Page 21 of Fanged Secrets
Before she could take out her prey I brought my blades down on her back, harpooning the rogue vamp through the shoulders while the security guard punched upwards, smashing his fist into River’s face. I would have been impressed had there been any time to be anything but horrified.
River roared and rolled away, on her feet before I could even blink. She dove for the man again, who was struggling to get to his feet, and I rushed to intercept her. I threw off my jacket and felt my own body begin to shift, limbs elongating as I geared up to collide with my crazed partner, using an unnaturally unhinged jaw to snap down on her arm and wrench her aside.
River shrieked as the bones in her arm cracked and shattered between my fangs, and I delivered another ruthless punch to her abdomen. I was hesitant to pound one of my closest friends into the ground, but Icouldbeat her just close enough to that level that she’d stay down for a while.
But there was a moment of hesitation between blows when River took her chance and kicked out at me, sending me flying backward and denting one of the shipping containers. In the blink of an eye she was on me, jaws wide open to sink her teeth into my flesh. I twisted under her weight, jerking my head to the side and narrowly missing her snapping jaws.
I heard the scrape of shoes on gravel as the security guard booked it away from the fight. I’d have to track him down later and have his mind wiped, as well as everyone else who would inevitably hear about this. It was an administrative nightmare, and the task would inevitably fall to me and one telepathic vampire I didn’t want to partner with. Hunter was even more socially inept than I was.
That thought alone was enough to have me fighting with renewed drive. I managed to curl my knees to my chest, holding back River’s snapping jaws with one arm – an arm that was quickly being gnawed to a bloody pulp. With all the strength I could muster, I kicked upwards, launching River off me. She landed in a muddled heap of gangly limbs and protruding bones, sinewy bat-like wings splayed out on either side of her.
Before she could recover I got to slashing, lengthening my own claws, and lashing out with both hands, not giving her achance to heal. My blades were still protruding from her back like broken wings, and I grappled my way onto her shoulders as she stood, yanking them out and using them to saw at her wings so she couldn’t fly away.
I felt terrible, subjecting my friend to this torment, but if she got loose in the city it would be a bloodbath. Her piercing keening hurt my ears and I tried to close my mind to the sound, focusing on hacking and slashing and slicing, one thousand cuts to weaken her without actually killing her.
Eventually, River toppled over and I used the opportunity to slam her head into the floor on the way down. Finally, she went still, knocked unconscious, and her body slowly started to morph back to its regular size. Breathing heavily, I dropped down beside her and checked her pulse. Her jumpsuit was torn to shreds and her body was much the same, but she was alive.
My own clothes were looking a little worse for wear, but I at least had the forethought to dress for the occasion. Stretchy fabric worked a hell of a lot better for transformations than bright red body suits.
The sound of running feet reached my ears. Before the security guard could return with backup, I tugged on my jacket and hauled River over my shoulder, shuddering when her blood-slicked body nearly slipped from my grasp. I kicked myself for not bringing the car and ducked behind a cargo vault when the human men arrived to inspect the scene, hightailing it out of the docks with River on my back.
By the time I made it home I was drenched in my friend’s blood, with my chewed-up arm healing slowly in pink, fleshy patches. I kicked the door open and strode in, dumping River unceremoniously on the living room floor. The lights were out, and I silently prayed that the human resident of my household was fast asleep.
Fate, of course, could never be kind. A sharp intake of breath from somewhere nearby had me whipping out a blood-crusted blade, and I turned to find Amara, bug-eyed and frightened like she’d just stepped into a horror movie.
“It’s fine!” I held up my hands, then quickly put them down again when I realized I was brandishing a knife. “She’s not dead.”
Amara lifted her hands and gestured at me, or more accurately, at the blood that soaked my clothes and streaked across the floor from the entrance of the apartment to where River’s crumpled body lay in a heap.
“It’s not as bad as it looks,” I muttered half-heartedly. “Just – you know – don’t walk in it, you’ll leave bloody footprints all over the place.”
The vamp groaned as she came to, fluttering eyes spotting Amara. I took a cautious step forward, ready to pounce if she was still somehow locked in a frenzied bloodlust, but River only blinked slowly.
“Well hello there,” she drawled and then conked out again and Amara turned her exasperated expression on me.
This was going to be difficult to explain.
After a call with Jordan, a Leyore healer arrived to fetch River. The woman assured me that my partner would be fine, if a little uncomfortable while her body healed itself. When I explained the sudden bloodlust that had overcome River, the healer’s brow knit together. It wasn’t impossible for a baby vamp to be overcome with hunger out of nowhere, but River was not a newly-turned vampire. Neither of us knew what to make of it.
The entire conversation went down outside, away from Amara who no doubt had plenty of questions. After the healer took offwith a sleeping River I trudged back upstairs and braced for impact before entering the apartment.
Right on cue, Amara, sitting in the dark, pounced the moment I walked through the door, holding out her cell so I could hear the automated voice speaking her words.
“What happened?”
I shrugged, examining the bloody smears on my precious wooden floors. “A deal went wrong, it’s fine. River will be fine.”
My mind was still turning over everything that had happened. River was not one to lose control like that, something else was at play. And what had Don been doing at the docks anyway? Who was that strange woman on the boat?
More typing from Amara’s end. I kept my eyes on the floor when the app spoke again. “Fine? That was not fine, Dylan. She looked like she was mauled by a bear!”
I ignored her, kneeling to scratch at a patch of dried blood on the floorboards. It was going to leave a stain. The smell of dried blood made my nose wrinkle. My thoughts drifted to that strange scent I’d picked up on, moments before River had gone rogue. A smell like perfume but more potent. Could that have done it?
Amara was still prattling on, the monotonous voice crackling from her cell. “And your arm? What happened to your arm? You need to get to a doctor.”
I glanced down at my arm, pinkish flesh already knitted back together. All that was left were the tell-tale marks of River’s fangs and a crusting of dried blood. At least Amara hadn’t noticed the accelerated healing. I brushed a hand over my arm, pondering the strange scent. Could it have been some kind of trap? But how would Don have known we were there?
I stilled, lifting my gaze to Amara who was still pacing up and down beside me.
