I Accidentally Hooked Up with a Vampire (Accidents Happen #2)

23. That bitch is strong!

23

That bitch is strong!

“ J ai!” I said my sister’s name. She was on the plane, and it had just exploded. I was supposed to be there to save her. Had I already failed? Instinct said run to her, run to my sister despite the vampires who would surely attack me. I had to make sure she was okay.

Before I could take a step, a hand clamped down on my shoulder. Oh shit, it’s a vampire! That was my only thought before I lifted my hand from my side and turned. I was going to blow the bastard’s head off its shoulders. Luckily, Jackie’s reflexes were better than my own. My hand lit up, charged with energy, and just as I aimed, she dipped down, slapping my hand away from her face.

“Holy shit, girl!” Jackie said as the power around my hand fizzled out. “Watch where you aim that!” She grabbed my other hand and dragged me deeper into the cover of the trees.

“Sorry, I thought you were one of them.” I pulled her into my arms. “Are you okay?”

“I’m good. How did you get here?”

“That friend I told you about. When we made it back to the house, you were all gone.” I looked back at the plane. “Jai. We have to save Jai.”

“I know what it looks like, but she’s okay. Trust me.” Jackie tugged me further away from the air strip. “We have it all under control.”

“You intentionally blew up the plane my sister is on, and you’re telling me you have it all under control?” I shook my head. “You expect me to believe that? I have to get to Jai.”

“It’s a controlled explosion. We had to find some way to get the vampires out here.” She pointed to the plane. “Look closely. The plane isn’t actually on fire. It’s a decoy.”

“How?” I didn’t know what she was talking about, but it eased the pain in my chest.

“Lena is a lot more powerful than we thought, and she’s getting stronger,” Jackie said proudly. “It’s her magic doing this.”

“Lena? Really?” I looked closer, expecting to see my friend near the plane, but she wasn’t there. “So, Jai is okay?”

“Jai is currently under a sleep spell; we figured it would be best if we could avoid having her witness this. It will give us a better chance of wiping her memory of everything. The less she sees, the less there is to remove.”

“Right, Lena did say that was a thing.” I took a deep breath. “Okay, so what do we do now?”

“We wait. Domino and his men are doing their job.” She pointed out where the two groups of vampires fought. Some moved so fast, all I could see was the blur of hair and fabric. “The hunters are still in the trees. We’ll wait here for our signal to join the fight. Trust me, the hunters are eager to get out there. It’s been a long time since we’ve had a fight like this.”

“I’ll take that as a good thing.”

“It is.” She winked and then wiggled her fingers in my face. “What about you, sparkle fingers?”

“I’m okay,” I confirmed.

“Okay is good, but are you ready for a fight?” She held up a fist.

“I’m ready for whatever it takes to save my sister.” I looked back at the plane.

“Good.” Jackie looked at me. “What exactly did your magical friend do?”

“The short story is, she took me to a world where time moves slower so I could have more time to train. For you, I’ve been away for a couple hours, but for me, it was half a day. I’m not going to pretend like I’m the best, but,” I lifted my hand and pulled the light to my fingers, “I can control it now. I can target it. With more time, I’ll get better at it, but for now, this is enough to help save my sister.”

“Damn, you even sound like a different person.” Jackie smacked my shoulder. “Perfect, because this world needs warriors, people ready for the battle.”

“You really do enjoy this, don’t you?”

“Hell yeah, I was born for it.” Jackie smiled, and then another explosion sounded. She perked up even more as the flames spread. Less than a second later, the other hunters ran out of the woods. “That’s our mark! Let’s go!”

“What should I do?”

“Keep up and aim your sparkle power at anyone who gets near you!” Jackie took off running.

Now, this woman knew damn well I couldn’t keep up with her. Jackie was at least seven paces ahead of me before I even took my first step, but it didn’t matter. I was going to make it. Maverick kept an even pace with me as I ran, and at first, nothing happened. I watched the hunters and vampires collide and paid as close attention to my surroundings as I could. After a while, it was hard to hear much over my own heavy breathing, but I kept going.

“Got one!” A vampire with a bald head and wearing a small pink skirt dropped in front of me. He paired the skirt with a purple tank top and a long tie that tucked into the top of his skirt.

I skid to a stop, feeling the sting in my ankle when I did.

“Pretty and plump. What are you doing out here?”

“Rude!” I snapped, ready to defend myself, but I didn’t have to.

Just then, Maverick jumped through the air over my shoulder. I saw his fluffy underbelly pass by me, and then, his claws ripped through the tank top and tore the flesh beneath it.

“Ah!” the vampire screamed and swiped at Maverick, but the cat moved faster than ever. He dropped to the ground, ran around the vampire, and tore through his ankles before hitting the back of his knees. The vampire fell to the ground and placed his hands over the wounds as they healed. Maverick then jumped on his chest and started ripping through him.

It all happened so fast, I could hardly believe my annoying cat had done it. When he was done, he waddled back to my side.

“That’s for calling me plump,” I said, and we started running again.

I couldn’t see Jackie anymore, but I knew what I had to do. Get to the plane. Get to Jai. Get her the hell out of there. My heart raced as I ran through the chaos. Maverick was my shield and weapon, attacking any vampire who dared to make me a target. Each time the cat came into view, he was larger, as if the kills were fueling his growth. By the time we made it to the heart of the battle, Maverick’s head was waist-high as he stood on all fours.

“Jackie!” I saw my friend again, battling the vampires. She was amazing, cutting down one vampire while simultaneously dodging another.

“Whit!” she called my name and threw a stake at me. It whizzed by me, creating a whistle in my ear before landing in the chest of the vampire behind me.

I underestimated how quickly my friend could move, because the woman made it to my side before the vampire hit the ground.

“Another point for me!” Jackie smacked her own ass in celebration of her kill.

“Are you honestly keeping score?” I frowned at her.

“Hell yeah. Miguel thinks he can outdo me.” She flexed her muscles. “He’s never beat me, not once.”

“Right.” This woman was actually enjoying herself, having fun in the middle of a battle. Not twenty feet from us, a vampire’s head went flying into the grass, and Jackie looked moments away from calling for a twerk battle with the other hunters.

Maverick must have believed I was safe with Jackie, because he threw his head back and let out a noise that sounded like the howl of a wolf before he ran off. It wasn’t long before the mass of black hair disappeared into the trees.

“Damn, he’s gotten big,” Jackie said as she threw out another stake. She tapped her waistband, and another one appeared.

“How?” I pointed at the band.

“I’m going to tell you this now: any question of ‘how’ is answered with one word. Magic. We don’t have time for lengthy explanations.” She winked and grabbed my arm, pulling me toward the plane. “Let’s go. Stick close to me.”

I struggled to keep up with Jackie, even though I could tell she’d reduced her speed to accommodate my slower pace. As I struggled to breathe and run at the same time, I wanted to tell her to go ahead without me. I would catch up eventually, and she wouldn’t lose time getting to my sister.

Before I could say anything, something or someone slammed into Jackie. I didn’t see what it was, but I watched my friend fly away from me. Her body moved through the air like a doll tossed aside in favor of a new toy before her back slammed to the ground with a loud thud.

“Jackie!” I screamed her name and ran over to her.

“Nuh-uh.” Sharp nails dug into my scalp as someone pulled me away from my friend. “You’re not going anywhere.”

“Let me go.” I struggled, clawing at the faceless person behind me.

“I don’t think I will. You think you can bust up into our home, hurt our king, and walk away without consequence?” The woman pushed me further away from Jackie, and I looked up to find a purple afro above a pissed-off Nyesha.

“Are we forgetting the part when your people came and snatched me up?” I rubbed the back of my head where my scalp stung from her nails. “It’s not my fault your leader made a fool of himself.”

“I don’t care. You need to pay for hurting our king. Now is when that happens.”

Nyesha flashed forward, coming just a foot away from me, and then slammed her hand into my chest. I fell back and hit the ground. Suddenly, the woman was on top of me, straddling my hips to keep me down.

“I know we’re not supposed to taste, but how can I not?” She quickly dropped her fangs and tried to bite me, but the invisible barrier over my skin that kept Reddick away did the same for her. Nyesha struggled for a moment, pressing herself harder into me, but nothing happened.

“What the hell?” She lifted and frowned at me. “What is this?”

“I didn’t say you could bite me, bitch.” I called the energy to my palm just as I had practiced with Rayna and shoved my palm into her forehead with all I the strength had. The explosion of power knocked her off me, and she flew back just like Jackie had when she was hit, only the vampire landed on her feet.

“Ahhhh!” she screamed. “It burns. Why does it burn?” She clawed at her face, but I couldn’t see her with her head down. I got up from the ground and moved closer to Jackie, just in case the skank tried to attack again.

“My face!” Nyesha finally looked up, and I gagged at the sight of her. Her skin had melted, dripping from her face like ice cream left out on a hot day.

“That’s nasty.” Jackie appeared at my side again.

“Yes, it is.” I put my hand over my nose, fearful of whatever smell melted flesh would produce.

Nyesha touched her face and cried. “What is this? No. No, no. Not my face! You ruined my face, you fat bitch!”

“Who you calling fat, bitch?” Jackie snatched a stake from her side and threw it at Nyesha. Even with her face melting, she was fast enough to dodge it.

“You’ll pay for this.” She pointed at me, tears running down the unmarred side of her face, and ran into the trees.

“Good job. I mean, she’s definitely going to hold a grudge, but problem solved for now,” Jackie complimented me. “Now, let’s go. We’re getting out of here.”

Maybe it was the fat comment from the melting vampire, but I found the energy to keep up with Jackie as we circled to the other side of the plane. If I thought the fight was bad before, now, it was worse. I quickly spotted Domino. He looked like a warrior—still wearing his glasses, but his shirt was torn, revealing his chest, and blood covered him. My concern for him vanished, though, the moment he ripped a vampire's neck open with his bare hand. Blood sprayed across the scene, coating his face.

He wiped it away and looked up at me, and my heart raced even more. Now is not the time! I fussed at myself for being turned on by his savagery.

Domino took one step toward me then veered left to snatch a vampire off the back of a hunter. The man swung at Domino, but he grabbed him by the shoulder and pulled, ripping his arm straight from the socket. The vampire cried out as the hunter drove a stake through his heart. Domino locked his gaze on me, dropped the arm, and ran off to continue the fight.

“Damn,” I muttered. Part of me wished I could continue watching him fight, but I had to focus.

“The veil will drop soon. We have to move,” Jackie called out.

“Veil, what veil?” I looked around, as if I would see a piece of fabric draped over the area.

“The one keeping your sister safe.” She pointed to the door of the plane, and I could see a fuzzy haze over the front of it. “Once it’s down, we won’t have long. I’ll run in and grab her. You use your fancy light hands to cover me and melt any vamp who dares come near those steps.”

“I can do that.” I charged my fingertips and wiggled them in front of me.

Jackie led the way, and when we reached the steps, she darted up them. I wanted to follow her, to make sure my sister was okay, but I knew the part I had to play. I turned my back to the door and kept my eye on the battling vampires. They moved so fast, I could hardly keep up with them.

“Alright, Lena!” Jackie shouted. “Any time now!”

I glanced back at Jackie moments before the strange sensation passed over me. The veil in front of the plane pulled back, and instead of being in front of the door, it was between me and the rest of the battle. I placed my hand against the sheer surface, and it felt like tapping the top of still water. “Did Lena do this on her own?”

As soon as the veil moved, Jackie darted inside the plane. I turned my attention back to the vampires just as one approached me. He was big, with a long scar across his neck, like someone had tried to rip his head off.

“Stay back,” I warned him.

“Or what?” He chuckled, and then another vampire appeared beside him.

“This one smells yummy.”

“I get first bite,” the big one said.

“No one is biting me!” I yelled out and pulled the charge of energy through my body. The light shot from my hand like a missile, smashing into the chest of the big guy. It danced across his body like a flame following a trail of fuel. He screamed and fell to his knees, ripping at his chest as the light chewed through him.

“What the hell was that?” The other vampire pulled a knife from his pocket and darted toward me. I shot another blast of the light energy but missed; instead, it hit another vampire fighting a hunter.

“Shit.” I shook my hands as I tried to find the other vampire. “Where did he go?”

My answer came in the form of a hand around my throat.

“Ack!” I slapped his arm and struggled to break free.

“This is when you die.” Honestly, his words might have been more impressive if I hadn’t already charged my hand with more light and pressed it against his chest.

He looked down at my hand and then back at me. “Oh, shit.”

Blast !

The power shot from my hand and tore right through his chest, leaving a hole big enough to put my head through. He dropped his hand from around my neck, and his fingers poked through the empty space. This wasn’t a wound he could heal from. He pouted, actually poked his lip out, before he fell flat on the ground.

“Oh, my God. Did you do that?” Lena ran to my side. She kicked the vampire over and gagged at the sight of the hole in his chest. “I mean, you blew right through him! Whit! How?”

“It’s too much to explain right now.”

She looked around at the scene. “Right. Where is Jackie? It’s time to go.”

“I don’t know.” I pointed to the door. “She went inside.”

“She should have come out by now.” Lena looked worried.

“What?”

“Whitney.” Domino appeared next to me, covered in blood. He glanced down at the body on the ground, and the corner of his lips lifted with pleasure.

“Domino.” There was more blood covering him than before, which might have been a turn-on had it not been for what looked like a piece of ear stuck in his hair.

“Are you okay?” he asked.

“I’m not the one covered in blood.” I pointed at his hair. “And body matter.”

“You,” he started then froze, looking up at the door to the plane. “No.”

His expression made my stomach drop. “What is it?”

Lena and I looked back at the door just as Jackie flew out of it. Domino ran to catch her mid-air, and they slid back from the impact, but Domino remained on his feet. He sat Jackie down just as Lena and I made it to them.

“What happened?” I asked her trying to help her claim a steady footing.

“Damn, that bitch is strong.” Jackie rubbed her side.

“What?” Lena asked. “Who is?”

“Reddick,” Domino said his brother’s name, and I followed his line of sight just as the vampire appeared at the door.