Smell them? What in the hell is she taking about?
She crossed the distance using her vampire speed. In an instant, she stood right in front of me. Her hand lashed out and her cool fingers clamped around my throat. She shoved me into the wall, her chest pressing against mine. The bitch invaded my personal space and brushed her nose along my cheek. She drew a deep breath.
Suddenly, her head jerked back. She turned to glare into the darkness pervading the alley. Her deep blue eyes flared. “What are they doing with you?” she whispered through clenched teeth, turning to study me. “How did they get their hands on you?”
“Who the hell are they, pray tell?” I questioned, trying to breathe versus pant as my oxygen supply was considerably limited by the hand around my throat. “I’m just taking a walk.”
She didn’t get the opportunity to answer.
The rustling of multiple feet sounded on both sides of the alley. I shifted my head as best I could in her unbreakable grip, first left, then right. The dusk was gone, and it was officially nighttime. My body hummed, a slight burning as more undead approached. However, the sensation was strange as those I could see with their guns raised were not vampire, but human, and they were covered from head to toe with fun goodies like guns, knives and camouflage gear that made them resemble life-size GI Joes.
Barbarella seemed to anticipate the company. Her lips curved into a Joker-like grin, and she relinquished her hold, stepping away from me in deliberate movements.
The camo posse moved in, guns pointed at both of us. My gaze flickered back and forth between the vampire and the men, and I lifted my hands into the air in a mock surrender. Having a gun pointed at you by someone who actually knows how to use it isn’t funny or exciting—not at all. Even worse was being in the center of a soon-to-be shitstorm from which I might never be fully cleansed.
“Don’t even think about it,” one of the men in green snapped as the vampire moved, as if she was preparing to flee.
I turned my head toward the sound of the voice. His black hair was unkempt on the top and short in the back, his resolute gray eyes intense and lethal. He kept his gun leveled on the vampire but had his attention on me, his level stare traveling up and down my body, taking me in.
“Carter,” Barbarella purred. Stepping back, she shook her head and sniffed the air. “I should have known.”
“Kate,” he responded coolly. “Why am I not surprised to see you?”
“Must we do this night after night?” She sighed, rolling her eyes, and placed her hands on her hips. “Really, what’s the point? We’ll have you all eventually. It’s only a matter of time.”
My necromancy buzzer was raging full steam ahead, tingling under the surface of my skin like an itchy rash. I fought the urge to shift my feet and rub my arms. Movement in this circumstance wasn’t good. Besides, the men with the guns were the least of my concerns.
Vampires were close, and they were plentiful.
I pushed my back against the wall, ready to grab my only two defenses from my pocket. I didn’t know how long my leg would carry me, but I was positive the adrenaline currently coursing through my veins would ensure I made it out of death pit alley.
“Get her,” Carter ordered, his expression serious and intense.
A handful of people from each side of the alley approached, taking slow, cautious steps in my direction. They kept their guns trained on Kate, movements intentional, each stride calculated and smooth. This shit wasn’t good. One wrong move and it was game over. I cursed Zagan for sending me to a futuristic version of Hell. I also damned myself for leaving the safety of Disco’s home the morning when he’d begged me to stay.
Hindsight was such a cruel bitch.
Swiveling my head to the right, I peered down the opposite end of the alley. Vampires were approaching, their fangs bared.