Regret and sorrow filled her, but it had to be done. He and everyone he knew and all those she cared about would die if he got in the way of her mission. They all may die anyway, but while she remained free, there was a chance they could stop the demons from rising.
The hunter’s hold loosened enough that she broke free when she yanked against him again. She spun back to the van, and her hand caught the dark brown one stretched toward her.
As she was about to be helped into the van, the hunter’s fingers entangled in her hair and yanked her back. Her skull screamed in protest.
Asher felt like he’d gone ten rounds with a gorilla after fighting with this woman. She had to be a purebred, and judging by her strength and speed, she was an old one.
Gritting his teeth, Asher kept his fingers in her hair as she turned and swung out with the back of her hand. He ducked the first swing, but she moved so fast he didn’t see the blow coming from her other hand until it was nearly on him.
He ducked back, but not in time to avoid her fist crashing against his temple. His fingers released her hair. He was starting to recover when she caught him with an uppercut that shot his head back.
Blood flooded his mouth when he bit his tongue. His knees gave out, and one of them hit the pavement with his hand. He managed to keep himself from going down completely, and it took everything he had to start rising again.
Not only did he have to worry about losing her, but the Savages were closing in. He lunged for her, his hands grasping her arms and pinning them to her sides as he pushed her toward the van. They fell across the entrance as another blow came from somewhere above him.
Through the ringing in his ears and the bursts of light inside his skull, he realized the other vamp had hit him. His head felt like someone was playing the strongman game at the fair, and he was the lever they hit to ring the bell.
Trying to wade through the blackness threatening to take him over was like trying to breathe underwater. The more he tried, the tougher it became.
When another blow knocked his head to the side, he gave up trying, and blackness took over.
CHAPTERTHREE
When the hunter’sarms relaxed around her, Brie wriggled to free herself of the weight on top of her. Cabo’s hands seized under her arms, and he pulled her free of the unconscious hunter.
At least, she hoped he was unconscious and not dead. Cabo was a big man, a powerful vamp, and he would do anything to keep her safe. Her panic over being pursued by the hunter and the Savages turned into terror for the hunter, but before she could check on him, Savages grabbed her arms, tore at her flesh, and tried to rip her out of the van.
One of them seized the hunter by the ankles and started pulling him out of the van. “No!” Brie shouted, and shaking off their tearing grasp, she caught the hunter’s arms and started yanking him back.
The explosion of gunfire rebounded around the van, deafening her as her ears started ringing. The Savages fell back as Cabo pummeled them with wooden bullets. Some screamed, others turned and fled, but a few truly bloodthirsty ones kept coming.
“Go!” Cabo shouted.
“Wait!” Brie shrieked.
The hunter was only halfway in the van and she held him, but they both might be pulled from the vehicle if Zina took off now. Bracing one foot against the inside of the van, Brie dragged his body toward her as the Savages headed for them once more.
More Savages poured across the parking lot in their direction. There were at least a dozen of them, which wasn’t an infeasible number for a hunter. They would have to be strong and fast, which this one had already proven to be.
But they would also have to be conscious. Which this one certainly wasn’t.
And as much as his interference in her mission had irritated her, she couldn’t leave him here to be slaughtered by the Savages. Or worse, and far more likely, taken and turned into one of them.
Damn it, her ugly conscience was rearing its stupid head again, but this time, it had a reason to be concerned. If she didn’t bring him with them, she would be leaving an innocent to die or condemning him to a fate worse than Hell.
She couldn’t do that.
“We can’t leave him here,” she said.
Cabo cursed, but, with one of his massive hands, he plucked the hunter from the ground. He was the size of a professional bodybuilder with arms bigger than her thighs, but she’d never seen him lift anything other than Savages over his head.
She supposedthatcounted as bench-pressing.
Cabo braced a hand against the inside of the van as he shouted, “Go!”
Brie slid back, and Cabo staggered to the side as Zina stomped on the gas. The tires squealed as they spun; smoke and the scent of burning rubber filled the air before the van lurched forward.
Cabo fell back and, still holding the hunter, crashed into the back wall of the van. Unable to grab something to stop her, Brie spun before crashing beside Cabo. Before she could recover, he set the hunter down and lunged for the open door. She caught a glimpse of a Savage reaching inside before Cabo’s kick to its face shot him back. Cabo slid the door shut.
