Chapter Sixteen
Jensen helped me up and I rubbed my throat tenderly.
'Thanks.' I rasped.
'Is it just me, or are you REALLY out of practise?' The British vampire smirked.
The bloodied smile fell off my face. 'Way to ruin the moment.'
'I aim to please. Now come on.'
I followed him back down, once again to the vault, and was annoyed to see the door open with Grace comforting the old fatty teller as he struggled to breathe.
'What the Hell's going on?' I snapped to Grace as she stood and walked over to us.
'You can't let anyone out! We still have one Shifter left!'
'So I'm guessing you killed the other.' She said, indicating my blood-soaked clothes, face and hands.
'Jensen did, yeah.' I muttered, hating having to admit it.
Grace shot him a death look, then turned back to me. 'That dude looks like he's about to have a panic attack. We have to get him out of here, right now.'
I sighed and rubbed my face, causing the blood to get smudged in. 'How many cameras do you reckon are out there?'
'We're in our second hour of a hostage situation with a kid with a gun that has no idea how to handle this situation.' Jensen said. 'I'd say about twenty for each TV station.'
'Well that's just dandy.' Grace said cynically.
I almost broke down and sobbed then. Instead, I took a deep breath and said, 'Guard the vault, and keep an eye out for that last son of a bitch. If Jensen's right and it's been two hours, it's skin will be looser and it'll shy away from people.
'I'll escort the teller out.'
And have my face plastered all over the news at the head of a shabby heist.
Sighing, I stepped up to the teller who looked up at me fearfully.
'Don't...hurt me.' He rasped out, breathing hard.
'I'm not going to.' I said, helping him stand.
'I've got to...get out...of here.'
'Yeah, come on.' Supporting most of his weight, I helped him walk down the last flight of stairs and kicked the door open, smashing glass.
Suddenly, about fifty or more lights were trained on my body, and I swallowed hard.
'Get back!'I shouted, as a bright beam flooded my face and cameras became trained on us.
'Don't do anything!' I shouted, then pushed the guy forward. A couple paramedics rushed forward, catching him and almost getting crushed themselves before running back.
I cast one last look over the massive crowd, seeing cameras flash and news reporters talking fast, before ducking back inside.
Jogging back up the steps and ducking under the spotlight until I reached Jensen and Grace.
'Where's Liam?' I asked.
They shrugged.
'Dammit.' I muttered.
Turning back to the sealed vault, I opened my mouth to speak when a splitting bang hit the air, deafening us all and filling the room with a deadly silence.
'What was-' Grace began.
'Liam.' Jensen and I said simultaneously.
I bolted back down the steps as Jensen jumped the railing and landed on the bottom floor, not even cracking the marble.
As I got down there, I saw Liam lying just out of a spotlight, blood pooling around him.
'Dammit.' I muttered, crouching low and crawling over to him. 'Sorry Liam.' I whispered, and took his rifle.
'I think we just got shoved further up the creek.' I muttered, crawling back and standing straight.
'Oh really?' Jensen said sarcastically. 'And what tipped you off to that?'
'The fact that you're here.' I spat.
'Guys!' Grace called, leaning over the banister. 'There's cops in here!'
***
'Son of a bitch.' I muttered, bolting back up the stairs (my exercise for the month) and standing in front of her. 'How do you know?' I added, louder.
She shut her eyes, and when she opened them again her pupils were slits. 'I can hear them, going through the upper floors and ceilings. I think we may be officially screwed.'
'That's putting it lightly.' Jensen muttered. 'They're at all exits and moving in.'
I rubbed my temples, thinking hard. I didn't want to go back to gaol!
And we still had to find that other Shifter...
'What about the Shifter?' Grace asked, as if having read my mind.
'We're gonna have to leave it for now.' I said, walking down the side, and eventually the others followed. 'The most important thing is that we get out of here now...'
'I know a way out.' Grace said, then ran up ahead of me. Jensen and I followed, and Grace led us down a little stone passageway that was filled with cold, dank air.
'Where are we?' I asked quietly as the sound of shouting echoed up from the floors as the cops offically broke in.
Grace stopped suddenly, and I almost ran into her. But Jensen ran into me, and we toppled down the stairs- loudly, I might add.
'Hey, there's people down here!' A cop yelled, and I heard multiple other yellings.
I tried to sit up, burried under Jensen and Grace. 'Son of a bitch.' I muttered
