Page 85 of Starved Until Sunset

“Look,” Lucia said. “There’s a reason this Aldrik brought us all together. We know this.”

“We do?” Cody said.

She continued without acknowledging him. “We need to get out of here before the sun goes down.”

“Who’s the Renfield?” Tracey asked

“The Renfield?” Cody said. “Like that creepy guy from the Dracula movies?”

“Right. Vampires always need some human to do stuff for them during daylight hours, and Demetrius and the others had been trying to figure that out.”

“That’s my man,” Cody said with a smile and a deep pang of loneliness. “He’ll figure it out.”

“As sure of an option as that is, we still need to try to get out of here ourselves,” Lucia said. “Keep trying to loosen your bindings.”

They all struggled for a bit, but the duct tape had been wound tight. It was peeling the hair from around Cody’s wrists and ankles. He was going to be looking pretty weird for a while once they got out of there.

If they got out of there.

No, he wouldn’t let himself think that way. Demmy would figure out who the Renfield was, and he would rush in with their group of weirdos and save them all. He would be the calvary; he’d always been that for him. He would be the savior, even though Cody had called him out about it.

He pulled and twisted, but that only seemed to bind him tighter. And it wore him out. Sweat dampened his pits and back, and the stink of his efforts clouded around him. After that burst of energy, he was definitely feeling more than a little light-headed. He looked over at Zenona.

“How many times were you bitten?” Cody asked.

“Overall?” she said.

“What?”

“Never mind.”

Cody shook his head as his thoughts grew sluggish. What was he trying to ask again? Maybe Lucia would know better. He turned to his right and the world spun around him. It felt like he was on the worst carnival ride ever, and his stomach tightened as it threatened to expel what little was left inside him.

“Uh,” was all Cody was able to manage before he slumped to the side. His body was dead weight now—blood loss, he thought Zenona had said before—and the chair wobbled beneath him. He managed to open his eyes, trying to find his balance. He saw Zenona watching him with an anxious expression. The dim lighting glinted along the metal legs of the chair she was tied to, changing to a warm golden glow across the edge of the wooden seat and the wood of the upper crossbar of the backrest. As he felt himself tip over too far, the sensation like a long, slow descent into sleep, Cody realized he knew where they were being held, and that he needed to get to Demmy. He needed to warn Demmy.

Then the side of his head smacked against the concrete floor and he was out.

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

The back of Demetrius’s head hurt. He moaned a bit and turned his head. Even furrowing his forehead hurt. And why was the side of his head sticky?

“It looks like he’s awake.”

It sounded a bit like Cody, and a sizzle of excitement went through him, like a signal flare shot from his lonely and aching heart. His lips were dry and stuck together, and he could only manage to say, “Co?”

“Oh, tulip trees, it’s so good to see you awake.”

He knew that voice and phrasing for sure, and turned his head toward Amelia as he forced his eyes open. Bright lights overhead made him squint. Amelia’s familiar face hung over him, her eyes watery and mouth tight with concern.

“Hi,” Demetrius croaked. He turned his head the other way, looking between faces. “Cody?”

A man he didn’t know stepped in and smiled down at him. He wore a headband with two big eyeballs on springs that swayed with every movement. “Sorry, no. I’m Winston, your nurse. How do you feel?”

“Headache.” Demetrius looked around, suddenly realizing where he was. “Am I…? Hospital?”

“Yes. You got a solid conk on the head when you fell,” Amelia said.

“Fell?” Memories slowly flitted back to him. Behind the Hollow Leg. The vampire attacking that cook, then going after Amelia. “Are you…? Did it bite… ?”