FANGED

Chapter Ten

Fang made a grab for my keys, but I snatched them away in the nick of time and he swiped nothing but air.

"Too slow," I mocked, dancing out from his reach.

"We don't have time for this," he growled, the shadowed anger of his eyes made me gulp and step further back. He really was intimidating when he went all Fright Night on me.

Sheesh, I don't know what he was so pissed about. It was my house that got blown to smithereens. If anyone should be having an attitude right now, it should be me.

"You disrespected the wheels, dude. That means you don't get to drive." I shrugged. Seriously, it's car ownership one-oh-one.

"Give me the keys, Red."

He focused his icicle peepers at me. His pupils dilating to tiny little pinpricks as they began to sparkle and glimmer like diamonds until they were at full maximum wattage.

I was impressive. They glowed like one of those neon light sticks you snap and shake at parties and raves. Not that I ever attended a rave, but I loved glow sticks when I was a kid. I once spent a small fortune on a box of them and danced around in the house in nothing but brightly glowing neon colors and my underwear to Karma Chameleon. Okay...that was last week. Don't judge me.

As remarkable as they were, it was Fang who was wasting our time. I rolled my eyes at him. "You're super-duper I'm your master mind meld trick doesn't work on me, remember?"

Two shots fired over the roof of Gizmo and splintered into the trunk of a nearby tree. Thanks to his spotlight scrutiny, they figured out there was two less weenies roasting on the bonfire. I scrambled with the keys and unlocked the driver's side door, diving into Gizmo faster than the Duke boys could slide into the General Lee.

Rolling down my window, I jerked my head towards the passenger side at a still fuming Drake. "Get in!" I hollered, while pulling on my seatbelt and jamming the key into the ignition. I didn't have time for his "me man...me must drive" testosterone temper tantrum.

Petting the dashboard, I murmured encouraging words to Gizmo to please not be finicky and to start. Twisting the key, my baby roared to life and I breathed a sigh of relief as Drake finally crammed himself into the car.

It was rather comical to see over six foot of vampire stuffed into a Gremlin. Even after he shifted the seat as far back as it would go, he was still kissing his kneecaps and his shoulders were smashed up against mine. Driving in this kind of close quarters was going to be interesting.

A giggle bubbled up from my throat while I looked at him all contorted with his head at a strange angle to keep from busting through the roof. For a brief moment the opening scene of the Flintstones buzzed through my brain. You know, the part where Dino pops his head up through the fur covered top at the drive-in? Yeah...that's kind of how Fang looked, only his head wasn't coming out of the top of Gizmo. The only way he would have been able to drive was if I had a moon roof.

"Comfy?" I asked innocently.

More gunfire erupted, sending little tuffs of dirt flying over the hood of Gizmo.

"Just fucking drive," he snarled.

"Aye, aye Captain Canine." I gave him a little salute and tried to grab the gear shifter which was lodged into the side of his burly thigh. No matter how much I wiggled, I couldn't fit my fingers around the knob enough to put it in gear.

"Any day now," Drake hissed at me as he cranked his head around to look out the hatchback. "They're coming...and fast."

His fidgeting pinched my fingers and I yelped, yanking my hand away. "I don't need the commentary news flashes! What I need is for you to skootch your ass over so I can put Gizmo in gear!" I yelled back, watching the dark figures approaching through the side mirror.