Page 68 of Midnight Kiss
“Yeah. I think it’s time for you to leave,” I said. “As much as I’d like to have you here, Morgan, it’s not helping. I’m safe, and you’ll be safer if you just pretend none of this is happening. Things will get back to normal soon.”
“You heard her,” Mike said, opening the door. “Time to go.”
Morgan gave me an incredulous look then shook her head and pushed out of the armchair. “Fine,” she said. “Fine. But I— This is not cool, Emily. Don’t expect me to get over the way you just treated me any time soon.”
My insides twisted with guilt. The Emily from last week would have done anything to please her and everyone else, but that had only wound up getting me in trouble. It had ended with me here, on this sofa, dying, instead of happy and doing what I cared about.
Morgan took one last look at me before stepping into the hall.
A dark figure in a cloak appeared behind her and looped an arm across her throat, drawing her back a step.
Morgan kicked and screamed, her eyes wide, and pulled at the stranger’s arm, but they didn’t release her.
“Mike!” I shrieked, too weak to rise off the sofa.
Michael had already dropped his phone and brought out a small gun from his pocket. He aimed it at the stranger, his gaze narrowing. “Let her go.”
The figure tightened his grip on Morgan, and she made a choking noise, her fingers scrabbling at the fabric of the man’s sleeve.
He lowered his hood and smiled, showing sharp fangs between crimson lips, a hooked nose, blazing blue eyes. Not a man.
A vampire.
“Why would I do that, Hunter scum?” he asked. “She’s lovely.”
Morgan gasped for air.
“He’s killing her,” I cried, trying to sit up.
“Killing her?” the vampire asked. “I’m taking great pleasure in choking her before I feed on her delicious sweet blood. And I will do more than that. Much more. I will?—”
Michael fired without hesitation, and the vampire jerked back, his arm flying free of Morgan’s throat.
She keeled over forward, landing on all fours, and Mike bent and grabbed her, dragging her toward the door.
But the vampire was quicker. It grabbed her by the ankle and clung onto her. A small hole appeared in the center of its forehead where Michael’s bullet had struck true.
“Silver bullets?” the vampire asked, baring its fangs in a malicious smile. “Did you really think that would work?”
“Dipped in werewolf venom,” Michael replied coolly. He still hadn’t released Morgan’s arm, and she gasped and kicked, trying to get closer to him.
The vampire’s eyes widened. “Werewolf—” He clapped a hand over his forehead, scratching and releasing a high-pitched scream that made my head ache.
Mike dragged Morgan over the threshold then kicked the door shut. She trembled all over, kicking back until she hit the kitchen counter. She pressed herself against it, staring at the closed door.
Mike latched it then peered through the peephole. “Still out there. That werewolf venom won’t last long. It will make him itch and burn for a while, but it won’t kill him.”
“What just— What the— Just what the fuck just happened?” Morgan spat.
“Easy.” Mike grabbed the mug of hot chocolate he’d made her earlier and thrust it into her palms. “There’s no use screaming. Drink this, and I’ll explain everything afterward.”
“Was that?—?”
“Drink.”
She did as he’d said, but with a lot of trepidation and constant looks toward the closed door.
“They can’t get in here,” Mike said. “We’re protected. But it also means that we can’t leave. They’re here for Emily, and if we let them in, we’re all screwed. Guess you’re going to be a part of this now, whether you like it or not. We warned you to leave.”