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“You can take her away from here,” I said, ignoring the devastating twinge his words carried.
“I wouldn’t get a hundred yards,” he said and wiped his face. “I’m surprised we got the motorcycle out and back without being shot.”
My gaze landed on the glass he stood in front of and I turned, sweeping his feet out from under him a moment before the window disintegrated in a hailstorm of bullets. Valerie dove to the ground, shrieking, with her arms over her head.
“We have to get her downstairs,” I said to Damian and he nodded.
We crawled to her, each taking an arm and we got to our feet, running toward the back of the house, keeping low so the bullets passed over our heads. The atrium was off an enclosed mudroom but the distance between the doorway and the security panel seemed like an impossible feat. The front of the atrium had a line of plants that would help shelter us, but the back wall, that gave a clear view all the way to the wood line.
“Damian, you have to do this as a shadow,” I whispered and his gaze fell on Valerie. “It’s the only way you’ll get across the distance. I can get Valerie through the door if you can get it open,” I said when he hesitated.
“Naomi,” he started.
“We will all die if you don’t,” I said, my gaze planted on a line of advancing shadows.
“I don’t want to die,” Valerie said pulling his gaze from mine.
One minute Damian was the blue-eyed man that held my heart and the next, he was the fiend that almost killed me and Valerie gasped. He shot out into the opening and I wrapped my arms around Valerie and whispered, “He won’t hurt you, neither will I, but those things closing in on the house will. When he hits that panel, you have to climb on my back and hold on, understand?” I met her frantic gaze.
“What?”
I wrapped her arms around my neck. “Hold on!” I yelled as the bullets rained on the glass. The door slid far enough and I saw Damian slip inside and I closed my eyes. Valerie’s arms tightened around my neck and I waited a moment before darting out, my paws hitting the tile with intent, and when I slid through the opening I didn’t stop until I stood on the landing with Valerie sobbing into my fur.
I glanced up in time to see the wall close and Damian shut the door. He stumbled down the steps and closed the door, leaning on it with his breath wheezing. I padded into the room and stopped, putting my paw on the arms grasping me like I had done with Damian the other night.
Valerie cried into my fur and I traded a glance with Damian.
“We have to get out of here,” he said and stumbled, falling to his hands and knees. I shook Valerie off and sniffed her to make sure there were no bullet holes in her and then I licked her cheek in a gesture that stopped her tears.
I left her huddled and shaking and turned to Damian, it took me two strides to be back in my human form and I crouched next to him.
“Baby, where are you hit?”
He glanced up at me with a cocked eyebrow. “Baby?” he asked, his breath wheezed again.
I offered him a soft smile. “Where?” I asked again, not acknowledging his questioning gaze. Instead, I pushed him into a sitting position and peeled off his shirt. “Fuck,” I whispered. “Is the bullet still inside you?”
He shrugged. “You have to get her out of here,” he repeated.
I leaned him forward and didn’t find an exit wound on his back. Closing my eyes, I sighed. His shoulder was one thing, but his chest was another. I couldn’t just tear that open with my teeth and reach in and grab the bullet poisoning him. “I’ll get you both out of here as soon as I get that bullet out,” I said. “Do you have a knife in the kitchen?”
He nodded.
“How long before they get through that wall upstairs?”
“I don’t know. The outer shell is made of platinum.”
“In that case, I’ll assume I have the time to fix you up.” I hopped to my feet and glanced at Valerie. “Think you’ve got your shit together enough to help me?”
“Naomi,” Damian whispered.
“What?”
“Just leave me,” he said, his blue eyes pleading.
I hunched down and ran my palm over his cheek. “Not on your life.” My heart thundered at the request, fear biting me from the inside out. I wasn’t willing to lose him, to lose either of them; and the longer I chatted with him the more likely that bullet would make it impossible for me to bring him back.
“Come on,” I ordered Valerie and to her credit, she stood and followed me. Her eyes still wide amidst the pallor of her face.
“What are you?” she whispered as I rummaged through the drawers until I found a couple specially made steak knives that reminded me of scalpels. I grabbed one and handed it to Valerie. “Hold this a minute,” I said and opened the refrigerator.
It took all my willpower not to dig into the bags sitting on the shelf; instead, I grabbed three of them and turned toward her wide eyes.
“He’s going to need blood when I’m done,” I explained.
“What are you going to do?”
“I have to get that bullet out before it kills him,” I said and plucked the knife from her hand, trading the blood for the blade and made my way back to Damian.
He tried to shake his head, to deter me, to get me to leave, but I met his panicked stare. “I can’t just leave you like this,” I whispered and laid him down. “I think the bullet is in your lung. Just don’t move, okay?” I bit my lip and placed the blade on his skin at the point of entry. “I’m sorry, baby.” I met his gaze and pressed, slicing a slit an inch long from the base of the entry wound.
Damian screamed, but didn’t move. The second cut was just as painful for both of us, and I heard the slump on the floor behind me, assuming Valerie had passed out. My heart slammed against my chest and I prayed I would be able to get the bullet out. I dropped the knife on the floor and slid my fingers into the cut. The bullet was there, wedged between two of his ribs, spreading toxic poison through his abdomen.
“I’m so sorry,” I whispered again and pushed down on the rib. He cried out again, but this time it was weaker and the snap of the bone released the bullet. I yanked it out and tossed it across the room, like it was kryptonite and distance would help Damian.
He panted, blinking and I could tell he was barely hanging on. I turned and reached for the blood, ripping one end open with my teeth and pouring the bag into his mouth. Damian choked, and coughed and then his reflex took hold and he gulped, hanging onto my hand in a death grip until the bag was empty. I did the same with a second one and the haze over his eyes sharpened, his breath coming in a more natural un-wheezing rhythm.
When I reached for the third bag, he grabbed my arm. “No,” he whispered.
“You need it,” I said and his gaze traveled beyond me. I glanced over my shoulder at Valerie, still laying unconscious on the floor and turned back to Damian. “You won’t hurt her,” I said, unsure if it was true or not. All I knew is he needed blood, now, in order to have the strength to run.
“Naomi,” he started and I ripped the bag open, bringing it to his lips. He didn’t hesitate and when the bag was empty, I dropped it with the other two. The adrenaline that had propelled me, drained, leaving me shaking.
“I need to check on her,” I said and he nodded, leaning his head back against the floor. The wound on his chest was already patching itself up and I crawled to Valerie, turning her over. I tapped her cheeks lightly with the cleaner of my two hands. “Valerie?”
Her eyes blinked open and when they landed on me, her face scrunched.
“It wasn’t a dream?” she asked, the tears springing forth from her eyes.
“No sweetie, it isn’t,” I said and climbed to my feet. It was my turn to wince and I glanced at my thigh. Blood streaked my right leg and I took another step before the room spun into blackness.