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While I had been busy fending off the big guy, the faeries had their hands full with the other vampires who had been drawn out of the clinic. As I watched, Vinca took down a female a few feet away. As the titian-haired vampire combusted, Vinca smiled and held up what looked like a can of mace.
“Apple cider,” she said. Her right hand held a bloody knife. “Spray ’em and slay ’em.”
I didn’t respond because two more workers entered the hall. I took the larger female, who resembled Attila the Hun’s mother. Her meaty fists swung like battering rams at my face. I stepped to an angle and side-kicked her in the ribs. I reached for another stake, but she tackled me. My head hit the linoleum hard, but the real pain came when the female’s weight settled on my ribs.
I tried to shimmy up to give myself some room, but her fleshy thighs gripped me like a vise. Her fists pummeled my face. I raised my own hands to block her blows and bucked with my hips to dislodge her. She kept coming. Vinca had jumped in and got the vamp in a choke hold. With a foot, Vinca kicked the apple mace at my hand. When Vinca ducked, I sprayed the obese vampire in her gaping mouth. She seemed shocked and I used the advantage to kick her off me. I scrambled to get my stake. Just as she rose to come after me again, I stabbed her in the eye. It happened so fast she didn’t have time to scream as the wood pierced the fragile bones behind her eye and impaled itself in her brain. As she exploded into a bonfire, I helped Vinca up.
Her left eye was swelling into a nasty shiner and her hands were coated in blood. “Are you okay?” I asked.
She nodded and looked around. Smoldering ash coated the once-white linoleum floor. The two faery males leaned against the far wall, their faces smudged with soot and blood. As much as I’d wanted to keep Vinca away from all this, I had to admit she was holding her own. Plus, it was nice to have someone I trusted fighting with me. Lilith only knew what Frank and Clovis’ other goons were up to.
A burst of sirens sounded. One of the vamps we’d just killed must have triggered a hidden alarm. I ran to the elevator followed by the faeries, who jumped on just before the doors closed. As we went down, we did a quick weapons check. Lord knew what sort of scene would be waiting for us below. We were running low on stakes, but Vinca produced a few clips of cider bullets. We just managed to reload before the doors opened.
We clung to the sides, waiting for a spray of bullets. When nothing happened, I carefully punched the button to hold the doors open and poked my head around the edge. The lab was filled with the shrill alarm mixed with the frantic beeps of machines. Three remaining vampires barely noticed us as they worked to unhook the mages from their machines.
Without thinking, I ran forward, grabbing the first one I reached. She struggled against me. Left with no choice, I used the last of my stakes to take her down. As she ignited at my feet, I looked around and saw the other two vamps being held by the male faeries.
“Vinca, check the ones they unhooked.” She scrambled to plug in breathing machines. I took my gun and hit the female I held in the temple. She collapsed long enough for me to lock her and her cohorts in the supply closet. Clovis would want them questioned.
I ran back into the room to check on Vinca. She was leaning over a female mage, giving her mouth-to-mouth. She pointed with one hand to the discarded breathing tube lying on the bed. I grabbed it and handed it to her. She pulled away and I turned my back as she reinserted it. The males went to the others who had been unhooked to check on their vitals.
“They’re okay,” Darius said.
“We’ve got this, Sabina. Find Adam.” Vinca shouted as she unhooked an IV from a male mage’s arm, stopping the flow of blood from his body.
I went from bed to bed looking at the faces of the mages still attached to their machines, not finding Adam anywhere. At the end of the row was a blue hospital curtain. I pulled it back and saw a door. I went through it, which dumped me into a hallway. The walls were industrial cinder block and one side was lined with cabinets filled with small bottles. The heavy door thumped closed behind me, blocking out the sounds of the clinic. At the end of the hall was another door with a small barred window. I looked through the glass and saw a slumped figure huddled on the ground.
My heart spasmed. I ripped the door off its hinges, worried when Adam didn’t move despite the racket. Rushing forward, I grabbed him by the shoulders. His head fell back, revealing a bruised and bloody face.
“Adam!” I shook his shoulders. No response. I felt for a pulse and my own heart slowed to a gallop when I found it. I ran back down the hall, opened the door and yelled for Vinca. Then I ran back to Adam and continued to try to wake him. I ran my hands over him arms and legs, looking for breaks. All I found were brass manacles binding his wrists behind his back, which explained why he didn’t use magic to free himself. I broke the chain connecting them just as Vinca entered.
“Is he—” she swallowed.
I shook my head. “Either passed out from pain or drugged. Can you help him?”
She moved me out of the way and lifted his eyelid. “His pupils look normal.” She gently tapped his cheeks with her small hands. “Adam, wake up!” She smacked him this time. I had to hold myself back from attacking her, worried she was causing him more pain. “Sabina,” she said, all business. “Check and see if they have smelling salts.”
I didn’t want to leave the room, but forced my feet to move. A large cabinet sat just outside the door, full of small vials and pills. I quickly scanned the shelves, looking for something that looked like smelling salts. “I can’t find then,” I yelled.
“Look for something labeled ‘ammonia carbonate.’ ” Her voice was muffled.
I looked again, squinting at the small type. “Nothing!”
“Try ‘hartshorn,’ ” she called back.
I did another quick scan, and, sure enough, the damned bottle was right in front of me. I grabbed the brown vial and ran back to the room. She lifted the bottle to his nose and waved it back and forth.
“Come on, big guy,” she said. “Take a nice big breath.”
Adam’s nose scrunched up and he inhaled sharply. His head twisted to the side. He winced and his eyes flew open. He squinted as he tried to focus.
“Adam?” I said, crouching down next to Vinca. “Can you hear me?”
“Sabina? What—” He tried to move. I stilled him with my hand.
“Don’t. Let Vinca check you.” I said, swallowing against the relief choking my throat.
