Page 88 of My Undead Love Life

It looked like a trap but also like the only thing between us and being torn apart.

“Luck, don’t use your gun. If there are more, and they find out where we are—” Mad started as we moved closer to the van.

“I’m not stupid, Mad,” Luck growled out.

“Good. Oxi, left. Spencer, middle. Luck, right. When I say go, move.”

The leopards lowered themselves. They knew we were about to run.

My heart slammed against my ribs.

The largest leopard’s ruined jaw opened. A sound came out that was almost a growl.

“Go,” Mad ordered. “Now.”

The moment we broke formation, they lunged.

“Run!” Mad shouted.

Snow kicked up under our boots as we sprinted. The scrape of claws tearing through snow and asphalt sounded behind us. They were fast.

Too fucking fast.

I heard one hit the side of a car behind us, metal buckling beneath its weight as it launched off the hood. Another shrieked, the sound scraping through the air so sharply that my body nearly locked up.

We couldn’t all outrun them.

The van door was partly open. I reached it first and grabbed the edge, hauling myself inside. My gloves slipped on the cold metal, but I kicked hard, dragging my body across the dirty floor.

The interior smelled like old upholstery, gasoline, stale sweat, and something faintly sour.

Oxi followed right behind me, slamming into the floor beside me and rolling. Luck dove in with a grunt, shovel clattering against the side wall.

“Mad!” I screamed, scrambling to my knees.

He was still out there, sprinting full force toward us. His backpack bounced against his shoulders. His axe was in one hand. Snow flew behind his boots as the largest leopard came at him from the left.

“Mad!” Luck yelled.

Mad almost made it, but one of the leopards hit his backpack with its claws. Mad’s body jerked sideways, and my heartbeat echoed through my skull as the world slowed.

The leopard’s claws were buried in the backpack.

Mad’s boots skidded across the ice. The flash of his golden eyes filled with fear as he twisted.

The other leopard closed in behind him, but he twisted with the impact instead of fighting it, using the pull to swing his axe up and around. The blade sank into the leopard’s skull with a wet, cracking thud.

The infected animal snarled, body spasming as the axe stuck deep in its head. It staggered sideways and slammed into the second leopard, tangling them for a second.

“Get in!” Luck yelled.

Mad left his axe embedded in the leopard’s skull and stumbled backward into the van. Luck and Oxi slammed the door shut just as claws scraped violently across the metal.

Bang!

The whole van rocked.

I fell back against the opposite wall, my shoulder hitting hard enough to make stars burst across my vision.