Page 50 of How to Stake a Vampire

A thunk had me spinning toward the door.

Hilda had hooked the blade of her axe over the edge of the jamb and was hanging onto it grimly as she attempted to get inside the room, her nursing colleagues clinging to her legs and beard.

“What the hell was that?!” the dwarf panted.

Joyce paled when she saw me. “Oh my gosh!”

Instinct had me turning to look in the mirror above the sink.

My pulse stuttered.

My hair had gone a pure white and my eyes were glowing an amber so deep they looked like fire. Other parts of my face had taken on an uncomfortable animal appearance.

My wolf was literally under my skin and we both looked ready to murder someone.

“Abby?” Samuel laid a hesitant hand on my shoulder, as if afraid I would break.

I swallowed and clasped his fingers, his touch lending me strength to force down the rage threatening to overwhelm me.

I realized Virgil was still shouting on the line and met Samuel’s worried gaze.

“Ellie’s been attacked,” I said in a flat voice.

My alpha swore. Bo raised his head, ears perking up and eyes round with fear.

I put my phone to my ear, my jaw set in a hard line.

“Virgil, calm down and tell me exactly what happened.”

16

BITTEN

The driveto Bean Me Up had never felt longer.

Samuel gripped the steering wheel of the Bentley so hard I was surprised it hadn’t snapped. Didi was muttering what sounded suspiciously like a protection spell in the back seat. Barney stared out the window with glowing crimson eyes and an expression like thunder. Gavin’s nostrils kept sparking alarmingly, to the point it was a miracle he hadn’t burned down the car and us with it. Detective Johnson was squashed between the dragon newt and the vampire and looked like he was wondering what had possessed him to get inside the vehicle. Bo was pressed against the floor by my legs with his paws over his head.

He was thankfully no longer howling.

“Everyone needs to calm down,” I said in a carefully controlled voice. “We don’t know how bad it is yet.”

“Your hands are shaking,” Detective Johnson muttered.

Bo peeked at me between his toes. “He’s right.”

He raised his head and cautiously licked my fingers.

I stroke his head and released a tremulous breath.

Adrenaline was buzzing through my veins like I’d been zapped by lightning and my blood felt like it was on fire.

“She’s been attacked by a four-hundred-year-old vampire,” Barney finally said grimly. “It’s bad.”

Acid burned the back of my throat when I met the vampire’s gaze in the rearview mirror. The rational part of my brain knew he was right, but the rest of me was too busy trying not to let my white wolf powers flatten every supernatural being within a five-mile radius to fully process his argument. I could feel them pressing against my skin like a living thing, demanding release.

The worried glances Samuel kept casting my way told me he’d never seen or felt anything like it before. I clenched my fists.

My wolf and I needed to have a serious conversation about a lot of things someday soon.