Chapter 12 #3
Demetrius checked with Cody, who gave him a series of quick nods before saying, “Let’s go.”
With an apologetic expression, Demetrius said, “Sorry,” and slid his hand into the front pocket.
He and Zenona had grown up, commiserated about Cody, and fought horrifying monsters together, but slipping his hand into her pocket felt wrong in so many ways.
His fingertips touched the fob of her car key, and he pulled it and her house keys free.
Still kneeling at her side, he said again, “I’m sorry. ”
“It’s okay,” she said, then another shudder ran through her. She gritted her teeth but managed a nod for him.
“Be careful,” Demetrius said, before Cody grabbed his hand and yanked him to his feet.
“Let’s go.”
Cody pulled him toward the door. Demetrius glanced back once, his stomach in knots, the skin across the back of his neck tight. The plastic fob was warm against his sweaty palm. Marlowe had adjusted her position, standing at Zenona’s side, holding the silver bar like a broadsword.
Outside, the humid air closed around them like a fist. Sweat slicked Demetrius’s scalp and back. Cody held his hand tight, striding fast toward the Subaru, forcing Demetrius to jog slightly to keep up.
He studied the fob, found the unlock button, and pressed it twice.
The click of the locks opening along with the flash of the parking lights should have reassured him.
But a figure stepped out from behind the Subaru in that moment, the flashing lights revealing a quick glimpse of his face.
It was no one Demetrius recognized, and when Cody stopped dead in his tracks, he did, too.
“Ah, the Critter Catchers, at long last.” The man crossed his arms and leaned against the driver’s door. “Sounds like you really stirred things up in there.”
“Which one are you?” Cody said, still holding Demetrius’s hand, the skin of his palm warm and tacky.
The man grinned, his eyes burning red and moonlight dancing along his fangs. “I am Bastian.”
“That’s not at all pretentious,” Cody said. “We were just leaving, though, so if you don’t mind…”
“Leaving? So soon? The party’s just getting started.”
A woman came out from behind another car. Her curly blond hair framed a pale, heart-shaped face, and she wore a leather jacket and tight jeans. She snuggled in close against Bastian’s side as she stared at them.
“Oh, shit,” Cody said under his breath, then, a bit louder, “Hi, Annie.”
Bastian’s smile widened. “You have been doing your homework.” He slid an arm around Annie’s waist and looked down at her. “When I met this one out here in the parking lot, I knew I wanted to keep her around. Forever.”
“Forever,” Annie repeated, slow and dreamy.
“What happened to your brother?” Cody said. “He’s been worried about you.”
Annie and Bastian chuckled darkly, then Annie said, “Andy won’t be worried any longer.”
“That’s right,” Bastian said. “He’s gone to a better place. Right, Leo?”
A third vampire emerged from the shadows of another car. He was the one who’d gotten past Marlowe and gone after Andy, and now gore coated the lower half of his face. The parking lot slanted under Demetrius’s feet, and his blood pounded in his ears.
Bastian looked at Leo and shook his head as he made a tsking sound. “Leo, my dear, you’ve got Andy all over your face.”
Leo grinned, his fangs terrifyingly white amid so much blood-stained skin. “Sorry.”
Cody started running for the cornfield along the side of the parking lot, almost yanking Demetrius off his feet as he pulled him along behind him.
“Oh, good,” Bastian said behind them. “I love a good chase.”
Seconds later, Demetrius plunged into the corn behind Cody.
He felt the dry slap of leaves, and ears of corn thumped against his head.
The edges of some of the leaves were sharp and slashed at his exposed skin.
The damp smell of soil filled his nose, and corn silks brushed his face.
Cody gripped his hand tight, pulling him up one row, then across at least a dozen before dropping to his knees.
Demetrius knelt beside him, both of them trying to keep their breathing as quiet as possible.
“What now?”
Cody’s eyes were wide in the moonlight. “Don’t die.”
“Okay. Good plan.”
“Let’s make our way to the farmhouse or barn next door, find some kind of weapon,” Cody said.
“Weapon?” Leo appeared in the row ahead of them. “Against us?” His smile was devious and awful within the blood smeared around his mouth. “Good luck.”
Cody lunged toward the vampire. There was a brief flash followed by a crackling-popping sound, and Leo dropped to the dirt. In an instant, Cody was hauling Demetrius off deeper into the corn and away from Leo, who had already begun to stir.
“Is that Andy’s taser?” Demetrius asked.
“Yep. I grabbed it before we left. Figured it might buy us a few seconds.”
“You’re amazing.”
Cody grinned over his shoulder. “I’ve been telling you that for years.”
They pressed on through the field, zig-zagging between rows as they moved farther from the bar and hopefully closer to some kind of refuge.