Drown Under Earth - Shadows of the Night 3

Chapter 25

Hi!

Another weekend over, but at least it looks like I'll finally have more time to write. But, who knows, maybe more things will appear out of nowhere, and I'll be back right where I started. Would figure... Back to the story: Things are getting out of hand - big time! Let me know what you're thinking!

Lara

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Chapter 25

I almost crashed into Tony and Brenna. They'd stopped, had come to a sudden halt so fast I didn't even realize it.

I tensed, looking up and down the side street, expecting a horde of vampires to jump us.

By all appearances we were alone. I had no idea where we were, but as far as I could see there was no imminent crisis looming on the horizon. I looked back, trying to get some sort of reading on how far we got.

"Why did you stop?" I breathed.

It was in that moment that my gaze settled on Tony. I stiffened.

"Did you or did you not just warn the vamps? What's wrong with you Sarah?!" He threw the words into my face, like they could inflict physical pain.

And they didn't, dammit. I wasn't here to make friends. I was here to save lives.

"You can call me names later. First we get out of here," I hissed, stepping into second sight again.

"Crap!" I grabbed Tony's shirt and opened my eyes to find colors and reality crashing into me, setting me off-balance with a feeling of disorientation. "Vamp heading straight our way!"

He stared at me with wide brown eyes.

I grabbed his upper arm. "We can't be seen this close to the site of crime."

"This way," Brenna whispered.

I found myself stumbling after Tony, and together with Brenna we crouched down behind a dumpster. We held our collective breath as we heard the dull footsteps of the vampire moving down the street. It had to be a younger exemplar, otherwise we wouldn't have heard it moving at all. Somewhere the information registered.

The dumpster smelled of things I didn't even want to think about, but it was nothing compared to the staccato beat of my pulse, the way my heart attempted to climb up my throat.

Long seconds passed before the footsteps started to fade, reduced to a receding echo in the night. By the time I got up my feet were cramping and my heart was still slamming against my chest. I scanned the long shadows stretching into the abandoned street.

"Okay, let's get everyone out of here. Where are the others, Tony?"

He simply pushed past me, making his way out into the side street we had come from. I looked at Brenna, but her eyes shied away from mine before she fell into step with him.

Great. Now they were treating me like a freaking leper.

I caught up with them and voiced what I had been thinking during our hide and seek with the vamp.

"Why didn't you do your spiking session during daylight? Wouldn't that have been less risky, not to say less stupid?"

Tony shot me a look that by all rights should have knocked me out cold.

"Greater security. Those arrogant vamps believe once they're up they're invincible. We know one of the barmaids working there. She got us the T-shirts and let us in."

I groaned inwardly. "Please tell me that the rest of the staff didn't see your faces."

"Of course not," Brenna said. "We're not that stupid. We talked to no one. We just sneaked into the storage room, spiked the barrels, and out we were."