter to track me; he could do it by scent.
She babbled something that sounded like, "Murderer," and went inside, slamming her door. Moments later, there was the sound of her calling the police.
I stayed on the grass near Belinda, nodding politely at the few nearby neighbors who came out to gawk at me before running inside and placing their own emergency calls. I'd been there less than three minutes before Bones came streaking into view. He slowed when he saw me, walking the last several yards to where I sat.