Page 36 of Slayer

“Yes, sir!”

Nate slipped out of the formation, and we tightened instantly to fill the gap as he bolted for the door, shoulders ducked as he ran.

A vampire tried to go after him, but we moved as one, stepping the entire V to block the vamp’s way and take him down, weapons striking almost in unison.

It was like we were one moving body with many parts.

A female vampire appeared suddenly before me, startling me a little, her face inches from mine.

I kicked her in the stomach in an effort to push her back and get some space, but she grabbed my leg and yanked me out of the V formation, nails biting into my skin.

“Stella!” Harper screamed as the female vamp dragged me toward the back wall.

I hit the ground doing the splits, landing hard on my hip and rolling to the side as she held my leg in an iron grip, pain shooting up the length of it. She pulled until we were alone in the back corner of the room, and I tried to stab at her hand, but my legs were long and she was grasping my ankle far away, just out of reach.

No luck.

I attempted to kick but she was strong.

She grinned at me, and I glanced up to see that her eyes were red in color.

Another drinker.

The vamp’s upper lip peeled back, and she grinned, showcasing two very sharp canines.

“I must have you, darling,” she told me while I was pinned on my back. She held my ankles like a wheelbarrow now, pushing me into the ground with such force I feared my ankles would snap any second.

I bucked hard, trying to dislodge my ankles, but she loomed over me, breath hot against my face, with saliva dripping from her mouth.

In one swift movement, she spread my legs and dropped down between them, hovering over me with a feral grin that made dizziness wash over me.

“Asher!” Professor Walters screamed from somewhere in the room.

Asher?

Oh no.

He was taken too?

My last dying thought was going to be about the hot boy who’d gotten me into this mess and now wouldn’t talk to me.

Just before the vamp could lean forward to feed off me, a bolt ripped into her chest, the impact jerking her backward.

She screeched and then keeled backward as I peered up in relief.

Asher stood over me, holding Jane’s harpoon gun. He slung the gun over his back and, in one swift move, reached down and hooked me under the armpits, yanking me upright so fast my feet barely touched the floor.

He spun me, and I came face-to-face with him as he peered down at me with a clenched jaw. “Please stop almost dying. I’m trying to focus.”

Pfff. Like I did this on purpose.

“Asher!” Professor Walters barked, and then Asher was dragging me back to the V formation, his grip firm on my arm.

At the same time as he did, the student Nate was back with a wafer tackle box, breathing hard. It was similar to the one I’d seen Asher have, but bigger. Nate fought his way across the room and handed the box to the professor.

I looked over at the people standing left and right of Professor Walters, who covered him so he could rifle through the box and toss something in his mouth, bodies stationed protectively around him.

When the professor was done, he stood and passed the box to the student on his right and then burst from the formation.