Poncho looked to his aunt who spoke, then back to Gregor. “Man, she says—”
“Oh fuck, one of those Chinese guys is down,” headphone man said.
“Wei,” Jabber whispered, the sound of his friend’s name coming out rough.
“Send me and those weapons to…my children!” Gregor shouted.
Ursula suddenly was at his side. “I go too.”
Poncho spoke to his aunt as Moose bellowed, “Fuck! Why are we fuckin’ here and they’re fuckin’ there?”
“Time is wasting,” Gregor bit off.
Poncho looked to him. “Grab the swords.”
With their vampire speed, Gregor and Ursula had the swords and were standing in front of the witch.
“Do not go and do not send Delilah’s family,” he ordered. When Poncho looked ready to argue and he heard a gruff noise from Moose, Gregor swiftly carried on, “It will be too distracting. They need focus. And the compound needs to be defended at all costs, so do not send any immortals either. Josefa must look after The Three from here. Their minds are there, but their bodies are here and vulnerable.”
“Got it, man,” Poncho agreed.
“Hook,” Ursula called, and Hook must have looked to her because she kept going. “You gave me happiness. I vow to fall before your daughter does.”
“Babe,” Hook whispered and said no more.
The witch was reaching up toward their heads, muttering under her breath.
“Good luck,” Poncho said softly.
Gregor slid his eyes to the man and nodded.
The next instant, he was in hell.
* * * * *
Somewhere in a Café in Nevada
“Not good, not good, not good,” one man chanted.
“Get ’im! Fuck ’im up! Yes!” another one shouted.
“To your back!” Naomi screamed, then moaned, “Thank God.”
“No! Yes! No! Yes!” a woman cried.
“Get up, guy, get up, guy, get up,” a waitress whispered, eyes on the fallen Wei, his body lifeless amongst the carnage on-screen.
“Shit!” a man boomed. “They got that female wolf!”
* * * * *
Delilah
With a frightening yelp, Sonia as wolf slid on her side across the Tarmac, and every inch of my skin prickled to see her coat matted in blood, claw and teeth marks everywhere.
The next second, the wolf that pounced on her was grabbed by the throat and thrown through the air.
But he left something behind.
The gore of his gullet in Callum’s jowls.
Callum tossed it aside with a shake of his head and nosed her. She shook her head and got to her paws.
Then he nosed her firmly in our circle and turned toward an attacker.
I caught all this before I felt movement close beside me.
After thinking how I could ever see the whip of action to make my play, somehow, the action around me had come into focus.
Vivid focus.
Using it, I jumped on the back of a vampire who was all over Xun. He twisted to throw me off. With experience with Abel hauling me around, I held on with everything I had. Calling for more, I curved my hand around his jaw and yanked back.
I didn’t get him very far, but I got him far enough for Xun to shove the jagged end of the mailbox pole straight into his throat. He twisted and slashed it to the side, opening a gaping wound, blood spurting.
The vampire fell to his knees.
I jumped off and kicked him in the head so he fell to his side.
Xun lifted the pole over his head and bore it down, hacking into his neck.
“Back!” Xun grunted, still hacking. “Now, Lilah!”
I backed into Leah.
“Babe, Gregor’s here,” she told me, grasping my hand.
I didn’t see him.
What I saw was that our guys now had weapons.
Gregor must have brought them.
It didn’t matter.
Wei was down. By the looks of him, I was sure he was dead.
I’d seen Cain appear and he was sliced to shit, looking like he was barely standing.
I’d lost track of Jezza and Flo.
Ruby was down, like Wei, unmoving.
We were losing.
All was going to be lost.
Standing in a sea of bodies, drenched in blood, we were going down.
* * * * *
In a Convenience Store Somewhere in Florida
The crowd was larger.
They didn’t realize it, not a one of them, but they were all holding hands.
They were silent.
All their gazes were locked to the screen.
* * * * *
Delilah
“No,” I whispered. “No!” I screamed.
Sonia barked. It sounded like she was trying to say something, but I didn’t speak wolf.
“Fuck this,” Leah hissed.
Bending down, she pulled a sword from a fallen, headless vampire’s hand and I blinked when, fast as lightning, she entered the fight.
It was then I heard an indistinct roar of fury and I looked that way to see Lucien had appeared.
The sound was coming from him.
Then he moved, hacking his way to where his bride was fighting.
I heard a whiz and a clash and I whipped around.
Shit! I was nearly taken out by a vampire sword.
That vampire was now headless, and Ursula, who saved my ass, turned and winked at me before she shot away.
I had no time to watch. Chen was fighting a golem.
Head down, I charged, barreling into the giant headfirst, agony shooting down my back but catching him off guard, allowing Chen to hack off his hand.
“Come on, blue light, come on, blue light, come on!” I cried, lifting, twisting, and hauling up my knee hard, catching him right in the golem family jewels I couldn’t understand why he had, considering he tore off flesh to make babies.