“Mike! Jack! There are lights on the horizon!” Doug called from the front of the barn.
Mike froze, and lifting his head, he examined the numerous cages filling the room. Between the two of them, he and Jack had managed to open almost half the cages, but there were still so many to go, and they were out of time.
“Shit,” he hissed, and twisting the key in the lock, he set LeNae free.
“Getting closer!” Doug yelled.
Mike glanced at Mollie’s round, frightened eyes. She’d taken the rifle from her shoulder and held it against her chest. If she weren’t involved in this, he would set a few more of the prisoners free, but he couldn’t risk her being caught again.
“We have to go.” Taking her elbow, he tossed the keys to a whimpering human pleading to be set free and rushed Mollie toward where Doug stood in the middle of the double doors.
The headlights from the approaching vehicles were only a few hundred feet away.
“Jack, we have to go!” he bellowed into the shadows.
“Heading for the side door!” Jack yelled. “Meet you outside!”
Mike didn’t look back at those who remained trapped, holding Mollie close against him, he plunged into the brisk night air.
Chapter Ten
Adrenaline coursedthrough Mollie as she slung the rifle over her shoulder and followed Mike out of the barn. Her heart sank when she got her first good look around and realized only a wide-open field stretched before them. A few hundred yards away from them, the field became woods, but they’d be open targets if they ran across the field. That hadn’t stopped some escapees from sprinting across it.
Two of the vehicles broke off to give chase to the dozen or so men and women fleeing across the field. One of the vehicles was a pickup truck with two Savages standing in the back, holding rifles. The Savages shouted as they lifted their guns and aimed at the escapees. Shots rang out and shrieks resonated from the runners as two of them went down.
The other vehicle, a Jeep Wrangler, surged toward the front and skidded sideways in the field. Dirt flew up behind the Jeep as it raced to block the runners from the trees fifty yards ahead of them.
“Oh no,” Mollie whimpered when the truck ran over a woman.
“Shit,” Mike muttered.
He pulled Mollie toward the side of the massive barn where at least the building covered them from the approaching vehicles. Jack waited there as vampires and humans fled into the field on the other side of the barn. Except, this field was much smaller, and only a hundred yards separated them from the woods beyond.
“We’ll never make it,” Mollie whispered.
“We only have to be faster than the slowest ones, and we’re faster than all the humans,” Jack said.
Mollie paled, but Mike knew Jack’s assessment was right.
“I need to carry you,” he said to Mollie.
“What?” she demanded, stepping away from him.
“I’m a lot faster than you.”
“You’re injured; let me do it,” Doug offered.
“No!” Mike snapped. The angry response not only astonished him but caused Doug’s and Jack’s eyebrows to rise. Doug had a point, but it didn’t matter; the idea of anyone, including his best friends, touching her was not something he could tolerate.Hehad to get her out of here. “I will do it. Mollie?”
Mollie stared at the three of them. She hadn’t missed the hard edge of Mike’s voice or the surprise on his friends’ faces, but she didn’t have time to ask about it. She disliked the idea of anyone carrying her, but she hated the idea of dying more.
“Fine,” she relented.
Before she could ask how this was going to work, Mike stepped before her, placed his hands on her hips, and lifted her off the ground as easily as she plucked a flower. Mollie gasped when she found her chest crushed against his.
“Shouldn’t I go on your back or something?” she asked when the intimate contact caused a shiver of desire to run down her spine.
“If they start shooting at us, my body will protect yours.”
