Irritation made my gut flip upside down. I punched the vampire on top of Matéo, sending the creature flying into one of the booths. The other vampire whirled around with fangs extended and bloodshot eyes, his lengthy nails pointed at me. As he flew forward, Matéo grabbed him, wrestling him to the ground.
The other vampire stood on the table and dusted himself off. He cracked his neck, exhaled slowly, and then focused on me. “This isn’t your fight, innkeeper. Stay out of it.”
“Stay away fromhim,” I warned. “He wasn’t bothering you!”
The vampire snarled while leaping across the booths. I crouched low and then jumped at the last minute, colliding with him so hard that it nearly knocked the air out of my lungs. And maybe his, too. It was hard to tell with the undead how they reacted to things.
These vampires were much stronger than Charlotte, Nina, or Sasha. All those hours preparing for battle seemed almost silly to me now that I was in a full-frontal brawl with the same species that I swore could seek protection under the roof of my inn. It almost went against everything I believed.
Almost.
But at the same time, they had attacked Matéo in the open without any reason. Even if Matéo had given them a reason, it wasn’t right. Couldn’t they see they were wasting their energy?
The vampire wrapped his hands around my neck. I stumbled back, shoving my conjoined hands between his arms and stabbing the inside of his elbows with my elbows.
Awkward elbows for the win.
I shoved my thumbs into his eyes and then kneed him in the gut, stunning him briefly. As he toppled back, Matéo intervened, punching the vampire right through the diner window.
An explosion of glass rained after the vampire as he landed on the sidewalk with a resoundingthud. The other vampire remained motionless on the ground near some of the toppled counter chairs. Matéo grabbed my arms and said, “We have to go.”
Both his eyes were glowing red. The sight of them flaring with such passion aroused and alarmed me simultaneously.
Nope, shove that down, too, I thought.Not the right time.
He snatched my hand and yanked me into the parking lot where he loaded me into his truck.
“My car,” I said while strapping the seat belt into place. “Fuck,my car. I hope they don’t bash it. Are they going to ruin it?”
Matéo hopped into the driver’s seat and started the truck. “No time.”
“Right, just drive. We have to get out of here.”
“Mountains?”
I shook my head. “No, we should head to the inn.”
“Give me directions.”
One of the vampires attacked the front of the truck as Matéo backed out of the space. The one I slammed into a booth lunged from the rubble, charging in a blur of movement to join his brother. My heart was pounding right into the atmosphere at this point. And clutching my chest wasn’t helping. At all.
My wolf desperately wanted me to shift.
Danger, she screamed deep down.We have to fight!
While curling my fists in my lap, I helplessly watched as more vampires gathered around the truck. Their fangs glittered in the yellow glow of the headlights, eyes focused on the man next to me—and only him. They hardly seemed bothered by my presence at all.
What did they want from this guy?
“Gun it,” I told him. “Run them over.”
“Wait for it.”
I frowned while shooting him an incredulous expression. “Wait forwhat?”
A devilish grin cut over his mouth, making him look sinister in the dim light of the parking lot. He pointed to a switch on the dashboard hosting a sun sticker. “Oh, you’re going tolovethis.”
He flipped the switch. Three vampires sizzled like sausages on a griddle right in front of us, their features twisted in abject horror. Two of them had the mind to hop out of the beam of light. The other wasn’t so lucky.