Dante pulled Cassidy away from the fighters rolling toward them. Bull and Zan tossed vamps aside, but panic was spreading as the fight spilled onto the dance floor. Humans scattered as they tried to get out of the way, but when one of them fell and cut her hand on a piece of glass, five heads turned toward her.
Cassidy gasped as, stimulated by the thrill of the blood, something snapped in one of the vamps. The man leapt on the human and, pinning her shoulders to the ground, sank his fangs into her throat. The woman’s feet kicked feebly against the ground as her hands stopped beating the man’s back.
“No!” Cassidy cried and lunged forward.
Dante jerked her back as a group of vamps nearly crashed into her. Clasping and tearing at each other, the vamps were all locked together as they tried to kill each other. Screams filled the air as the humans playing pretend suddenly realized none of this was any fun.
Dante looked for a place where he could put Cassidy while he tried to get to the woman who didn’t have much time left to live, but there was nowhere. He couldn’t drag her across the room, but he couldn’t let the vamp kill the woman either.
The speaker across the room rocked on its stand before crashing against the floor. Fiery sparks shot into the air from the toppled speaker. Dante wrapped his arm securely around Cassidy’s waist and pinned her against his side as he sidestepped another group of fighters.
With no other choice, Dante kept her against him as he navigated the sea of violence. He couldn’t let the vampire slaughter the woman. When a vamp stumbled back and nearly hit them, he shoved the man out of the way and back toward the brawl spilling out from the center of the room.
When a fist launched at him, Dante pushed Cassidy down, but he didn’t get completely out of the way. The blow glanced across his cheek and ear. The vamp who hit him was already gone. He ignored the ringing in his ear as he closed in on the vampire still draining the woman dry; all her movements had ceased.
Don’t be too late. Don’t be too late.He hadn’t been able to save Maya; hewouldsave this woman.
Reluctantly, he released Cassidy, grasped the vamp’s throat, and squeezed. The vamp retracted his fangs and recoiled as Dante crushed his windpipe. Lifting him off the woman, Dante threw him into the growing melee.
The vamp skidded across the floor on his ass before vanishing into the crush of fighters. Dante turned to the woman to find Cassidy kneeling at her side. When Cassidy lifted her eyes to him, tears shimmered in them, and she shook her head.
“Fuck!” Dante exploded as anguish filled him. He’d failed someone else… again, but he would not fail Cassidy.
Another vamp burst out of the crowd and raced toward Cassidy. She leapt to her feet, spun, and kicked the vamp so violently in the head he faceplanted into the floor without having time to get his hands out. Blood spilled from his broken nose as teeth broke off and skittered across the ground.
Dante almost smiled as he held his hand out to her, but the sight of the woman’s body stopped him. However, Cassidy wasn’t kidding; she could take care of herselfreallywell. When Cassidy slid her hand into his, he pulled her away from the body of the unmoving vamp. She’d knocked him out cold.
Turning back toward the door, he stifled a groan when he saw the brawling mass of vamps and humans. Most of the humans were trying to flee when they got caught up in the fight.
While Bull focused on trying to free a human from the vampire draining him dry, another vamp lifted a table and bashed it into Bull’s back. Unprepared for the blow, the bouncer hit the ground with a thud.
Bull got his arms under him and started to push himself up, but when the vamp hit him again, Bull collapsed. Zan emerged from the crowd, ripped the table from the vamp’s hands, and turned it around to smash the flat side into the vamp’s face.
Dante drew Cassidy against his chest and sheltered her there as he shoved his way through the crush of bodies. He couldn’t see the door, but he moved in the general direction of its location.
Cassidy clung to Dante’s shirt as she kept her head pressed against the solid wall of muscle beneath. Something hard and round under his shirt poked her cheek, but she didn’t have time to figure out what it was as he kept one arm locked around her while he used the other to shove vamps out of the way.
The place had erupted into chaos as screams and the scent of blood filled the air. Fighters and those trying to flee stumbled and ran around them as a growing sense of urgency pulsated through the building, along with the scent of smoke. Cassidy had no idea where the smoke scent was coming from, and she didn’t bother to look; she remained focused on getting out of there.
Cassidy gasped when a woman, hit by a staggering vamp, was thrown back and into a table. The table upended, and the contents slid off to crash against the floor. The humans who were hiding under the table scrambled to get out of the way. One of the women crawled through the glass as she tried to avoid more of the fighters.
“We have to help her!” Cassidy cried.
She lunged forward, but Dante snatched her back in time to avoid a stool that had become a missile. The passing projectile blew the hair back from her face before it crashed into the wall and shattered. Cassidy threw her arms up to protect herself from the shards of wood that shot out, but before they could hit her, Dante pulled her down to shield her.
The corded muscles of his arms and chest flexed around her as he grunted and flinched. Something had hit him.
Chapter Thirteen
“Are you okay?”she demanded.
“Fine,” he muttered as he released her and rose. “We have to get out of here.”
Yes, they did, because beneath the increasing scent of blood, she could now smell fire as flames crackled. It was only a matter of time before the vamps stopped fighting each other and stampeded for the door. She didn’t know if there were any other exits, and they couldn’t waste time trying to find them.
Keeping his arm locked around her waist, Dante propelled Cassidy forward as more vamps and humans pushed toward the door while others joined the fight. He ignored the grinding of bone created by the wooden piece of stool embedded beneath his shoulder blade. He would deal with it later.
Through the melee, he spotted Zan lifting Bull off the ground and throwing the massive man over his shoulder. Zan stiff-armed his way through some of the fighters as flames shot up the wall behind him.
