Page 100 of Starved Until Sunset

“Love you, too,” Cody said as he climbed to his feet with a groan. “Where’s Demmy?”

“He was at the end of the line,” Agatha said. “Unless you ran him over.”

Cody’s stomach tightened at the thought. He limped forward, Agatha beside him. Vampires had returned, but not as many, and the humans were fighting them back. He saw his brother and Ollie protecting Eileen, and Jugs staying close to Amelia and Otis. But where was Demmy?

Then he saw him. Demmy was, of course, running toward Xavier, a wooden stake gripped in each hand. Xavier had his back to Demmy as he stalked toward the snow plow which had bumped to a stop against the small cinderblock machine shop in the back corner of the yard. As Cody watched, Demmy came up behind Xavier and raised one hand. The raw wood of the point of the stake was white and gleamed in the bright overhead lights.

But the vampire moved fast, ducking out of the way of Demmy’s blow and spinning to face him. Xavier grabbed Demmy by the throat and lifted him off the ground. Cody’s heart kicked in time with Demmy’s feet as both stakes fell to the ground beneath him.

“No!” Cody shouted.

He started forward, ignoring as best he could the dizziness and pain radiating through him. Focusing on Demmy, Cody put one foot in front of the other and pushed himself into a run. The lights overhead gleamed like those above the football field so many years ago, and Cody reached down to pull up the memory of how it had felt to be young and strong and so fucking ready to take on the opposing team. He put every thought into moving back to that time of his life. His steps evened out, and his pace increased. Tightening his fingers around the crucifix Agatha had given him, Cody shifted his attention to Xavier. The vampire was leaning in close to Demmy, fangs bared, and there was no way in hell Cody was going to let another fucking monster bite Demmy. No fucking way.

He reached them and thrust the crucifix up between Xavier and Demmy, pressing it hard against the vampire’s face. The crucifix jumped in his hand and immediately grew white hot, burning his palm. Xavier’s flesh beneath blackened and crackled as smoke billowed around them. The vampire screamed and backhanded Cody, sending him tumbling across the asphalt and losing the crucifix. As he rolled to a stop, he saw Demmy drop to the ground, coughing and holding his throat. He was alive. Thank God for that.

Xavier loomed over Demmy, one hand covering his face, the other clenched into a fist. His wings were extended, and he turned to glare at Cody.

“You can watch each other die,” Xavier said, then he grabbed Demmy by the ankle and dragged him across the asphalt toward Cody.

“Leave him alone!” Amelia approached Xavier, holding up a crucifix, but he swatted her aside, his murderous gaze fixed on Cody.

The rest of their group tried to intervene as well, but other vampires rushed them, effectively blocking any assistance. The Critter Catchers were once again on their own.

Cody tried to get to his feet, but he’d lost too much blood and taken too many hits over the last two days, and he couldn’t find his balance. He sat down hard and looked around for the crucifix he’d dropped, but it was nowhere in sight. So he did the next thing that came to mind. He faced Xavier, supporting himself with one hand, and gave him an enthusiastic middle finger with the other.

Xavier stopped in front of him and sneered. He hauled Demmy around and dropped his leg, leaving him lying beside Cody, groaning quietly. Cody leaned down to kiss him gently on the lips, and Demmy started and opened his eyes.

“Cody?” His voice was a ruined whisper, and it brought tears to Cody’s eyes.

“Yeah, it’s me. I love you.”

“Enough melodrama,” Xavier said, reaching for them.

But something suddenly shoved Xavier aside. Cody looked over his shoulder and saw Xavier lying on the asphalt, pushing himself up and looking around with a stunned expression. The cross-shaped burn mark Cody had left on his face was clearly visible in the buzzing glow of the lights.

“Help me up?” Demmy said.

Cody took his hand and pulled him into a sitting position then put an arm around him. “You okay?”

“Throat hurts,” Demmy whispered. “You?”

“Pretty beat up, but still got my sass.”

Demmy smiled. “God, I love you.”

“I love you, too.”

“What happened?” Demmy leaned forward to look around him. “Where is he?”

“I don’t know.” Cody saw a sudden blur of movement rush past Xavier, knocking him down hard again. “Oh, shit. Vampire fight.”

“Michael,” Demmy said.

“The doc?”

“Yeah. Has to be.”

And then Cody saw Michael rush up and stand above Xavier. Michael looked about as rough as Cody felt. His face was bloodied and his clothes torn in places. But the quiet and mild-mannered doctor stared down at Xavier with a terrible fury that sent a chill up Cody’s spine.