Page 38 of Before We Burn

I charge him, pushing the gun in the air as shots sound loudly. The other soldiers flanking the house probably heard it and will be on their way to check what happened at any moment. I move quickly, swinging my body around his until I’m sitting on top of his shoulders. My hands grip each side of his head, and I twist as fast and hard as I can until I hear the snap.

His body drops to the floor with a thud, and I quickly open the car door to find a man at least six inches taller than me. Carrying him should be fun.

I pull him out of the car, struggling a bit with his weight, until I’m able to cradle him against my chest. He was badly beaten. Dried blood covers his face, his right eye is completely swollen shut, and his breathing is harsh. They must’ve broken a rib during the beating and punctured his lung. He is very close to death—I can smell it.

I run back to the forest where all of them wait. There’s no conversation as we all look to Bunny for our next move.

“Follow me,” she says in a sing-song voice.

We follow her deeper into the forest, Benny’s body slowing me to the point I walk beside Everett. He looks at his friend solemnly, but I don’t address it. I know I can save him. Something Everett could never do for me.

We finally come to a stop next to an old minivan. I look at Bunny standing there, smiling as she presents it like the greatest present in the world. But it is actually a clear way of saying, “Hi, pay attention to us.” No one drives minivans anymore. No one really drives SUVs or large passenger cars anymore because no one can afford it.

Unless you were military, of course.

There’s no time for arguing, though. In the distance I hear men shouting. Soon they will start searching the woods, and unleashing Constantine is the last thing I want to do. Older vampires become…different when they’re on a hunt. Their primitive instincts kick in, causing them to be more violent and frenzied. The possibility that Connie could kill Benny or Everett was high, so I get my ass in the minivan.

Connie gets in the driver’s seat, Bunny in the passenger seat, and me and Everett climb in the back with Benny. We pull off, and I get to work.

I place Benny’s head on my lap, pushing up my sleeves to bite into my wrist again. Connie turns and hisses at me, giving me a look I’ve learned too well.

“You can’t let them take anymore! You need to feed,” Connie shouts at me, but I ignore her.

Everett gets the idea of what I’m doing and instantly starts shouting, “No, don't do that to him! He wouldn’t want it.”

I roll my eyes, ignoring him as he goes on his tirade. I take Benny’s head in my hand, lifting it to make sure he doesn’t choke on my blood while I feed it to him. But this annoying fucking human had to go and throw a fit.

Everett grabs at my wrist now dripping precious blood. Wasting my life force like it means nothing is a guaranteed way to piss me off.

“Don’t fucking give that to him,” he growls it at me, like he has power here.

Anger consumes me, and I grab him by his fragile neck and slam him against the seat all without disturbing Benny.

“It’s either I do this to save your friend, or he dies. You can choose.” My face begins to shift, and I’m ready to kill him. But I can’t help but think how hard this is for him. I remember what Bunny said about being human and understanding your morality, living everyday with the notion it could be your last.

I release Everett’s neck and ease back into my seat, bringing my wrist to Benny’s mouth, and the euphoria begins to spread almost instantly. My breathing gets heavier, my mouth parts gently, and I have to close my eyes to stop myself from letting out a moan. He’s taking so much—too much—because he was so close to death.

I open my eyes to see Everett watching me. His own lips are parted, and his heart is racing as if he can feel what I do. Slowly the scene in front of me starts to fade, and I hear shouts of panic. Benny is no longer on my lap; he is sitting up hyperventilating.

But it’s Everett’s voice I latch onto. He is saying my name over and over again, which I focus on until I’m someplace in the void, surrounded by nothing but darkness and tranquility.

We killed two birds with one stone—we found Bunny and got Benny. But we didn’t expect the stone to skip and knock me out along the way.

15

OUT WITH THE OLD, IN WITH THE NEW

EVERETT

We went to a house that was about a four-hour drive away, and I didn’t sleep for any of the drive. Instead, I spent the entire ride watching Marz.

She had been knocked out from saving Benny, and Bunny wouldn’t allow us to stop. It was odd how no one seemed to care that she was completely unconscious. If that was my friend, I would’ve pulled over the car, found a way to help her, and gone from there.

The more I’m around Marz, the more I’m realizing she is very different from the perception of vampires I’ve created. The way she walks, the way she talks—she doesn’t see herself as this all-knowing being. She accepts she still has things to learn and moves with grace.

The words ‘vampire’ and ‘grace’ in the same sentence sound like a bad joke, but here I am, using the terms interchangeably.

Benny is asleep on the pull-out couch in the living room. He had showered and changed into a pair of clothes Bunny pulled out of thin air. She was beginning to freak me out a bit, but I can’t deny how helpful she is.