She gasped when he placed his hand on her shoulder.
"Shh, my sweet one."
"Antonio! Oh, Antonio."
"Did he hurt you?"
"Oh, Antonio." From the doorway, Dimitri Falco's voice mimicked Victoria 's.
Battista whirled around, quietly cursing as Falco's familiar stink stung his nostrils.
"Kill him!" Falco's voice echoed off the stone walls.
Four hulking shapes moved past Falco. With his preternatural sight, Battista saw the vacant expression in their eyes, knew that Falco had bent their minds to his will. Two of the zombies carried long wooden stakes. The other two carried vials of holy water.
Falco screamed, "What are you waiting for? Kill him, you fools!"
The zombies carrying the holy water threw it in Battista's direction. He raised his arms to protect his face, swore as drops of water sprayed over his hands, face, and neck like acid rain.
The zombie nearest him lunged forward, the wooden stake clutched in his fist driving toward Battista's heart.
With a cry, Antonio dissolved into mist and fled the room.
Traveling on the wings of the night, he returned to the diner in search of Duncan.
He found the hunter seated at a back table devouring a steak.
Tom looked up, startled, when Battista suddenly appeared in the chair across from him.
The vampire looked even worse than he had before. Fresh blisters spread like freckles across his cheeks.
"I need your help," Battista said urgently. "Now."
"Yeah, right."
"We have no time to waste. I know where ' Victoria is."
Duncan dropped his fork on the table. "Let's go."
Bobbie Sue hurried toward them. "Tom, where are you going?"
"To get Victoria. See ya later."
"Wait! I want to go."
"No! You stay here!" Duncan said, and followed Battista out into the night.
"My car's this way," Duncan said.
Moments later, they were at the house in the hollow.
Duncan killed the engine and turned off the light. "You think she's still here?"
"Yes," Battista said curtly. Getting out of the car, he started toward the house.
"Hold on a minute," Duncan called.
Battista grimaced as Duncan opened the trunk of the Camaro and pulled out a stake, a hammer, and a large bottle of holy water.
Duncan grinned. "Let's go."
He stopped grinning when two Dobermans materialized out of the darkness, barking frantically. "You got a plan for getting past the dogs?"
Taking hold of the padlock in one hand, Antonio gave a sharp jerk and it came away in his hand. "Wait here," he said, and slipped through the gate.
Growing, both dogs walked stiff-legged toward him. And then, as his gaze met theirs, they dropped to the ground, tails wagging.
Without waiting to see if Duncan was following, Antonio headed for the back door. As expected, the iron security door was locked. Grasping two of the bars, he gave a good hard yank. There was an unearthly screech as the bolts were torn out of the wood.
Tossing the iron grate aside, he kicked in the wooden door.
He had no sooner done so than the four zombies rushed toward him out of the darkness, illuminated by a faint shaft of moonlight.
He grabbed the first one and broke its neck.
Muttering an oath, Duncan drew his revolver and fired three quick shots. It dropped the remaining zombies in their tracks.
Grunting softly, Battista hurried down the stairs to the basement. The smell of fresh blood grew stronger as he neared the door.
Victoria 's blood.
Opening the door, he rushed to her side, grief and rage welling from deep within him when he saw the gaping wound in the curve where her neck and shoulder met.
Throwing back his head, he howled his rage.
Duncan stood in the doorway, stake in one hand,.38 in the other. "Is she dead?"
"Not yet." Antonio reached for the manacle that spanned her right wrist, only to jerk his hand away, hissing with pain, as the silver blistered his flesh.
"I don't suppose there's a key?" Duncan asked.
Battista shook his head.
"Then we'll have to do it the hard way. I'll be right back."
Battista stroked Victoria 's brow. "My sweet one, can you hear me?" He stroked her cheek with his uninjured hand. Her skin was cold beneath his fingertips, her breathing shallow. Ripping a strip of cloth from his shirttail, he wrapped it around the hideous wound in her throat.
He looked up as Duncan ran into the room, a pair of bolt cutters in his hand. In moments, he had cut through the chains. "Let's get out of here. We'll worry about the cuffs later."
With a nod, Battista put his arms around Victoria, holding her upright while Duncan cut the chains at her feet. As soon as she was free, Antonio swung her into his arms and carried her up the stairs and out of the house. The dogs whined softly when he went out of the gate.
He watched impassively as Duncan set fire to the house.
"He won't be coming back here, that's for damn sure." Duncan glanced at Victoria. "Is she…?"
"She is alive."
"We'd better get her to a doctor. I think she's going to need a transfusion right quick."
Battista hesitated, reluctant to let anyone else look after her. His own blood was far stronger than the blood of mortals.
Looking up, he met Duncan 's gaze.
"I know what you're thinking," the bounty hunter said. "Are you sure that's what she'd want?"
"No." He knew it wasn't what she wanted, but what he wanted. He carried Victoria to the car and got in, cradling her in his arms while Duncan drove to the hospital. The cuff on her left wrist burned even through his clothing where her arm rested against his chest, but it didn't matter. Nothing mattered now but saving her life.
The hunter's Camaro was old and beat up, but it hauled. Duncan pulled into the hospital emergency parking lot five minutes later. Leaving the motor running, he hopped out of the car and opened the door for Battista, then turned and ran into the building, hollering for help.
An orderly hurried out with a gurney.
Antonio was reluctant to surrender Victoria 's care to anyone else, but he placed her gently on the gurney, then followed the orderly inside. Duncan was standing at the nurse's station, filling out the required paperwork, explaining that she'd had an accident on the highway out of town.
Slipping around a corner, Battista dissolved into mist, then went into the examining room where they had taken Victoria. The doctors and nurses worked quickly, washing and stitching the raw wound in her neck while another nurse set up the necessary equipment to replace the blood Falco had taken. He wondered what the medics would think if they knew what had really happened to her.