Page 57 of Blood Moon

As pissed as I was about his driving, I knew it was most likely because he was worried about Delilah. I was terrified that something had happened to her. Especially if the Vipers and Phantoms were both working with Jones. It would be nearly impossible to keep Delilah safe from the psycho bitches. That wouldn’t stop us from trying.

“Take a right here,” I ordered, hoping that Vik could make the turn without wrecking my car.

“Got it,” he responded, turning down the street and gunning it. This was more like it.

“Okay, you’ll have to slow down after the next intersection. Scott said they’re on that block. That means she’s close,” I explained. I was already searching the street for signs of her. Some of the buildings were tagged as Viper hangouts. Others had the more subtle mark of the Phantoms. It seemed as if this part of the city was overrun with gang activity.

I heard gunshots and yelled at Vik. “There! Pull over!” I spotted chaos at a local deli. Vik pulled over and we both jumped out, running toward the deli. There seemed to be some sort of commotion going on. People were running away and screaming.

“Is that Jones?” I pointed to the man who was fleeing the scene. Vik nodded and raced off after him, leaving me to search for Delilah. She was close, I could smell her.

Something was wrong. If she was close enough for me to smell, I should have been able to sense her emotions too. I stopped for a second to focus. Nothing. But her scent was still there. I walked into the deli, where chaos seemed to have taken over.

There were gunshot victims all over the place. I followed Delilah’s scent to a table near the front window. Then I saw it.

The puddle of blood on the floor was the source of her scent. I knew it before I dropped to my knees next to the blood and dipped a finger into it. I licked the maroon goo from my finger and shivered. It was hers. She must have been shot. But where was her body? There was no way she lived through losing this much blood.

I glanced around the room, but no one was even paying attention to me. The police hadn’t arrived, and neither had emergency services. Whoever had taken her might have done it to save her life. None of the people here were coherent enough to interrogate.

I struggled to fight the tears that wanted to fall. I had vowed to protect her, and I had failed. Delilah was gone because of me. There was no way to go back and fix this. But maybe there was a chance she was still alive. I had to hold out hope.

I growled and tore out of the deli, chasing after Vik. If Jones knew where Delilah was, we needed him alive. I ran up to see Jones on top of Vik, about to stab him in the heart. I grabbed him from behind, restraining him to my chest.

Before I could speak, Vik was on his feet and thrusting his hand in our enemy’s chest. When he pulled his hand away, I dropped Jones’ lifeless body at Vik’s feet. A wave of jealousy hit me. I had wanted to kill the bastard.

“I wish I’d been the one to do it, but I’m glad it was you.” I pointed to his hand and cocked an eyebrow at him. It was covered in blood and held a red, nearly softball sized blob that dripped onto the floor. The same red stained his suit and dripped from his hand. This guy was a little psycho after all. I was impressed.

Covered in Jones’ blood, his eyes wild with adrenaline, Vik didn’t seem to hear anything I had said. “Where’s Delilah?” He looked around, sniffing the air as I had done.

“Gone. I only found her blood.” I responded. I knew he was in shock, but I needed him to focus.

“What? I don’t understand.” He looked at the bloody organ in his hand.

“She’s gone,” I repeated. “Not dead—maybe, but not here. It looks like she was injured. Probably shot by Jones, from the way things look. Someone must have taken her to the hospital. We’ll check them out and let the ERs know that we’re her family and that she’s missing. They’ll call us if she comes in.” I filled him in as I guided him back to the car.

I climbed into the driver’s seat of the Porsche as Vik got in the passenger’s side, still holding Jones’ heart.

“Are you keeping that?” I asked as I started the car.

“Damn straight I am. That fucker tried to kill our girl. She’s gonna have this as a souvenir. Now we must find her,” he responded. He didn’t even need proof that Jones had done it. Honestly, neither did I.

“I just hope it’s not too late,” I said as we sped away.

Epilogue

As I lay in the backseat of the car, feeling my life fade away, I took in my surroundings. If this was the end, I would remember my guys and notice every detail.

The interior of the car was gray, the leather seat was cold against my skin. It was slick from the blood I’d been losing steadily since getting shot.

I faintly remembered an arm in front of my face. “Drink, a chroí. It’ll help.” Drink what? From his arm? I opened my mouth to ask, but the arm was on my lips before I could speak.

I felt something dripping into my mouth. It tasted sweet and metallic. Blood. My guys had mentioned that vampire blood could heal humans. But why was this stranger trying to help me?

I passed out again as the darkness took me under. I knew I was getting close to the end. The vampire blood hadn’t worked.

I imagined Eli and Viktor being with me, comforting me in my final moments. I pictured Viktor’s stern expression when he didn’t get his way, and Eli’s teasing grin when he was messing with Viktor. I knew they’d had problems, but I was certain that losing me would bring them back together. At least I could take comfort in them not being alone after I was gone.

I pictured what our life could have been like if I hadn’t been shot. Happiness would have been great. Pain shot through me again and I opened my eyes.

Staring back at me was a gorgeous man with red hair and green eyes. He must have been an angel. He smiled at me sadly as he spoke. “I’m sorry, a chroí. You’re not going to make it.” His fangs clicked as the world went black again.

TO BE CONTINUED…