Page 74 of Starved Until Sunset

The other two figures stepped into a circle of light and Cody nearly cried with relief. It was Ollie and his brother, Dave. Jesus Christ, Cody’s brain could invent more threats than it had a right to.

He stopped and raised his hand in greeting, then bent over with his hands on his knees, the squirt gun held awkwardly off to one side as he caught his breath. His heart rate was slowing, and the buzzing in his brain had quieted somewhat. Demmy was safe and they were together again.

Cody straightened up, a big smile on his face. He took a step forward, his gaze fixed on Demmy, seeing only the matching smile and bright expression undimmed by the washout of the LED light overhead.

Something moved in front of the light, passing its shadow over Demmy and Clarabell. Cody stopped, his smile fading, then shivered as a breeze gusted around him.

“Cody!” Demmy shouted and pointed at him.

The smell of death and dirt and rot wrapped around him, bringing with it a deep and terrible cold as strong hands grabbed his upper arms from behind, claws digging into his skin. Before he could shout in surprise or cry out at the hot and angry pain blossoming in his arms, Cody was lifted off his feet, dropping the squirt gun.

He found his voice and shouted as he watched the ground drop away in a dizzying spiral. Demmy’s face was a pale oval looking up, his mouth a black circle of shock and anguish. Cody caught a glimpse of Amelia and Eileen watching him fly away, then the roof of the hospital sped past beneath him, all air conditioning units and air exchanges, weathered and rusted. The rush of air in his face was cold, and he thought wildly that he should have grabbed a heavier jacket when he’d left the house.

Awareness came back, and he shifted within the grip of whatever had him, trying to get loose. Then a large head dipped down close to his ear, an awful cold streaming off of it, colder even than the air around him. In a terrible voice that sounded like it had dirt in its throat, the thing said, “Hold still, my prize. You wouldn’t like two broken legs to deal with as well as a slow exsanguination.”

Cody tipped his head as far from the thing as possible and screamed as it carried him off into the night.

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

Panic burned away every rational thought inside Demetrius’s head as he watched Cody being lifted into the night sky and carried away. His heart pounded, and his muscles burned with the need for motion, a way to act, but he couldn’t seem to move.

Amelia hurried to him through the cars, Eileen struggling to keep up. Their eyes were wide and wild, both shouting questions. Clarabell was talking to them, and Oliver and Dave were suddenly there beside him, all of their mouths moving as they shouted to each other and at him. But Demetrius couldn’t hear anything they said. A high-pitched and constant ringing had started inside his head, blocking out all other sound. He looked up into the clear night sky, the stars so beautiful and serene above the hospital.

There was no sign of Cody. Demetrius couldn’t believe what he had witnessed. Cody coming toward him, his smile big and face open, happy to see him. And Demetrius had been glad to see him, too.

But then that monstrous winged thing had landed behind Cody, grabbed him by the arms and taken off again. Demetrius shuddered as he recalled the finer details, now imprinted in his brain: the terrible, bat-like face visible above Cody’s head, and the way it stared hungrily at the side of Cody’s neck; the claws that had dug into Cody’s flannel shirt; Cody’s legs moving like he’d been trying to run through the air as the thing carried him over the hospital and out of sight.

“Demetrius?” Amelia touched his shoulder, her gentle voice breaking through the cacophony of terror inside his head. She’d taken his hand without him realizing it, and who knew how long she’d been trying to get him to speak to her.

“What?” Demetrius said. He looked up over the hospital again, then back at her. “What?”

“Come on, let’s get inside,” someone else said.

The voice had the same cadence and rhythm to it as Cody’s, but it was only Dave, standing with a protective hand on Oliver’s shoulder. Dave’s face was tight with fear and anxiety, and Demetrius thought he should say something to provide a bit of comfort and reassurance, but at that moment, he had no idea what words like that might be.

He allowed himself to be directed toward the hospital entrance, and the doors parted with a slight grating sound, admitting them to the familiar open space of the main lobby. But nothing felt the same any more. Everything was too bright, too fast, and all Demetrius wanted to do was go back outside and wait for Cody. Because surely Cody would be coming back any minute. He wasn’t gone for good.

But Cody had been taken by a monster. The thing they had argued about that very morning had swooped down and snatched him away.

The numbness that had fallen over him like a cold, heavy blanket, limiting his thoughts and movements, started to shift. The spark of love flared brighter, building within him. It quickly burned through the numbing shock and sealed up the rift of loss, leaving him scared, angry, and ready to act. Sounds became clearer. He could hear the calming instrumental music coming from hidden speakers. The murmur of conversations as people walked through the lobby. And the voices of those he loved and trusted, all talking over each other as they tried to formulate a plan.

But Demetrius knew they didn’t have time to sit and debate. They needed to act. And they needed to talk with the man who knew vampires better than anyone else in town.

“The morgue,” Demetrius said.

The others stopped mid-sentence and looked at him. All of them were wide-eyed and pale. Except for Clarabell, who wore a tight smile and a determined expression.

“What in the name of sugar maples are you talking about?” Amelia said in a slightly shaky voice.

“We have to talk to Dr. Graham,” Demetrius said. “He’s our only hope to get Cody and Zenona back.”

The entry doors slid apart, and Deputy Walsh hurried inside. Her expression mirrored that of their entire group, wide eyes, lips pressed into a thin line, face drawn. She stopped when she saw them, then quickly approached.

“It took Lucy,” Deputy Walsh said.

“Who?” Dave asked.

She made a face and looked down, shaking her head. “She’d give me hell for that.” When she lifted her head, Demetrius could see she’d composed herself a bit more, and her voice was steady. “Deputy Durant. She’s been taken. We were out on patrol and had gotten out of the car to disband a group that had congregated in the parking lot behind Main Street. It swooped down out of the sky and grabbed her up. I didn’t have a chance to do anything. She was there, and then she was gone.”