“Take care of yourself and Aida first.” He wanted to tell her to take care of herself first, but she wouldn’t.
When her mouth parted on another protest, he gripped her shoulders and drew her close to silence her words with a kiss. “I will always come for you, Mollie,” he vowed against her lips. “I love you.”
Those last three words robbed the breath from Mollie’s lungs. Helovedher? He’d spoken of the mating bond and how he believed she was his mate, but he’d never mentioned love. Mollie didn’t know how to respond as her head spun with the knowledge, and overwhelming emotion clogged her throat.
Then he started to turn away from her.
“Mike!” Mollie cried and captured his hand. She hadn’t known what she meant to say to him, but when his blue eyes met hers, the words blurted out before she realized they were on her tongue. “I love you too.”
She’d never said those words to anyone outside her family. But shedidlove him.
They hadn’t known each other long, but she’d shared and experienced so much with him. He’d risked his life for her, protected her above himself, wanted to share an eternity with her, and he loved her. She had no idea what would become of them, but no matter what happened, he had to know how she felt too.
“I love you too,” she said again.
A small smile curved his mouth, but it vanished when the library door splintered with a crack. The people stacking furniture against it staggered away as the door pushed inward a couple of inches.
With Mollie’s hand in his, Mike led her across the room toward the windows. Keeping hold of Aida’s arm, Mollie pulled her sister with them.
“We’ll break the windows out,” Mike stated as he approached Doug. He squeezed Mollie’s hand before releasing it. “All four at the same time. It will push the Savages back and give us an opportunity to get out before they can try to get in. You two”—he pointed at two of the larger men—“tear down those drapes and use the rod to smash out the glass when we do. Keep the rod as a weapon.”
The men nodded and tore the rods from where they hung over the window.
“You ready?” Mike asked Doug.
“As I’ll ever be,” Doug said and yanked the drape down.
Mike ripped the drape in front of him away, but he didn’t bother with the rod as another bang rocked the door and some of the humans started crying. The furniture stacked against the door scraped the floor as it was pushed inward. The three vamps outside the window grinned at him as they eagerly awaited his exit.
Mike turned and lifted the chair Scott was tied to. The human scowled at him, but apprehension glinted in his eyes when Mike smiled at him before speaking. “You’re going to be of some use to us after all.”
Mike turned the chair around so that Scott faced the glass and looked to make sure everyone else was ready to break out their windows. Scott’s useless struggles rocked the chair in his hands, but Mike held it steady.
“Stay in here until I tell you it’s okay to come outside,” Mike said to Mollie. She nodded as she released her sister and removed the rifle from her back.
“Now!” he commanded and bashed Scott face-first into the glass. He didn’t care if the bastard died, but he hoped he survived as his blood would be an attractant for the Savages.
Chapter Thirty-Nine
The scentof Scott’s blood and his wails of pain filled the room as the glass gave way and Mike thrust the chair out the window. The three vampires outside scrambled to get out of the way as the chair toppled to the ground. Jumping out the window, Mike withdrew one of the stakes he’d tucked into his waistband. When the first Savage lunged at him, he slammed the stake into the creature’s heart before yanking it free.
Mollie aimed at the next vamp running toward Mike and pulled the trigger. Blood bloomed across the center of the vamp’s chest, it howled as it fell back, but she hadn’t delivered a killing shot.
“Mollie, they’re getting in!” Aida cried.
Mollie glanced over her shoulder as the door shoved further inward. To her right, a man screamed and stumbled back as one of the vampires succeeded in crawling through the window. When the vamp pounced on him, the man fell beneath the weight of the monster and toppled to the ground.
Perched on his chest, the vamp reared back and drove its fangs into the man’s jugular. It didn’t feed but instead pulled back to rip the man’s vein out. The man beat at the creature as gurgled cries issued from him.
Turning the rifle on the vamp, she aimed and pulled the trigger, but the thing leapt out of the way, and wood sprayed out from the bookcase when the bullet embedded in one of the shelves. Mollie tracked the vamp’s movements as it raced around the room. Her finger tightened on the trigger, but she didn’t dare waste another bullet until it stopped moving.
When it landed on another human, she fired. The bullet hit the vamp in the forehead and flung it back. The vamp squealed, its legs kicked against the ground, and it slapped its forehead as if that could knock the bullet free.
Screams erupted around the room as more Savages crawled through the windows. Mollie’s knees trembled, and her heart thundered as the door opened another couple of inches. A hand with nails filed into three-inch long, blood-red, razor-sharp points wrapped around the door before a head emerged. The man belonging to those nails grinned at her and Aida before he slipped into the room with the grace of a phantom.
“Mollie, come on!” Mike yelled from outside.
She didn’t dare take her eyes off the vamp stalking them as she nudged Aida toward the window. “Go,” she said to her sister.
