For a few seconds, I heard nothing. Then I felt a subtle shockwave in the air that made the hairs on my arms stand on end. The sound of chains clinking to the ground followed, along with a high-pitched chirp. Then I heard two heavy feet land on the ground beside me, shaking the container.
“Uh,” I said, still not sure I trusted the story my ears had just told me. “Are you still bleeding from multiple gunshot wounds?”
“Yes,” Lucian said. “I’m also completely naked. Please try not to stare when we open the doors.”
I laughed. “Wait, if you turn into a small bat, what happens to your clothes? Shouldn’t they be on the ground? And why did you make a bat noise when you turned? Did you try to say something?”
“I didn’t make the rules, Cara. They just vanish. It’s terribly inconvenient. And yes, I said ‘fuck,’ because the transformation hurts.”
Lucian had just got me free of my chains when there was a deep screech from above us. Gunshots rang out along with the sound of bullets pinging off heavy metal containers. Raised voices shouted to look up or to get down. Someone started shooting and little circular holes of light burst through the wall of our container. Lucian covered me with his body, which I was confusingly aroused to find was naked. He crouched down, wrapping his arms around me.
“If that’s you, Alaric,” Lucian shouted, trying to be heard over the chaos outside. “You’re about to shoot the people you’re trying to save.”
“Oh,” Alaric called from outside the container. He yanked the doors open. “My fault. Was trying to shoot the bad guys.”
The sound of screams and gunshots was still raging in the distance, but Alaric was staring at us with his head tilted to the side. “Uh,” he said. “You didn’t think it would make more sense to get her out of here before you got naked? Where are your clothes, anyway?”
“I didn’t bring them,” Lucian said curtly. He stood, taking my hand and leading me at his side.
I tried to be a gentlewoman and control my eyes, but I figured there was a fifty percent chance I was going to get killed by a stray bullet any minute. So I stole several girthy glances at Lucian, who was completely pulling off the naked with confidence thing. I’d already confirmed as much when I put it in my mouth, but I was reminded that he definitely wasn’t lying. If vampires thought a small bat form meant a small penis, they clearly hadn’t seen Lucian.
“What’s the plan?” I whispered.
There was an ear-piercing, heavily accented screech in the distance. The sound was followed by a few gunshots, then exclamations about how hairy and naked whatever they were apparently shooting at was.
“We run,” Lucian said.
I followed after him and Alaric, who were hunched over and rushing through the crates. Lucian ended up scooping me in his arms and carrying me with him. Over his shoulder, I saw lightning-like flashes of light as more gunshots rang out and pinged off the containers. There was an occasional shout, sometimes a thump, and always more gunshots.
“How many people came with you?” I asked Alaric. “it sounds like a warzone over there.”
“Just Vlad,” Alaric said. “Seraphina was busy.”
“Vlad is by himself? There were four of the bad guys!” I hissed.
“Four?” Lucian asked. “Bennigan, Jezabel, Leah, and who else?”
“Some old guy with dead eyes. He seemed like he was the boss of Bennigan or something.”
Alaric and Lucian shared a look as we made our way past the perimeter of the shipping yard.
“What?” I asked, jumping into the car Lucian must’ve driven and buckling myself in the backseat. “What does that look mean?”
“Nothing,” Lucian said.
“Shouldn’t you two get guns and go back in a blaze of glory to save Vlad, or something?”
Alaric got in the passenger seat and looked back at me while Lucian turned the engine over and started to drive. “You’ve got to understand this whole gunfighting thing for vampires doesn’t carry the same weight it would for a human. We shoot each other, we bleed a little, it hurts, boo hoo. It’s really more about the emotional message.”
I narrowed my eyes. “You shoot each other with guns to send emotional messages?”
Alaric nodded. “Exactly. It’s pretty brutal work to actually kill one of us. Not something you’re likely to do by accident. So the whole gun part is like… Foreplay.”
“I see,” I said slowly. “I don’t think I understand, but I see.”
“Hey,” Alaric said, looking over toward Lucian. “Were you planning to just keep being naked, or did you want me to see if there’s something in here we can use to cover your cock with? I feel like it’s trying to make eye contact with me and I’m being rude by not returning the favor.”