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“Nearly dead isn’t really dead, asshole.” Jackson pulled the trigger again, but the chamber rang empty. He fell to his knees, breathing hard.
Lawrence rose shakily to his feet. “Regular bullets don’t kill vampires. As a hunter, you should know that by now.”
“No, they don’t.” Declan had managed to drag himself up to his feet and come closer, despite the fact that he looked almost as injured as Jackson did. “But this does.”
His hand was curled around the silver stake that had been lying just out of my reach, and he sliced it into Lawrence’s chest.
Lawrence staggered back, staring down at the weapon. When he looked up, there was a peaceful look on his face, replacing the earlier rage. “Thank you.”
And then he was gone, his fiery ashes scattered in a horrible cloud, some drifting down to land on my face. I squeezed my eyes shut.
Declan kneeled down next to me and grabbed for my hand. “No, Jill—please don’t be dead.”
I would have smiled if the expression was currently possible. It sounded exactly like what I’d said to him in the examination room downstairs.
“Not . . . quite yet,” I managed to say. “But . . . almost.”
“Vampires,” Jackson muttered. “I fucking hate vampires. Jesus, look at my arm. I seriously need an ambulance.”
Declan looked up at him. “How the hell did you escape? He said you were dead. That four vampires were feeding on you.”
“Never underestimate the power of positive thinking.” Jackson grinned shakily.
“He also told me you sold me out to Dr. Reynolds.” His expression darkened. “I’m sure you’ll deny that, right?”
His grin faded. “I can’t deny it. I did it.”
Declan’s grip on my hand tightened. He was more surprised than I was at the confirmation. “I want to kill you.”
“I’m a lowlife scum sucker. You already knew that. Hell, you were one of only a handful who could tolerate me before this. May as well burn all my bridges while I’m at it.”
“At least you admit it.”
Jackson’s expression was bleak. “That I’m a lying, selfish sack of shit? You got it. Now let’s get into the sunlight before the vamps I didn’t kill decide to climb the rest of those stairs.”
It wasn’t a victory parade as we dragged ourselves to the exit, but it would do. The hot sun felt so good on my face I nearly cried with relief. My throat felt sore, I was woozy from the loss of blood, and it would take a good long while for me to get over the last half hour of horror I’d experienced.
But I was still alive. And so was Declan.
And so was Jackson. Total asshole—no argument there—but he’d saved our lives. We would have died if he hadn’t intervened. I was sure that fact hadn’t escaped Declan’s attention. Maybe we didn’t owe him for that, since he’d gotten us into this in the first place, but it helped to even the scales a little bit.
Jackson looked at the warehouse exterior. “I’ll call for containment. Luckily those vamps aren’t going anywhere in the middle of the day. I’ll get some guys to come in and do a sweep, exterminate the rest of them. See if there are any human survivors. Hell, what a fucking mess.” He patted the pocket of his jeans with his uninjured hand. “Can I borrow your phone? I think mine got eaten.”
Declan threw him his cell phone.
“I’ll just go bleed over there and leave you two alone.” Jackson nodded at the parking lot before heading off in that direction.
“How’s your leg?” I asked, placing my hand on Declan’s knee as we sat side by side on the ground just outside the warehouse door. Laura was nowhere to be seen. She’d taken off running and hadn’t stopped. I hoped she’d be okay and not sign up for any more research programs that required one to be locked in a room deep underground.
He raised an eyebrow. “Healing. How’s your throat?”
“I need ice cream. And a couple Ban
d-Aids.”
His jaw tightened. “I’m sorry everything didn’t work out, Jill.”
I laughed a little at that. It hurt. “Not working out is a bit of an understatement.”
