Almost Midnight by C. C. Hunter
His eyes popped open. He reached up, grabbed her arm, and latched onto her wrist where her veins were the closest.
“Ouch,” Miranda said as she felt his teeth sink into skin.
“Should I hit him?” Tabitha screamed. “Should I hit him?”
“No!” Miranda stared at the vamp as he drank from her. “Look, buddy, this is just a snack, not a feast, okay? Just a taste until you can heal yourself, got it?”
“Should I hit him?” Tabitha repeated. “Should I hit him now?”
Miranda shook her head. “I’ll give him a little more.”
She counted to ten, started feeling a tad weak, and panicked. She took a deep breath and then said, “Okay, enough.” She tried to pull away but his fingers latched around her arm with a death grip.
“Hey!” Tabitha leaned over and shined the light right into the vamp’s eyes. “She said enough. Let go of her or I swear I’ll put a lump on this side of your head the same size as the one you’ve got right here.” She tapped his forehead with the flashlight.
The vamp blinked, his eyes tightened and grew even brighter, but his hold on her arm suddenly lightened. Slowly, he pulled his teeth out.
Miranda drew her arm back then plopped her butt on the ground. The vamp dropped his head back and closed his eyes.
“Who are you?” he asked in a French accent.
Tabitha shined the light right in his eyes, but he kept them closed. “We are badass witches and if you try anything funky, we’ll put some voodoo on your ass and you won’t know what hit you.”
He lifted his head again, opened one eye, and looked at Tabitha. “You don’t look badass.”
“Looks can be deceiving,” Miranda said, and when she felt a damp warm stream of blood running down her wrist, she clamped her hand over the bite to stop the bleeding. “Why don’t you tell us who you are?”
He didn’t open his eyes, but he answered. “I am Anthony. Anthony Bastin.”
After a few seconds of silence, he opened his eyes and stared at Miranda. “Is it not polite to offer your name when you are given one?”
“Hey, bucko,” Tabitha snapped. “We just saved your life, so how about a little respect.”
His gaze cut to Tabitha. “You are right, I apologize.” He licked his lips and stared at them for a second. “You two are part of the competition. The ones for high priestess, right?”
“How do you know about that?” Miranda asked.
“I work at the auditorium where the competition was being held. Two nights ago, I caught the rogues sneaking around.” His gaze went back to Tabitha. “They overpowered me … and brought me here. Of course, it was five to one. Or the outcome would have been different.”
“Right,” Tabitha said and rolled her eyes.
The vamp stared at her.
“Do you think you can walk?” Miranda asked. “I think we should see if this tunnel leads anywhere.”
He tried to sit up, grunted, and then slumped back. “Give me a few more minutes. The blood will help me heal, but it can take time.”
“Okay, but not too much,” Miranda said and looked up at the heavy metal door that led outside. Outside where their captors were.
“Just a couple of minutes,” he said.
In seconds, the vampire’s breathing slowed. “I think he’s asleep,” Tabitha whispered and shifted the light a little closer to see Anthony’s face.
Miranda looked at him. His firm jaw and chiseled features hinted at his French heritage. “We’ll give him five minutes and then we have to move, even if we have to carry him.”
Tabitha eased the orb of light down the masculine torso, highlighting a toned chest and a flat stomach. “You know, he’d be kind of cute if he wasn’t so dirty.”
“Yeah,” Miranda admitted, not that she was the tiniest bit interested. She’d always been drawn more to blonds. Her mind went to Perry. Then it twisted to her younger years and her crush on Shawn.
“Do you think he needs more blood?” Tabitha asked.
“He might,” Miranda said. “I guess I could give him a little more.”
“You’ve already given him some. If he needs more, I’ll … do it.”
Miranda smiled. “That’s generous of you. Are you feeling guilty, or do you think he’s that good-looking?”
Tabitha chuckled. “He is cute. But you shouldn’t talk. You’re in love with a shape-shifter. Everyone knows that shape-shifters are … difficult.”
Miranda cut her eyes to Tabitha. “How do you know about that?”
“I heard rumors,” she said. “And I heard you two talking last night.”
“Not all shape-shifters are bad any more than all vampires,” Miranda said. “Or witches for that matter. Plus, it’s rude to eavesdrop.”
Tabitha didn’t answer for a few minutes, then she said, “I was curious.” She got quiet again. “Are you gonna take him back, or go with the hot FRU agent?”
Miranda closed her eyes for a second. “I think it’s been five minutes.” She looked back at the sleeping vamp.
“Fine, don’t tell me. I just thought we’d kind of … never mind.”
Bonded. Miranda knew what she was going to say. “I don’t know what I’m going to do. Perry broke up with me.”
“The shape-shifter?” she asked.
“Yeah.” Miranda rubbed her finger over the bite wounds to see if they had stopped bleeding. “He said I deserved better than him and that he was doing it for me.”
“Why would he say that? Is something wrong with him?” Tabitha asked.
“He’s powerful, very powerful, and he had a hard time controlling his shifts in public. He didn’t think he could live a normal life.”
“You said he didn’t think … is he better now?”
“Yeah, he came here to a school and they seem to be helping him.”
“Then what’s the problem?”
“He didn’t even call me. I didn’t want to break up.” She breathed in. “It hurt. And now … now I don’t know if I can just take him back. What if later on he decides he’s still not good enough?”
“Then drop his butt and go with the warlock. Sienna wasn’t lying when she said he stared at you that whole time.”
Miranda leaned back against the mud wall. “I like Shawn, but … I need to figure out what I feel about Perry. And…”
“What?” Tabitha asked.
“I don’t know. It just feels complicated.” Even more complicated since I discovered the truth about my parents.
They both sat there, nothing but the sound of breathing filling the space. “Do you have a boyfriend?” Miranda asked.
“I did, but he went off to California to college last year. He said we wouldn’t break up, but then it just … I don’t know. It started to feel weird. He stopped calling so much and when he did it just felt off. I’m pretty sure he was dating someone else. So I wrote him a letter and told him it was over.”
“Sorry,” Miranda said.
“Me, too,” Tabitha said. “At first I was hurt but then it just felt like the right thing. I don’t think I really loved him. Or if I did, I stopped loving him. Mom says I’m young and that I shouldn’t commit myself to anyone.” She sighed. “I think she regrets marrying my dad.” Tabitha exhaled and stared into the darkness for several seconds. “What’s sad is that I think my mom still loves him. Always has.”
“It’s a mess,” Miranda said, hurting for Tabitha. “What do you think Dad was going to say when he got us all together?”
Tabitha shifted. “I think he wants us all to get along. But I’m telling you, my mom and your mom will never be buddies.”
“But we can,” Miranda said.
“Yeah, if we live through this.” Tabitha hugged her knees closer and frowned.
“We will.” Miranda stood up. “Let’s wake up sleeping beauty and see if he can walk now. I don’t know what the chances are that there’s a way out of here, but we gotta try.”
* * *
They got a couple hundred feet, bot
“You two just go on,” Anthony finally said, his voice sounding weak. “If you find a way out, send someone back for me.”
“No,” Miranda and Tabitha said at the same time.
“Look, I’m too weak, I’m slowing you down.” He pulled away from them, leaned against the wall, and slid down, until his butt hit the dirt floor.
“Not if you had more blood,” Tabitha said. “You can have some of mine.”
He looked up at her and made a funny face. “Aren’t you afraid I’ll eat your liver?”
Tabitha made a funny face right back. Miranda chuckled.
Tabitha huffed. “You weren’t unconscious? You were faking it.”
“Faking what? That I’d been knifed? I was not faking. I was in and out of consciousness. Every few minutes I’d hear you two talking.”
Tabitha stared down at him, and slipped one hand on her hip. “And you couldn’t do the polite thing and let us know you were awake. And you French people say Americans are rude.”
He cut his eyes up at her sister. “Oh, yes, how ill-mannered of me. Never mind that I was on my deathbed. I should have used my last strength to warn you that I was not dead yet.”
Tabitha frowned. “Fine. Maybe you couldn’t help it,” she snapped. “And now you know I was afraid of you, but I’m not afraid anymore. See!” She stuck her wrist in front of his mouth. “Bite me,” she said, in almost a teasing tone.
He cut his warm brown eyes up at her. “You do not have to do that.” He pushed her arm away, but his eyes glowed as if he had smelled her blood.
“I know I don’t,” Tabitha said. “But my sister here is too much of a soft heart. She won’t leave you. So I’m not doing it for you, I’m doing it to help us escape. So just go ahead. Drink a little.” She pushed her hand in front of his face.
“She means it,” Miranda said. “If you can get your strength back, you might be able to help us get out of here.”
He reached up and wrapped his hand around her arm. Then he ran his finger across her vein. He inhaled and then looked up again. “You sure?”
“I said I was, didn’t I?” Tabitha said and she dropped down to the ground beside him. He reached up and pulled her arm to his mouth. She flinched when his teeth sank into her wrist.
“Not too much,” Miranda said when she saw him feeding as if starved.
He immediately released Tabitha. When he pulled back, his gaze cut up to her, a drip of blood was on his lip and he licked it off. “Sorry,” he said and put a hand over his face, almost as if embarrassed.
“You okay?” Tabitha asked.
“Yes.” He let his hand drop from his face. His eyes stayed closed for a few beats of silence, then he looked up at her sister. “Thank you.”
What about me? Miranda bit her tongue, then bit back a smile, sensing something blooming between these two.
“You’re welcome,” Tabitha said. “Did it help?”
“I think so,” he answered. “Give me two minutes and we will know for sure.”
A loud clank sounded behind them. It sound like someone had opened the metal door. But the sound hadn’t come from the same direction they had, but through the tunnel.
“I don’t think we have a few minutes,” Miranda said, fear sounding in her voice. Tabitha jumped up and reached for Anthony.
“You two run back where we were, I’ll try to stop them.” He stood up, looking stronger.
“No,” Tabitha said. “We fight together.”
Anthony moved in front of Miranda and her sister.
Footsteps, fast footsteps, echoed around them.
Anthony lifted his face and took in a deep breath as if to catch the scent of the people coming toward them. “Vampire,” he muttered, and took a few more steps in front of them. “Stop!” Anthony warned when a shadowy figure emerged.
“I’m not here to cause harm,” the male voice spoke.
It was still too dark to see the newcomer’s face, but the voice rang all kinds of bells. Bells that played a familiar tune. She knew this person.
He took a few more steps. Tabitha shined the light at him.
Miranda gaped. “What are you doing here?”
Chapter Eighteen
Chase Tallman, Della’s Chase, stood in the catacombs. He nodded at Miranda. “I heard you were in trouble.”
“You know him?” Anthony asked and his eyes, a bright protective yellow, turned to her.
“Yes.”
“Do you trust him?” Anthony asked.
“I don’t know.” Miranda recalled how much this guy had hurt Della and remembered he worked for the Vampire Council, a group even the FRU didn’t trust.
“Come on,” Chase said and took another step. “We don’t have a lot of time.”
Anthony let out a deep warning growl. “Don’t come any closer.”
Chase stopped and glanced at Miranda. “Whatever you think of me, you know I’m not the bad guy here. In just a few minutes, they’re going to be coming to collect you all for dinner. And I don’t think they plan on you three sitting at the table.”
“Are you part of their gang?” Tabitha asked.
“No.” Chase’s expression spoke of his impatience. “I’m here to help Miranda. She’s close to someone I care about and if something happens to her…” He stopped talking, frowned, and stared back at Miranda. “Do you really think I would hurt you?”
No, Miranda realized, she didn’t, but something wasn’t making sense and finally she realized what it was. “But you came here before I even won the competition. So you didn’t come here for me.”
“True.” He nodded. “I came here for another reason, but I’m here now. You have to trust me.” He cut his eyes off to one corner. “And this place gives me the creeps, so can we leave … now!”
She recalled that Chase, like Della, could sense spirits. And suddenly Miranda wanted out of here. She looked at Tabitha and then Anthony. “I trust him … not to hurt us.” Her gaze shifted back to Chase. “But I’m gonna kick your ass for hurting Della. If you know anything about her father’s case…”
“I’m trying to fix that.” He appeared insulted. “Now come on.” He waved his hand for them to move forward. “There’s a way out of here.”
They had only taken a few steps when she heard clanking sounds coming from the direction they’d left. Then voices echoed in the distance.
It must be dinnertime, Miranda thought and her stomach turned rock hard.
“Friggin’ hell,” Chase said. “Let’s run.”
“Wait.” Miranda took a deep breath and found hope in the fact that the black curse didn’t smell so strong. “We might be able to help.” She reached for her sister’s hand and chanted.
“Protect us now. Keep us safe. Build us a barrier of ironclad stakes.”
A loud bang sounded and Miranda saw the bars appear. The voices in the distance rang closer.
“Not bad,” Chase said. “But that’s not going to hold them for long. Let’s get out of here now. There’s another door at the end of this tunnel.”
They took off. Chase ran behind them, as if to protect them if the rogue vamps got through the gate.
Tabitha still held the flashlight, and they ran hard, the thumping of their feet pounding the hard dirt mingling with the voices of the rogues. Voices that seemed to grow closer.
The tunnel curved to the right, then the left. Ahead, Miranda saw the blackness fading to a gray. The exit must be close. She prayed it was, because now she could hear the footsteps of those behind them.
All of a sudden a loud clang rang out, and the gray ahead went pitch black again.
“Shit!” Chase seethed. “Someone closed the door.”
“Faster,” Anthony said and Miranda felt him breathing down her neck.
“There.” He snatched the flashlight from her sister and pointed it up to the metal l
Miranda didn’t even take the time to answer, she grabbed Tabitha’s hand, and they repeated the chant together. Behind her she heard Chase struggling with the heavy metal door.
The clattering of steel falling into place filled the air and not a second too soon, for the crowd of eight vampires turned the corner at the same time.
“We are so good,” Tabitha said.
They were good, Miranda thought, but as Chase had said earlier, the gate wouldn’t stop these rogues, just slow them down. Miranda looked back at Chase. Both he and Anthony worked to get the thing opened. And it wasn’t happening fast.
Miranda grabbed Tabitha and moved a few feet back. The dirty vamps growled and they all grabbed ahold of the bars and started pulling. The eerie screech of metal bending filled the air.
“It’s not going to hold long,” she called out.
“Then put up another one,” Chase yelled. “We’ve almost got it.”
Right then one of the bars gave. Not even thinking of what she was about to do, Miranda twitched her pinky at the vamp. And there where the vamp had been was a kangaroo. A pink one. And then a couple of large pimples appeared on the animal’s snout.
The vamp started jumping up and down, craning his pink nose to look down at himself. All the other vamps released the bars and stared in horror.
Tabitha burst out laughing, and then, holding her own pinky up, said, “Who’s next?”
“No one is!” Miranda didn’t recognize the voice, but her eyes lifted up, and she recognized the woman from a few of the competitions she’d attended.
Sienna’s mother. And she didn’t appear happy. Dressed in some hideous-looking dress, she reminded Miranda of Cruella de Vil in the cartoon 101 Dalmatians.
“Why are you doing this?” Tabitha asked her.
The woman glanced at Tabitha. “You think you are the only ones who can put up bars?” She twitched her finger and suddenly behind them appeared another iron gate, separating them from Anthony and Chase.