DEMON SENSE (Completed)

Chapter 21

CHAPTER 21

Adrenaline pumped full force through my veins as I watched the chaotic scene unfold. Vigil was fighting to restrain Atlas without actually killing him, while Larson took on Lanky and the vampire that had delivered the girl. Meanwhile, the young vampire who had been carrying the suitcase full of money fled, but upon hearing the commotion, three more vampires arrived in his place.

My heart sank. We were out numbered.

At least Vigil had knocked his boss unconscious. With Atlas out of the way, Vigil turned his attention to the newer threats, but taking on three vamps at once was nearly an impossible task. Even for an undead badass like Vigil.

I decided to make myself useful—no way could I just stand by and watch. Slowly and cautiously, I crept around the Escalade with my eyes still trained on the scene in front of me. But just as I was doing so, my senses perceived another body as it entered the scene.

My eyes darted to the guy who was casually strolling in from around the side of Atlas’s House of Horrors. His peaches and cream complexion, which stood out from that of the deathly pale vampires, had captured my attention.

Oh.My.God.

I watched, frozen, as Nathan made his way onto the lawn among the seven undead men in combat. What did Nathan think he was doing? He was supposed to watching from a safe distance.

I looked to Larson to see if he’d noticed, but saw that he was too busy dealing with his own crisis to care. He was standing back to back with Vigil, and they were doing their best to take on Atlas’s five vamperic guards. One slunk away—Lanky, I recognized—as he also became aware of Nathan’s sudden appearance. Upon seeing the vampire approach, Nathan had crouched low to the ground, hands out as if he were going to tackle his foe. Lanky mirrored Nathan’s posture and bared his fangs like the animal he was.

“Nathan!” I screamed. He was going to get himself killed.

He looked up in my direction, worry written all over his face. I wanted to bang my head against the hood of the Escalade. Instead of a warning, it had only served as a distraction. I cursed myself for being so stupid. He’d thought I’d been calling out for help, probably assumed I was hurt. I wasn’t. But he was going to be.

Lanky made his move, leaping across the few yards that separated them. I tried to warn him with another shout but it wasn’t needed because Lanky was taken down by a speedy, pale blur.

My vamperic self-defense coach had gotten the drop on Lanky. He pinned the vampire to the ground in such a way that prevented him from doing much but hiss and shake his head violently. There was a sickening POP, followed by a tearing sound. Larson had ripped off one of Lanky’s arms, and was proceeding to beat him with it.

That a boy, Larson! Make him regret the day he was Turned!

 I glanced around to assess the damage. Were we winning? I couldn’t tell, but God, I hoped so.

Since Nathan and Larson seemed to doing just fine, I turned my attention back to my original task. I crouched down and peeked under the carriage of the Cadillac. The blonde lay unconscious where her body had dropped out of the air after the demon had decided to vacate the premises.

I started around the vehicle, planning to retrieve her, but Nathan beat me to it. He was making a beeline for her, having had the same idea.  

I decided to let him deal with her—I probably wouldn’t have been able to lift her anyways.  Besides, it was better if I went back to the car. Being out in the open wasn’t such a bright idea. The last thing I needed was one of Atlas’s guards grabbing me and using me as bait. I slunk back around the car and crawled into the back seat.