Page 6

The man’s eyes rolled back in his head, his complexion drained of color.

Vann scooped him from the ground while Bennett moved with them and held pressure. “Any others?” Vann asked as they moved carefully toward the door.

Archer crouched at the side of a body and shook his head.

“It’s a miracle this one is still alive,” Bennett hissed through gritted teeth.

Ryan ran up the stairs ahead and pushed the door open.

At the top of the stairs, Vann steadied the man in his arms.

An engine roared, and red lights illuminated the dark alley—Quinn backing in fast.

He climbed into the back of Quinn’s SUV with the survivor, Bennett in next to them, and Ryan up front.

Quinn gunned it down the alley. “How’s he looking?”

Vampires could sense a person’s pulse, their breathing. Experts at killing, and at knowing when their victims were close to death. Bennett shook his head. “Hope the hospital trauma team moves fast,” he growled under his breath, a low snarl vibrating his voice. “Fuck, I should have fed first.”

Vann looked up at his friend. Bennett’s jaw was clenched tight, his breath held tight in his chest. “Hey. You’ve got this. We’ll drop him off, and I’ve got a few pints of the good stuff at my apartment waiting for you.”

Bennett attempted a laugh but coughed and held his breath again. “Don’t call cow blood the good stuff when I’ve got a human drinking fountain right here.”

The car listed to the right as they rounded a sharp corner, but Vann held steady. The man whimpered in pain. Vann let the sound ping in his mind. Not dead yet.

Ryan climbed over the seat, and stuffed a baseball cap on Vann’s head, then another on Bennett’s.

Bennett growled under his breath, his hands occupied keeping the human from bleeding out, so he couldn’t fix the hat.

Vann didn’t say a word over his friends fucking with each other. He freed one of his hands enough to adjust his own hat to better shade his face, then fixed Bennett’s.

Quinn slammed on the brakes at the ER entrance. Vann shifted the victim in his arms and moved fast. The automatic doors eased open, slow as sludge.

The attendant’s eyes widened at the sight of two guys carrying a third, covered in blood like they were coming from a damn massacre.

In moments, a gurney rolled toward them, and a million questions fired their way as they slid the man on and transferred care to the medical team.

Vann kept his face in the shadow of his hat. “Found him on the sidewalk a few blocks away. Bleeding out. No idea what happened.”

In the chaos, Bennett froze, his teeth bared, and he stared at the victim.

Vann grabbed him by the arm.

With little encouragement, Bennett sprinted back to the car with him.

Quinn floored it, getting them the hell out of sight.

Vann leaned back in the seat, about to rub his hands over his face, but the dark blood coating his fingers stopped him. He plucked the baseball cap off and bent the brim in his hands.

“That was too close.” Quinn slowed her speed as soon as they were far enough from the hospital. “Survivors complicate things.”

“If he survives. Fuck.”

“Nothing we could do,” Ryan said gently.

Didn’t say it. Didn’t need to. If he’d gotten the survivor out even a few minutes sooner—

“Don’t do it,” Quinn met his look through the rearview. “You know you did the right thing. I watched the entire fight. If you’d left your post, those vampires would have run, or, worse, locked the rest of the team inside.”