Seduced by the Night (18 page)

Beth's scream reverberated off the walls as they fell to the ground level, the air whooshing past them. Dirk absorbed the impact of their landing with his legs, quickly setting her down and pulling her toward the exit door. The sound of the two vampires landing behind him stopped him in his tracks.

Pushing
Bethany
to the side, he grabbed the fire extinguisher from the wall and turned just as the first vampire charged. Dirk smashed the canister into the creature's face, denting the canister and causing white foam to spew forth. The vampire's eyes rolled up and as the body started to crumple, Dirk was reaching for his dagger with his free hand. A quick flick of his wrist sent it flying into the chest of the second creature. His aim was true and the second vampire hung suspended in the air for a moment before it, too, fell to the ground.

Tossing the extinguisher aside, Dirk grabbed
Bethany
by the arm, pushed open the exit door, and together they dashed outside.

He never saw the fist that hit him. One second they were running, the next he was sailing into the side of the building with such force that when he hit, the bricks cracked.

He fell to the ground, stunned and out of breath. His vision faded to black—except for the bright white light flashing beneath the lids of his closed eyes. Almost as if it came from a great distance away, he heard
Bern
's scream and though he wasn't sure he could stand, he placed both hands flat on the ground and pushed himself up.

A short distance off, Bethany, carried by two vampires, was struggling and fighting like the very demons of hell were after her—which they were.

He raced after them, catching up to them not far from the parking garage. Grabbing the first vampire by the shoulder, he yanked him around and slammed his fist into the creature's face with enough force that the vampire staggered back, stumbled, and fell. Before the body even hit the ground, Dirk grabbed Beth's arm and pulled her from the other vampire's clutches, at the same time smashing his fist into the creature's face just as hard as he could. The vampire went down like a rock.

"Are you all right?" He could tell she was frightened and wanted to reassure her, but at that moment, he heard the sound of the fire exit opening. "Let's go," he shouted to Beth, pulling her along behind him as he hurried toward the parking garage where his Expedition was parked. If they could get to it before the others caught up to them, they might just survive the night.

Inside the garage, Dirk steered them toward the elevator. With no sign yet of their pursuers, they stepped inside.

As he searched for his keys, he felt Beth shudder beside him.

"My car is just off to the right," he tried to reassure her. "As soon as the doors open, make a run for it."

"They're still out there, aren't they?" Her voice was little more than a whisper.

"Yeah, they are." He wasn't going to lie to her. "But we have a small advantage. They don't know exactly what floor we're on."

She looked up, her eyes wide with fear. "There're so many—you can't fight them all."

He wanted to tell her that everything would be fine, but since he couldn't guarantee it, he made the only promise he could. "If they want you, they'll have to go through me first."

Just then, the elevator slowed to a stop and the doors whooshed open. Dirk stepped out to scan the area. So far, there was no sign of the vampires, but he knew they were close. The hairs on the back of his neck prickled with the anticipation of their arrival. "Run for the car."

He paced her, deactivating the locks just as she reached the passenger side and climbed in. He'd just opened his door when he heard the sound of racing feet in the stairwell.

Climbing into the driver's seat, he slammed his door shut and activated the locks. Then he started the engine, put the SUV in reverse, and backed up. Through the rear-view window, he saw the vampires emerge from the stairwell. They were closing fast and Dirk hurriedly shifted into drive and slammed his foot down on the accelerator. The SUV shot forward.

He made no effort to steer around the charging group.

Several of the creatures lunged to the side to get out of the way. One, however, leaped at the vehicle as it shot past, and Dirk heard the thump as the creature cleared the hood and landed on the roof.

There was no time to worry about their unwanted passenger, so Dirk concentrated on getting out of the garage as expediently as possible.

Reaching the end of the floor, Dirk hit the brake as he spun the wheel, taking the corner practically on two tires. The exit ramp to the next level was straight ahead now, at the opposite end. Scanning the area for errant humans, grateful none were about, Dirk sped up and when they reached the ramp, he took the sharp half-circle curve without slowing down.

When they shot onto the floor below, they were moving so fast that Dirk thought they'd be lucky not to crash. It took his entire focused attention to drive.

They were on the third floor, about to take the next ramp down when he heard the squeal of tires. Then a large black car appeared behind them and quickly began closing the distance between them.

From the corner of his eye, he saw Beth look back over her shoulder. Then she turned and gaped at him. "They're chasing us—in a car." She sounded stunned. "I didn't think they could drive."

"Yeah? Well, guess what?" They hit the ramp, barely slowing enough to make the curve to the bottom.

They entered the second level and still the black car gained on them. When it was close enough, it rammed the rear of the Expedition and Dirk fought to control the wheel. Above him, he heard scraping sounds, reminding him that a vampire still clung to the roof. Dirk knew he was going to have to do some fast thinking and sharp driving to get out of this one.

"Hang on." He stamped on the accelerator and the Expedition shot forward. The small lead Dirk and Beth had was soon lost as the black car also sped up. "That's right, asshole. Be sure to keep up," Dirk muttered.

The Expedition hit the down ramp at a dangerously high speed. Dirk gripped the steering wheel more firmly as he fought to control the SUV as it made the tight curve. Behind them came the squeal of tires followed by the
chalkboardlike
scraping of metal along concrete as their pursuers' car hugged the wall.

But still they came.

The Expedition
barreled
onto the street level and Dirk barely managed to straighten the wheel before they smashed into a support column.

The vampires weren't as lucky and as Dirk and Beth raced for the exit, they heard the satisfying crunch of metal as the black car smashed into the same support column Dirk had narrowly avoided.

Dirk didn't slow down. The exit was dead ahead and they had almost reached it when another black car, similar to the first one, suddenly appeared out of nowhere and blocked their escape.

Bethany
gasped. They were trapped and yet the Expedition
barreled
forward, Dirk seemingly unaware of the problem. "Dirk," she screamed, bracing for the inevitable collision. "We're going to era—"

At the last second, Dirk swerved and the SUV shot out the entrance gate. There were four sharp explosions as the one-way tracks blew out their tires, but Dirk kept going, turning onto the street.

Bethany
cast a nervous glance out the rearview window, too afraid to let go of the support handle she was gripping. "I don't see anyone behind us. Maybe we lost them." Her dry throat gave the words a rough-sounding edge.

"Not yet. Brace your feet against the dashboard—and tighten your seat belt."

Wary, she did as instructed. Dirk slammed on the brakes and she lurched forward, but the seat belt and her feet braced against the dash kept her from flying through the windshield. Dirk fought to control the wheel as the SUV started to dovetail, the screeching of the tire rims scraping across the asphalt filling the eerie silence. Then
Bethany
heard the sound of something large hitting the hood.

She looked up just in time to see a vampire bounce off the hood and disappear under the front of the vehicle, which then heaved like it'd hit a speed bump, but kept on going.

Her mind froze as she remembered the vampire on the roof. She knew her eyes must be as round as saucers as she stared at Dirk in horror. "Is he… it… dead?"

His expression was solemn as he focused on the road. "Do we care?" He continued to drive for another two blocks, gradually slowing the SUV until he could wrench the wheel enough to turn into the moderately full parking lot of a nightclub.

He didn't so much park the car as let it come to a stop along the side of the building. "Are you all right?"

She nodded. "A little shaken, but for the most part— yeah, I'm fine. You?"

"Yeah. Come on." He undid his seat belt and climbed out of the SUV.
Bethany
hesitated a moment and then followed suit. She nervously glanced around, expecting vampires to jump out at them, but except for one or two "humans" heading into the bar, they were alone.

She hurried around the vehicle to stand by Dirk, who was talking on his cell phone.

"They hit the lab again. Yeah, we're fine—for now." He looked up at the name on the nearby sign. "We're at The Dark Velvet nightclub. All right. See you then."

"Mac's on his way," he told her, disconnecting the call. "It'll take him about an hour to get here."

Panic hit
Bethany
. "What are we supposed to do until then? We can't just wait out here."

Dirk studied her face for a moment and she thought she saw a slight softening of his expression before he turned his head to scan the area. Then he looked back at her.

"Feel like a drink?"

She glanced nervously at the bar,
skeptical
of its rundown appearance, and imagined the type of patrons it attracted. "I don't know. We might be safer with the vampires," she muttered. "Maybe we should wait here for Mac." She rubbed her hands up and down her arms, trying to fight the chill of the evening—and fear.

"Hey, it'll be all right." His sympathetic tone was a balm to her frayed nerves and when he gathered her close, she let him, wrapping her arms around his waist and laying her head against his chest. He made her feel safe and it wasn't until that moment that she realized just how frightened she'd really been.

"They're never going to give up." She fought against the tears stinging her eyes.

"They will, eventually."

"No." She shook her head. "They'll just keep attacking—and each time they do, someone else will die. Another guard; another innocent victim. And it's all my fault." Her arms tightened around him. "I couldn't bear it if something happened to you." She'd barely whispered the words, but he'd heard her anyway.

"Beth?" When she refused to meet his eyes, he put his finger under her chin and tilted her face up. "Your safety is the most important thing to me. I'll do whatever I have to, to keep you safe. But if something happens to me, it's not your fault, okay? None of this is your fault. Understand?"

She gazed into his eyes, losing herself in their bidden depths, searching for answers to questions she didn't know she had. When they started to glow with their strange inner red light, she knew neither one of them was thinking about vampires anymore.

She longed to feel his lips on hers and tried to use the strength of her own desire to will him to kiss her. Her breasts grew heavy and where their bodies touched, flames seemed to ignite. The light in his eyes grew brighter, like an inferno, evidence of his own heightened emotion, and she felt herself being consumed by their heat.

"Don't look at me like that," he begged in a voice grown husky with need. "We're already walking a thin line here and I'm real close to not giving a damn that you're engaged to someone else."

He dropped his arms and stepped away from her.
Bethany
struggled for composure. He was right, but that didn't make his actions feel any less like rejection.

"Let's go inside," he suggested after a minute. "I think we could both use that drink."

Inside the bar, Dirk placed their order and then found them a nice quiet table in the back where they could sit and wait. The noise in the place precluded them from talking, so they sat in silence, each lost in their own thoughts. Neither made an effort to rekindle what had started between them outside, which was just as well because
Bethany
was more confused than ever about her feelings for Dirk and Miles.

When Mac arrived forty-five minutes later, she was glad to leave, and when they finally arrived back at the mansion, she went immediately to her room where she slipped gratefully into bed and fell into an exhausted sleep.

Dirk woke up that evening as the sun started to set. The day's sleep hadn't put him in any better a mood than he'd been when he'd gone to bed earlier that day, and learning that Miles Van Home had been invited to dinner just made things worse.

Throughout the immeasurably long meal, he sat quietly, answering only the questions directed to him and ignoring the rest of the inane chitchat. Too often, his gaze, like his thoughts, strayed to Beth sitting across from him.