Chapter 20
CHAPTER TWENTY
Demetrius tried to follow everything going on around him, but it was a struggle.
He’d hit the back of his head pretty hard, steady pain pulsing from the spot.
But even with that and the noise and confusion all around them, he wasn’t able to take his eyes off Cody.
Although covered in dark, sticky vampire blood, Cody looked even more beautiful than usual.
His brown hair threaded with ginger highlights and a touch on the shaggy side appeared thicker, and he kept looking all around the alley, checking everyone’s condition, assessing threats, and watching Lucia approach.
The arm around Demetrius’s shoulders even felt stronger, keeping him firmly in place against his side.
“You’ve still got silver bullets?” Cody asked when Lucia reached them.
“Apparently, I do.” Her expression was stony, smears of soot on her forehead and cheeks. “I should’ve taken the first shot at him.”
“It was a standoff,” Cody said. “There’s no right answer.”
Demetrius felt Cody’s fingers tighten on his shoulder.
“Everyone okay?” Lucia looked around the group then frowned at Demetrius. “You’re hurt.”
“No, I’m fine.”
“Did she bite you?” Cody held him out a short distance, hands tight on both of his shoulders as he looked him over. “Where are you hurt?”
“I hit my head against the wall, but, really, I’m okay.” Demetrius touched the back of his head and flinched.
“Come over here and sit down.” Cody sat him on the edge of a planter.
The others in their group were peppering Lucia with questions, and she was responding in her usual brusque manner.
Demetrius heard her tell Oliver his grandmother and Dieter were safe and waiting in Memorial Park at the other end of the street.
As Cody crouched in front of him, she looked over at Demetrius and said, “Amelia and Otis are there, too. They’re safe. ”
Demetrius’s muscles loosened, and his head suddenly felt too heavy. He tipped forward, but Cody caught him, his grip strong on his upper arms.
“Easy there, baby. I’ve got you.” Cody’s voice was deep and steady, calming.
Demetrius heard Lucia say, “He needs an ambulance.” She sounded like she was very far away.
“Are there any left?” Cody said. He lifted Demetrius’s chin with a sticky finger and said in a low voice, “Demmy, can you look at me?”
Demetrius tried, but his eyes wouldn’t stay open for long. He could see Cody’s furrowed brow and pinched skin at the corners of his eyes. He tried to smile, but it seemed to take a lot of effort. “Hi.”
“Hi, babe. You’ve most likely got a concussion. Do you want me to get you to the hospital?”
“No.” Demetrius tried to shake his head but had to stop and squeeze his eyes shut. “Ow. No hospital. We need to finish this. Find Zenona.”
“If I could help you feel better right away, would you want that?”
“Yes, please.”
“It’s kind of outside the boundaries of being legal.”
Demetrius managed to open one eye. “What is it?”
“Fang.”
“The blood drug?”
“Yeah. I got some in my mouth, and I feel a million times better. It would definitely help you, but I want you to know what—”
“Yes. I want it. How do I get it?”
“Can you suck my finger for a few seconds?”
That got Demetrius to open his eyes again. “Suck your what?”
Cody smiled. “Not that. No time for that.” He held up his middle finger. “This. Suck my finger, just for a few seconds.” Cody glanced over his shoulder before touching his middle finger to Demetrius’s lips. “Quick now, okay?”
Demetrius opened his mouth and Cody slid his finger between his lips. A bitter taste burst across his tongue, like he’d sucked on an old penny that had been buried in the ashes of a campfire. He made a face but swallowed, the taste coating the back of his throat as it trickled down.
Cody pulled his finger out and, still crouching in front of him, said, “Keep swallowing. It’ll help you feel better.”
The pain in Demetrius’s head eased, and a bright, cool nest of strength swirled together low in his belly.
It spread out, extending into his chest to calm his racing heart before streaking along his limbs.
In its wake, his muscles loosened and strengthened.
The old ache in his neck, one he'd carried so long he'd stopped noticing it, quietly disappeared.
He snapped his head up, eyes wide. Cody practically glowed where he squatted before him.
The conversations within their group of friends running over each other were clearer, and he could see fine details in the mural across from them.
“Wow,” Demetrius said.
“It’s a rush, isn’t it?” Cody said, placing a hand along the side of his face. “God, you’re so beautiful.”
“So are you.” Demetrius stared at him, unable to look away or stop smiling.
Cody leaned in closer and whispered, “Welcome to Fang, baby. Let’s milk this ride for all it’s worth and end this motherfucker.”
When Cody straightened up, Demetrius stood as well.
His legs felt strong and his back sturdy.
He heard the crackle of radios from the first responders out on Main Street along with the freight-train howl of the fire.
Together, it would be overwhelming, but now he could separate each conversation, each sound, more clearly.
He grabbed Cody’s hand and looked into his eyes.
“Nice callback on Summertime Rules.”
Cody’s smile was big and glorious, and it sent Demetrius’s heart racing. “You liked that, huh?”
Demetrius laughed, surprising himself. Summertime Rules was something Cody had made up one summer when they’d been in elementary school.
Whenever they had done an activity with a one-two-three countdown, Cody would take off at the count of one, usually beating Demetrius and calling out, “Summertime Rules!” as he laughed.
“Yeah. Come on, let’s go.”
They approached the group side by side. Lucia blinked in surprise when she saw him. “How do you feel?”
“A lot better, thanks,” Demetrius said. “Just needed a minute to get myself together.” He held his water rifle against his chest. “Amelia’s safe?”
“Yes, she and Otis and Eileen and Dieter are with Margie and some others down at Memorial Park,” Lucia said.
“What about Robin?” Clarabell asked, eyes wide behind her glasses.
“I haven’t seen them,” Lucia said. “Do you know where they were?”
“Robin was behind the counter at Hollow Grounds,” Cody said. “We saw them working when we left Margie’s.”
Lucia nodded then gripped Clarabell’s shoulder. “We’ll find them. There’s a lot going on right now, and more people are missing.”
“What’s the situation?” Demetrius asked. He was itching to move, to actively pursue Bastian and Annie and save Zenona. He felt like he could do anything, but he wasn’t sure how long that would last.
“Three firefighters and a deputy are unaccounted for,” Lucia said, her expression tight and grim. “We haven’t been able to locate Vicki Downing or any of the Hollow Grounds employees.”
Demetrius glanced at Cody, seeing his expression harden and his hands curl into fists. At one time, Cody had been attracted to Vicki, before he and Demetrius had shared their first kiss. Now the two had developed a warm friendship.
“Hollow Grounds and The Purple Orchid are both a total loss. Gayle’s going through each of the other shops and restaurants to make sure there’s no one left behind.
” She shook her head and her shoulders sagged.
“The wind’s against us. If it jumps to Casually Comfortable next door, we could lose that whole side of the street. ”
“No,” Tracey said quietly.
“Did he start it?” Agatha asked. “That fucker who took Zenona?”
“Most likely,” Lucia replied. “One witness claims a jar full of accelerant with a burning rag stuffed in it was thrown through the front window of Hollow Grounds.” She swallowed and looked away before saying, “Firefighters found a couple of bodies in the coffee shop, burned too badly for identification right now.”
“No. Oh, no.” Clarabell’s voice shook, and she turned away, clutching her water rifle to her chest. Agatha put an arm around her shoulders.
“We can help,” Demetrius said to Lucia. “You know that.”
“I don’t have many silver bullets,” Lucia said. “And I’m not giving a firearm to a citizen.”
Cody held his arms out to show off the mess that covered him. “Does it look like we need silver bullets?”
“Hell, yeah,” Jugs said, and he and Cody exchanged fist bumps.
“All right. But we need to make a plan.” She nodded to Demetrius and then Oliver. “Let’s go down to Memorial Park. Amelia and Eileen have been driving the deputies nuts asking about you both. We can organize there.”
Lucia led them out onto Main Street. Even though the fire was on the other side of the street and a few doors down from their position, the heat slapped against them, forcing them all to put up an arm as they hurried after Lucia.
A few firefighters held hoses, spraying at the base of the flames.
Another hose lay abandoned, writhing and spitting water as a deputy tried to chase it down.
Paint bubbled and peeled along the bodies of cars and trucks they passed.
When the big window of the store beside The Purple Orchid exploded from the heat, they all dropped to a crouch and covered their heads.
“Shit, we’re losing Casually Comfortable,” Lucia said, watching as piles of casual wear displayed on a table in the window started to burn.
“I don’t think those sweats would pass the fire retardant test,” Dave said.
Demetrius grinned.
As he followed Lucia, the others trailing behind him, Demetrius considered Bastian’s actions.
He’d taken Zenona to turn her, most likely a power move against her and the rest of them as revenge for them taking down Xavier last year.
She’d been bitten by Michael, but Demetrius didn’t know if those bites would count.
There was so much they had yet to learn about vampires.
He just knew they needed to save her. No other option.
The water rifles and strings of garlic had slowed them down, but as Bastian had said, he and the others had trained to build up resistance.
Lucia’s silver bullet in Annie’s shoulder, however, had tipped the scales significantly in their direction.
Bastian obviously hadn’t anticipated such a deadly pushback.
The question now became where had he taken Zenona?
Demetrius didn’t think he would have gone far.
He enjoyed the attention too much. He’d want to make a show of turning her.
But where were they? And where was Robin and the other missing people?
He refused to accept Robin would be one of the unidentifiable bodies discovered inside Hollow Grounds.
They dodged around a couple of sheriff’s cruisers blocking traffic at the other end of Main Street, and jogged across the road to where a small crowd had gathered in Memorial Park.
“Look,” someone said above the other conversations. “It’s them!”
A cheer went up within the gathering, and then a few people started to chant, “Critter Catchers! Critter Catchers!” Before long, the entire group had joined in.
“Are you fucking kidding me?” Cody muttered.
“Hey, big brother, you’re famous,” Dave said from behind Cody. “Can I have your autograph?”
“Sure, and I’ll jam the pen up your ass afterwards,” Cody said with a growl.
Dave laughed.
“For Christ’s sake.” Lucia shook her head. “They’ve obviously never met the two of you.”
“Demetrius!”
Amelia pushed her way through the crowd and rushed to him. He wrapped his arms around her, holding her tight. As he hugged Amelia, Demetrius heard Eileen’s scratchy voice call out to Oliver, and his cry of “Grandma!”
Then he heard Clarabell say, “Robin!” in her scratchy voice, and he saw the kid rush up to grab her in a hug. Robin was covered in soot and some of their hair looked to have been singed. A white bandage wound up their right arm, but they seemed to have no problem holding tight to Clarabell.
Demetrius squeezed his eyes shut and released a shuddery breath as he held Amelia a little bit longer.