Moments later, Elliott managed to get rid of the mist monster whose last cry was much more mournful. The thought, “Eight more and Carter,” filled her mind, and she knew it was not her own.
Once she was on her feet, Elliott nodded at her, and they jogged ahead. In front of them, Margie was in full hand-to-hand combat with what could only be described as a ninja. He had a lone, long braid anchored in the center of his head, and Cadence assumed this was where the star that had almost hit her in the face must’ve come from. Margie was more than holding her own, though, as he twirled and kicked at her. One roundhouse after another from the spunky Guardian had him backing up, and Cadence knew she’d find a way to decapitate him, even if she had to chop his head off with her own blade-like hands.
“That’s Jamie’s sister?” Elliott asked, clearly as impressed as she was. Jamie was an amazing Healer but wasn’t necessarily known for his prowess in battle.
They didn’t have too much time to admire Miss Joplin’s work, however as the rest of the scene came into focus. Grant was bleeding profusely from a wound in his leg, yet he was managing to hold off a tall Vampire dressed in a long black cloak while the remaining two members of the Melbourne team were also engaged with bloodsuckers. Neither of them seemed to be having too much luck, however, and Cadence was a little worried for Derrick who was double-teamed, and since he was a Hunter, he could easily become a fatality if they weren’t careful.
She still didn’t see Carter, however, and assumed he was somewhere in the fog ahead of them.
Pulling out her Glock, she fired four rapid shots at each of the two Vampires Derrick was fighting, aiming carefully around him. One of them, an older woman, dropped to the ground, nearly spent. The other, a brute of a man with fists bigger than her head, seemed setback, but it would take decapitation to completely wipe him out.
Cadence wouldn’t get to watch how it played out, however, as a wolf plowed into her left shoulder, knocking her Glock free, and she went sliding backward down the pavement. “This is why we wear leather,” she muttered to herself as she came to a halt at least ten feet from where the beast had knocked into her. Lying on top of her Beretta wasn’t exactly comfortable, but then, neither was having a wolf on her chest.
Elliott had a canine friend of his own, so he would be of no help, which was a problem because it had taken so many of them to destroy the wolf in the RV park, and Cadence no longer had her weapon in hand to shoot it. As the monster’s sharp teeth made for her face, she reached up and grabbed either side of its muzzle, doing her best to keep it from sinking its teeth into her.
The wolf was stronger than any of the other Vampires she’d encountered in a long time, and it continued to maul at her with its claws as it pushed its face toward hers. A rip in her leather jacket, followed by the sting of pointy nails cutting in to her shoulder let her know she was losing the fight. Using her legs, she wrapped tightly around the beast’s ribcage, hoping to suffocate it. To some extent, it seemed to slow it, but she was tiring almost as quickly as it was, and in a few more minutes, she wouldn’t be able to keep its teeth off of her. She needed to think of something quickly.
Rolling it over was her only chance. Even then, she didn’t know what she would do if she couldn’t unholster her weapon, but she realized she had to think one step at a time. With all the strength she had left, she shifted her weight to her left and somehow managed to catch the wolf off guard. He hit the concrete, and she rolled up on top of him, never letting go of his mouth. Immediately, he began to wiggle, trying to break himself free of her grip. Deciding his intent to regain the upper hand took precedence over his urge to rip her face off, she let go of his mouth and reached for her Beretta, hoping to get it free from its straps with only one hand. The bigger gun shot a continuous stream of silver liquid, and in this case, Christian had found a way to enhance that stream with titanium. She aimed the gun just in time to hit the wolf squarely in the eye as it brought its muzzle back up at her. It whimpered in pain but continued to buck, trying to get her off. Cadence didn’t let up, and a full thirty seconds into the stream, the wolf finally began to weaken. She shifted her shot so that she was aiming at its heart, and once she was certain she had it on its last leg, she let go of the trigger and reached for Van’s knife, which she plunged into the hole created by the Beretta, the odor of singed fur making her gag. A second later, she was sitting in a pile of ash.
She spun around to see Elliott was not having as much luck. The wolf he was fighting was on top of him, gnawing into his right forearm as blood spurted everywhere. Cadence couldn’t shoot it from here; though she was fairly certain even if she accidentally hit Elliott, he’d be okay, she wasn’t willing to take the shot. Instead, she launched herself at the creature, grabbing hold of it, and knocking it off of Elliott a good five feet up into the air. They rolled together across the dirty concrete road, ending up in a ditch that ran along the sidewalk, Cadence on top. The animal was jarred, and it only took her a second to send it down the same path she’d sent its twin a few moments ago.
Even before she pulled the knife and finished the job, another Vampire scream filled the air, and she turned to see Margie free of her ninja and moving in to help Derrick end the big brute. The woman on the ground began to dissipate into ash before Cadence’s eyes. “What’s the count now, Cass?” she asked, not sure if her sister could hear her or not they’d gotten so far away from the department store building now. Cadence still thought she heard odd sounds in the distance and hoped everything was okay. It was difficult to tell if she was hearing gunfire from afar or just the echo of the battle around her.
“Three. Plus Carter,” came the answer, setting Cadence at ease. Cass seemed calm enough, which made her think she was merely hearing things. Elliott was up by now, helping Grant, and shortly two more screams filled the night sky. Oddly, the distant screams seemed to continue as well.
There was only one other Vampire in sight. This one looked like a little old man but moved as quickly and agile as any Cadence had seen before, including the ninja. She knew the rest of her team had this handled and turned to find Carter before he found her.
