Page 76 of How to Stake a Vampire

I looked around where I’d cushioned Barney’s fall.

Ludvik was making his escape with several blood bags, his form leaving a faint shadowy imprint in the air.

I wriggled free and gave chase, Barney and Samuel scrambling to catch up.

Cries erupted as we dashed out into the reception, the ghoul staff falling back in panic at our sight. By the time we got outside, there was no trace left of Ludvik.

Samuel and I stopped beside Barney on the road and shifted back to our human forms.

“Where the hell did he go?!” I snarled, heart pounding and breaths coming hard and fast.

“I don’t know,” Barney replied grimly.

Samuel spun on himself and searched the skies. He stiffened. “There!”

We followed his gaze as he pointed to the south.

A shrinking flock of bats was etched starkly against the pale clouds.

I scowled at Barney. “Is it normal for a vampire to move like that?”

“No,” he replied, his voice a mix of anger and dread. “I have never witnessed that kind of speed in a member of our race. Not even the Lords of the Old Country.”

This wasn’t the kind of news I needed to hear right now. Samuel and I exchanged a tense look.

We were in over our heads and we all knew it.

Footsteps pounded on the road. Didi and Gavin were running toward us, Detective Johnson following closely.

“You should do something about your leg,” Barney told Samuel.

My chest tightened when I saw the ugly wound on my alpha’s thigh, the fresh scent of his blood tickling my nostrils.

“It’ll heal in no time,” he reassured at my expression.

I clenched my jaw harder.

The others reached us.

“We got all the customers out,” Didi said, her wary gaze taking in our battle-worn appearance.

Gavin paled a little at the sight of Samuel’s injury.

Detective Johnson frowned. “I take it Ludvik escaped?”

“Yes.” I fisted my hands. “And he’s far more dangerous than we’d realized.”

Our earpieces crackled to life, startling us and causing Gavin’s horns to pop out.

“The cameras are back online,” Nigel said somberly.

Detective Johnson choked on a gurgle when a translucent figure materialized beside us.

It was Mindy. She flickered in and out of visibility, shaken and disheveled.

“I’m sorry. I tried to stop her!”

I stared. “Stop who?”