Page 82 of Vanessa’s Bravery

When she saw a movement in the corner of her eye, Vanessa’s gaze shot to the stairs. She caught sight of Milo who, instead of running upstairs, went around the staircase to the area where the vans were parked. He disappeared behind them, and she lost sight of him.

Following the first team of Scanguards rescuers, who now moved deeper into the building, several other figures also clad in Kevlar, came running, carrying shields. Vanessa recognized them as the kind of shields the police used for crowd control.

The vampires entering with the shields rushed to the area where the hybrids were tied up and shielded them to protect them from the kidnappers in case they could get off a shot to hurt or kill one of the hostages.

Vanessa let her gaze roam, and noticed that more Kevlar-clad rescuers were entering from the front of the building where the firetruck was still parked and making noise. They too were armed with UV-ray guns and now attacked the kidnappers from the other side, herding them into a corner where Milo’s men managed to hide behind old machinery. There was no escape from that corner. Even though Milo’s henchmen shot at the Scanguards staff, their bullets didn’t penetrate the Kevlar suits.

Meanwhile, two more Kevlar-clad vampires entered, both of them equipped with bolt cutters, blocking her view of the goings-on in the building. As fast as they could, they cut through the hybrids’ chains and handcuffs. Vanessa was one of the first to be freed. She rose to her feet, when she saw Cole. He wore a bullet-proof vest, but no other protection, though he had a handgun in his hand.

“Cole!” she called out to him, running toward him.

Before she reached him, her gaze fell onto the stairs again, and she was reminded of the vampires that were hiding on the second floor.

“Dad! Orlando! Amaury!” she yelled in the direction of the biggest vampires. When two of them turned their heads to her, she pointed to the stairs. “There are more of them upstairs.”

With a quick nod, three of them now rushed toward the stairs, while two others hurried to the stairs at the other side of the building. Relieved, Vanessa turned to Cole. He was only a couple of feet away from her, and now pulled her into his arms.

“I was so worried,” he said and squeezed her to him.

“It’s too dangerous for you here.” Vanessa freed herself from his embrace and grabbed him by his arm. “You need to get out of here. There are more vampires upstairs.”

She pulled him with her as she headed for the door. From the corner of her eye, she noticed that her Kevlar-clad colleagues were still firing UV-rays at the remaining vampires who had barricaded themselves behind some machinery and were firing wildly in the direction of their enemies.

When a bullet whizzed past her, hitting one of the blacked-out windows overlooking the alley, she pushed Cole down toward the ground, guessing that more bullets were coming. As she covered Cole and raised her head to see which way was safest to escape, she saw somebody’s legs between the parked vans. She recognized the tacky purple cowboy boots instantly: Milo.

“Shit!”

“You hurt?” Cole asked, turning his head to cast her a worried glance.

“No.” She pointed in the direction of the vans. “Milo is trying to escape.”

“Fuck!” Cole cursed. “We’ve gotta stop him.”

Vanessa let her eyes roam to assess the situation. The vampires who’d come in with the police shields were already ushering the unarmed hybrids out of the building, because without weapons and protective clothing, they could still become a casualty to the remaining rogues who were still fighting. Several members of Scanguards’ rescue team were on the second floor, and by the sounds coming from there, they were fighting with Milo’s men who’d tried to hide upstairs.

The vans in between which Milo was hiding, were cutting off Vanessa’s direct line of sight to the corner from where several of Milo’s men were shooting at the Scanguards staff. They wouldn’t hear her now, the noise too loud.

“Cole, give me your gun,” Vanessa demanded. “I’ll stop Milo. You stay here.”

“Fat chance,” Cole protested. “I’m wearing a bullet-proof vest. You’re not. I’ll get him.”

Cole already rushed toward the vans.

“Fuck!” she cursed and went after him. As she ran, she saw a wooden stake on the ground, lying amid ash, the remains of one of the rogue vampires. She picked it up quickly. She reached Cole where he was pressing himself to the back of one of the vans, his gun raised, trying to look past it to see where Milo was. Vanessa gritted through her teeth, “Stubborn idiot!”

“Yeah, well, get used to it.” Cole bridged the distance between this van and the next, then stopped there, while Vanessa followed him. Again, he cast a glance past the corner of the van. “Fuck!”

Cole didn’t have to tell her why he cursed, because Vanessa saw it too. The engine of the van next to the one they were hiding behind was running. The brake lights were illuminated. Milo was already in the van.

“Shoot the tires,” Vanessa advised.

“Good idea.” Cole shot the left back tire, then aimed for the front one, deflating this one too.

Vanessa heard a sound coming from the van. Somebody was opening the door, but it wasn’t the driver’s door.

“He’s trying to get out the passenger side,” she whispered to Cole. “I’ll go around the back.”

“Wait, you’re not armed.”