Page 156 of Taming the Beasts

I looked both ways to make sure the coast was clear before stepping out. I hurried down the bank steps and pressed my back against the side of a parked car. I tried to ignore my body shaking as Emma ran up beside me.

Kebe kind of just casually walked down the steps and barely squatted down.

I grabbed her shoulder and pulled her lower. “We can’t be seen by them.”

“Right. Sorry. It’s hard for me to think of my babies as being poorly behaved. But these vampires are little terrors.”

They weren’t just little terrors. She’d created literal monsters. But I kept my mouth shut on my opinion. I peered around the car. “This way.” I stayed low as I ran down the sidewalk, taking time ducking behind the cars one by one to make sure no one was around.

I could see people running around the town square in the distance. It still looked packed, which was goodand bad. It meant lots of vampires would hear the sistrum. But it also meant it would be hard to get to the mic.

We kept going. I avoided stepping into a puddle of blood with my bare feet. There were never any bodies near the blood. And I knew what that meant. People weren’t dying. They were just being transformed into monsters.

I stopped by the last car at the end of Main Street and stared in horror at the town square. Bloody chairs were knocked over, the gazebo roof had caved in, and the bright colors of the fall leaves actually looked dull surrounded by all the blood red. People were running around screaming and groaning in pain as they shifted.

A low growl made me peer around the hood of the car. One of my werecat boyfriends could barely be seen under the pile of vampires on his back. The low growl sounded again. The sound was haunting. And I had this fear in my chest that he was dying. Where were my other boyfriends? Why weren’t they helping?

I scanned the carnage and saw similar piles of vampires. Slowly killing my boyfriends.

The only one who even seemed to be fighting back now was Titan. But I could tell it was no use. They were too outnumbered.

I took a step, but Emma grabbed my arm from behind to stop me. Just as a body slammed against the windshield of the car we were crouched next to.

I threw my hand over my mouth so I wouldn’t scream as a vampire jumped on top of the woman on the windshield. I was pretty sure he’d thrown her there. I didn’t realize they liked playing with their food so much.

The woman started screaming bloody murder.

I cringed. But then I remembered I was holding the cure. I shook the sistrum.

The vampire lifted its mouth off the woman’s neck. Blood dribbled down his chin as he stared at me.

For a second, I didn’t even realize I recognized him. His face was so covered in blood. But I instantly knew the smile that spread across his face. He’d smiled at me just like that in countless private sessions.

Elias.

“Zoey. You came back.”

FUCK!I shook the sistrum harder. Why wasn’t it working?! I kept shaking it but nothing happened.Damn it, Kebe! You freaking liar!

The woman Elias had bitten was now screaming in agony as she started to change into a vampire.

Elias leapt off the hood of the car right in front of me. He took a look behind me at Emma and Kebe and his smile grew even more.

I had no doubt in my mind that he was planning on biting Emma. And maybe high fiving Kebe or something? I had no idea what a vampire mother’s relationship was with her demon spawn.

But none of that mattered. What mattered was that my boyfriends were dying. And Elias was only here because of me. This was all my fault. The cure obviously hadn’t worked on him. But maybe it could work on the vampires that the coin created? It was possible it just needed to be played louder. It was old and rusted. The sound was probably muted a bit.

I put the sistrum behind me, trying to force it into Emma’s hands. But it was like she was avoiding it.

“What are you doing?” Emma whispered.

“Get to the mics. Save them.” Please, please save my boyfriends.

“Zoey...”

“Take it and go,” I hissed.

“What are you two whispering about?” Elias asked.