Gathering her courage, Simone leaned toward the stake she released when she lunged after Sully. She waited for something to reach in and grasp her hand when she snatched it up, but it was eerily quiet out there and she didn’t see any more feet.
More of their twisted game.They were trying to break her mentally, but they would fail.
With the stake clutched against her chest, she remained kneeling in the center of the roof as the first of the feet returned.Come after me, and I’ll make you regret it.
She tried to watch all the feet as the circling began again, but there were too many windows, too many ways in, and she couldn’t monitor them all.
“Boo!”
Simone almost shrieked when an unfamiliar face appeared in the broken window Sully was pulled through before the Savage withdrew.
“Boo!” someone declared from behind her.
She spun but whoever said it was already gone.
“Boo!”
She turned again, but no one was there. Shifting her grip on the stake, she wiped her sweaty palms on her jeans. The weapon wouldn’t do her any good if she couldn’t keep ahold of it. Her heart thudded so forcefully she thought it might burst out of her chest, but beneath her terror was a rising swell of rage.
“Boo!”
This time, she didn’t try to turn and see whoever shouted at her. If they yanked her out of the vehicle, so be it, but she wasn’t playing anymore.
“Boo!”
The face appeared next to her, and reacting on instinct, she swung the stake out and straight into the Savage’s eye. Nausea twisted in her stomach when the weapon plunged into the spongy organ. She clung to the stake when the vampire howled and reeled backward to tear itself free of the weapon.
Despite her disgust, satisfaction slithered through her. That would teach them to mess with her! But then the Savage’s cries ceased, and all the feet stopped moving in unison.
Simone gulped as she realized the game was over; they were coming for her.
Chapter Forty-Six
Killean had traversedthree miles when he rounded a bend in the road and spotted the SUV on its roof. At least a dozen Savages circled the vehicle, and he spotted more sliding through the woods. With this many Savages present, the stench of them rivaled a landfill in July.
The coppery tang of blood permeated the air. Not Simone’s blood, he knew the sweet scent of that well, but he guessed it was the blood of those who’d been with her. Judging by the Savage’s surrounding the vehicle, he suspected Simone was still inside.
The red shading his eyes became more intense as the darkness he’d kept at bay burst free. He didn’t care what it did to him, he would destroy every one of these bastards to free Simone.
Killean bounded across the ground, grabbed the head of the Savage closest to him and yanked it to the side. The snap of the Savage’s neck paralyzed him instantly. When the vamp dropped to the ground, Killean’s gaze clashed with Joseph’s over the wreckage of the SUV.
A sly smile spread across Joseph’s lips. “There you are,” he purred. “We’ve been waiting for you.”
Killean glowered at him. He almost leapt onto the undercarriage and charged across the vehicle at Joseph, but first, he had to get Simone out of the SUV. While she remained in there, any or all these things could slip inside and capture her.
“Take him alive,” Joseph commanded. “Our friend intends to play with him.”
When the two Savages closest to him dove at him, Killean jumped back to avoid them. Clasping his hands together, he hammered them onto the back of one vamp before swinging an uppercut into the chin of the other. The second one’s head snapped back, and teeth shattered as he fell into the SUV. The first one hit the ground, and Killean slammed his foot onto its back, breaking its spine.
None of the Savages he’d attacked were dead yet, but he didn’t have time to end them. He had to stay free and incapacitate them enough to get Simone out of the SUV. If he could hold the Savages off long enough, it would give the others time to arrive and even out the odds a little. Then the killing could begin, and he would relish their screams.
Simone knew Killean had arrived before Savages started littering the ground outside the vehicles. She’d detected his scent, but more, she felt his presence in every fiber of her being. And she couldn’t stay trapped in here. It would be too easy for the Savages to get their hands on her, and she needed to help Killean.
The Savages Killean had taken down remained on the ground, but some of them were regaining the use of their arms and legs. She had to move now.
Keeping the stake in hand, Simone scrambled toward the front window as Killean headed in that direction. The feet of two more Savages ran at him, and above her, something crashed onto the SUV. Simone hunched down when footsteps thudded over her head; the vehicle groaned as it was pushed further into the earth.
Then the footsteps stopped, and when Killean grunted and staggered to the side, she realized the Savage had launched themselves off the SUV and onto him. Another set of legs materialized next to Killean’s, but these dangled from the ground as whoever leapt onto Killean hung off his back.
