The rage that surged into the Nymar’s face was the first truly demonic thing Paige had ever seen. Stark terror mixed with wonder on her young features, but she maintained her grip on the stake and continued to grind it within the widening wound. Hope couldn’t take much more of that before pulling away from Ned.
“I’ll kill you!” Paige swore.
Clutching her arm to her chest, Hope surveyed her surroundings to find nobody else in the room to come to her aid. She scurried down the hall and glared at Paige with solid black eyes. “You’ve got to sleep sometime, Paige. I don’t.” Holding up both arms to show them to her and Ned, the Nymar trembled as the gaping wounds began to slowly seal. “I’ll come for you.”
Those were Hope’s last words before she was overpowered by the slender woman who charged at her from the bedroom. Despite the veil of dirty blond hair covering her face, Tara’s broken fangs and crazed expression could be seen as clearly as if they were illuminated by a searchlight. Thanks to the multiple spore attached to both of their hearts, Hope and Tara moved like streaks of frenetic energy. Tara wrapped her arms around Hope’s midsection and forced her into the kitchen, where both Nymar exploded through the hole left by the broken patio door. Once outside, they were not heard again.
“Give me that weapon,” Ned grunted at Paige.
“Only if you promise to leave me and Tara alone!”
“That ain’t gonna happen,” Rico said as he staggered from the bedroom. The syringe was still in his arm when he walked down the hall. After emptying the healing serum into himself, he tossed the syringe toward the spot where it had been stashed and braced himself against a wall while it took effect. “After what happened tonight, there ain’t any deals we’re gonna strike with you.”
Ned’s wobbly steps carried him to the cheap stand used to hold the television set. Kicking open a little cabinet intended for videos or possibly a game console, he stooped down to retrieve a small leather manicure pouch. “Hope had me dead to rights,” he said while opening the pouch, then taking one of the syringes that had been slipped through a loop meant to hold a nail file. He popped the cap off, injected himself, and sighed, “Until this one here got her offa me.”
“Fine,” Rico said. “She can go. But them bloodsuckers out back are dead meat.” At the sound of a single inhuman wail from outside, he added, “Or whichever one is left, that is.”
Tightening her grip on the gnarled wooden bat, Paige set her feet shoulder width apart, pulled in a shaky breath and said, “You’re letting both of us go.”
Ned held a silencing hand out to Rico before the big man could respond. That visibly perturbed Rico, but he let it go with a muttered curse.
“Your friend’s sick, girl,” Ned said.
“I know. I can help her.”
“Can you?”
The skin around Paige’s left eye twitched. Whatever was trying to get out of her at that moment, she fought to keep it buried.
Ned stared her down as he asked, “What’s happening outside, Rico?”
The big man hauled his aching body into the kitchen and took a quick look through a small rectangular window situated above a cheap, stained vinyl countertop. “Shit! Hope’s gone.”
“What about Tara?” Paige asked.
“She’s gettin’ up. Oh wait. Damn it to hell! She’s gone now too. Damn, those bitches can jump!”
Paige nodded. “Now it’s my turn. I’m out of here, and neither of you are following us. The first time I see either one of you assholes anywhere near me or Tara, I’m calling the cops and telling them about you.”
“Telling them what?” Ned asked. “That we killed a bunch of vampires?”
“You guys can’t tell me this is your first time doing this sort of thing,” she replied. “You want me to believe the cops won’t dig up something rotten on you if they look for more than a few seconds?”
Ned kept his composure, but Rico was too tired to prevent the worry from showing on his battered face.
“That’s what I thought,” she said smugly. “Those vampires or whatever the hell they are got what was coming to them. They were about to kill all of us, but you kept that from happening. I appreciate it, but don’t think I’ll let you near me again. All I ask is for a head start so me and Tara can get the hell out of here.”
“Hope’s still out there,” Ned pointed out. “And there are more to help her do what she wants or attack whoever she pleases. If she can’t find any friends, she’ll turn the next batch of people she can find just like she turned your friend.”
“Whatever. This is the first bunch of vampires I’ve ever seen, so I’ll just head back to any other place I’ve ever been that was vampire-free.”
“Nymar. They’re called Nymar.”
“Again. Whatever. I’m leaving now. Don’t try to follow me.”
Ned took a tentative step toward her. “What are you going to do when they come after you, Paige? How are you going to help your friend? Do you think you’ll even find her again?”
“She’s a multiseed,” Rico said. “Even among the Nymar, they’re freaks. Wild, strong, and tough to control. If they don’t got the smarts to rise to the top of the heap like Hope did, they’re hunted down and ripped apart.”
Paige remained silent, but her arms suddenly seemed too tired to hold the weapon she’d grabbed.
“You wanted to protect Tara from them and us?” Ned asked. “That’s why you struck this deal to give them what they wanted.”
“And we ain’t about to forget that,” Rico said.
Jabbing a finger over to the big man, Ned wheeled around and barked, “Shut up!” When he spoke to Paige again, it was in a tempered but commanding voice. “We don’t have much time before we have to worry about police coming to check on all the noise over here, so listen up. Hope will come after you, Paige. If not her, it’ll be one of the others as soon as they find out what you know about us.”
“Then I’ll tell them everything,” she said. “It’s not like you did jackshit when I needed you or when Tara needed you. Even Karen … she’s probably …”
“Karen’s fine,” Ned told her.
“Are you sure?”
He nodded. “She came by the hospital a few times after you and Tara ran away. She may have been trying to be sneaky, acting like she didn’t know what happened, but she asked too many of the wrong questions and I caught up with her on the way out. Someone was there to pick her up. She left. I made sure she got away safely and haven’t seen her since.”
It seemed that was the last thing holding Paige up. Once that had been taken away from her, every ounce of fear, fatigue, and confusion sank in like a weight pressing her down. Without the strength to lift her arms, the weapon in her hands tapped against the floor.
“So,” Ned said as he tentatively approached her, “what now?”
Paige shook her head, her head still lowered. “I don’t know. I guess they’ll come after me. Hope’s gone. Tara will be gone too.”
“How do you know that?” Rico asked. “You weren’t gonna meet up with her somewhere?”
“No. The only plan was finding you guys before you killed her. Hope found us first, and when they told me you’d killed the one who killed Amy that night at the party, I thought you’d come after us next. To be honest, I didn’t think I’d make it out of here before one of you or one of them finished me off.” She started to look up at Ned but quickly clenched her eyes shut. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t keep the tears from flowing. When that happened, she dropped down to sit with her arms propped on her knees her hands pressed against her face, leaving crimson smears on her skin. “I mean … what the hell am I supposed to do against this? I can’t fight you. I can’t fight them. I don’t even know what they are!”