Her eyes rolled toward him; her fingers reflexively gripped the shelf, but she didn’t respond. Reaching into his coat, he removed one of the stakes tucked into a pocket there. He suspected there were vampires out there, waiting for them to succumb. Only a vamp would have a gas strong enough to knock out or kill another vampire.
Placing his hands on the bar, Doug leapt over it and strode toward LeNae while speaking to her in a soothing tone. “Is there another way out of here, gorgeous?”
Adjusting his grip on the weapon, Jack jumped onto the bar and slid over it. Mike kept his eyes on the smoke and the few vampires and humans still standing as he lifted himself onto the bar and over the top.
Doug had taken LeNae’s hand, and she calmed as she spoke with him. “This way,” LeNae said when Mike stepped next to her.
LeNae kept her hand in Doug’s as she led them down the back of the bar toward the opening at the end. She paused to remove a key ring from under the cash register. To the left of the bar was a set of silver, swinging doors. Two of the customers slipped through the doors, but they quickly reemerged.
“There’s no way out through there!” one of the men shouted at LeNae.
“I didn’t say there was,” LeNae retorted as she shouldered her way past him.
Mike’s nostrils burned, and tears pricked his eyes as the smoke spread to their area of the bar. Then another rattling ting bounced off the floor, and Mike realized someone had thrown another smoke canister into the building. They only had a minute or two to escape before the smoke overtook them too.
His hands fisted as he resisted the impulse to charge through the smoke and destroy whoever was doing this, but even if he held his breath, he doubted he would make it out the front door before the smoke overwhelmed him.
He exchanged troubled glances with Doug and Jack as the canister settled into place and everyone froze. The distinct thud of boots hitting wood broke the ensuing silence. Someone had entered the bar—multiple someones judging by the vibration of the floor beneath his feet. The smoke muffled the approaching footsteps, but Mike spotted shadows slipping through the haze toward them.
We’re being hunted.
He didn’t know where the thought came from, but once it hit him, he knew it was true. But by who andwhy?
Some of the patrons balked when LeNae led them into the smoke, but Mike held his breath and followed the woman. They had no other choice but to trust her, and he didn’t think she could fake her earlier terror. LeNae traveled only ten feet through the smoke before splitting off into another hallway and breaking into a run.
The air here in the hall was less choked with smoke than the rest of the building, but it was spreading through here too. Mike released his breath on a harsh exhale as he ran behind LeNae to another set of swinging doors.
LeNae pushed through the doors to reveal a shadowed room full of dust-covered, stainless-steel appliances. The appliances were of little use to most of the new customers of this establishment, but they’d been of some use to the previous owners.
“There’s no exit this way either!” one of the customers protested, apparently knowing the restaurant well.
Mike’s lips skimmed back as he focused on LeNae. If she’d led them into a trap, he didn’t care if it was the last thing he ever did, he’d kill her.
LeNae held up her arm, and the keys in her hand jangled. “One of these will open the door.”
“It better,” Jack growled, and Mike agreed.
At the end of the room, a thick, steel door blocked the way out. LeNae’s hands shook, and the keys clicked together as she sorted through them in search of the one she sought.
“Hurry,” one of the women urged. “They’re coming.”
Mike retreated and turned so he could see anything coming through the swinging doors. He didn’t hear any more footsteps, but another canister bounced off the walls and floor. Before the noise stopped, smoke started seeping through the cracks around the doors.
He glanced back at Jack and Doug before slipping his hand inside his coat. Being an ex-Boy Scout, and surviving this many years amid vampires and humans, had taught him always to be prepared. The weapons stashed inside his coat wouldn’t do much against smoke, but if any of the fuckers who had done this came near him, he’d fight them to the death.
He returned the stake to his pocket and slid his crossbow free. He checked to make sure it was loaded before tying the string at the end of it to a belt loop on his jeans and releasing it to hang at his side. Reaching into his pocket, he retrieved the stake.
Jack came to stand beside him with his broken bottle top in one hand and a stake in the other. Doug remained with LeNae, talking calmly with her as she chewed on her bottom lip and tried to fit another key into the lock.
“I can’t… I can’t remember!” she cried.
“Can we break through the door?” Mike demanded. There were two other vampires and a human with them; they might be able to tear the steel down.
“No, the owner designed it so no one could get in or out this way without a key. The front door looks like wood, but it’s also steel. He was concerned about vamps ripping him off. I… I can’t find the key!” LeNae wailed.
“It’s okay,” Doug assured her. “Let me see the keys, and I’ll try them.”
Doug took the keys from her and tried another one in the lock.
