ENTANGLED (20 page)

"With a kill switch." He punched several buttons but nothing responded. No lights, no codes flashed, nothing. "There should still be a way to control it from here."

Sian raced through their options. "They're going to be here any minute."

"Yes. We can do this."

"Depends how many come. Maybe we should run?" Sian looked up the long winding tunnel ahead. "What's the chance of escaping in the tunnel?"

"They're just going to hop on the train and chase us down."

"Damn." Of course they were. She wasn't thinking clearly. To have come so close and not get away didn't bear thinking about."

"Any idea how many will come after us?" Taz sounded distracted.

"No. They have dozens they could call on from the warehouse. Could be two or twenty."

He spun around to stare at her, then shook his head and went back to opening containers.

"What are you doing?"

"Looking for weapons. Something to help even the odds."

"I might be able to help with that."

He turned slowly to face her. She held up her hands and let her nails slide out and down. Then her fangs.

And once again he surprised her.

He grinned. "Is this where you finally tell me that you're a vampire?"

"What?" Shock slowly filtered through her stunned brain. Her nails retracted on their own. "You knew?"

"Of course. Do you think I'm stupid?" Deep dark chocolate eyes glared down at her. "You never ate, rarely slept at night, alabaster skin? I am a doctor. I understood right from the beginning."

"You knew?" Her world spun. "You already knew and you accepted it?" Her voice rose at the end. All she'd done, the pain she'd put them both through—and she hadn't needed to?

"I was waiting for you to tell me the truth."

She searched his gaze. "And here I thought I was saving you. That you'd be better off without me. You knew and you didn't care?"

"Of course not. I love you."

There it was. He loved her. Therefore, he accepted her.

So simple. "I am such an idiot."

"I'm not going to argue that." He nodded behind them. "At least not now. Don't suppose you have something big in your vampire bag of tricks for a situation like this, do you?"

"Shit." She watched five large male vampires approach in full fighting form. "They're out for blood."

"They've had all of mine that they're going to get."

"They won't stop this time. We've tricked them. This is a fight to death."

"Good. I'm ready to kick some vampire butt. Except, you don't die easily like humans, do you?"

"No. Sunshine. Ultra violet light, silver, or cut off their heads."

He shot her a disbelieving look. "Wow. You don't make it easy for me, huh?"

Sian hopped off the small train. "Nope. We have only one predator—humans. I'll take out the two in front. They're the leaders."

"Two?"

"Yeah, watch." Sian walked over toward the two men, her own fangs and claws out. The first man reached for her. Like shifting sand, she slid to the side, out of the way. The second man had her in seconds. She smiled and slipped her right hand into her pocket to retrieve her spare needle. This one, full of a toxic substance in case Taz had been turned, was guaranteed to take out anyone, human or vampire, for a very long time. She was hoping the one dose could do two men. Palming it, she stabbed the hairy forearm tight against her throat.

"Shit. You fucking bitch." His arm dropped away. "She stabbed me. With a fucking needle."

"Quit being a baby. Maybe she just wants to take some of your blood"

The second vamp, just as big and as nasty looking as the man Taz had dropped back at the loading station, lunged and grabbed her. Sian let him. Then stabbed the rest of the contents of the syringe into his arm.

"Yeah, and I save some for you, too, asshole."

"Shit. What is that stuff."

"Coraltinoxalate."

He frowned and shook his head as if to clear it. "Whaaaa....t." He collapsed forward, his face smacking against the train tracks.

Sian checked both men on the ground. The first man taking longer to go out as he'd gotten the smaller dose.

Taz. She spun toward the train, to realize Taz wasn't on it. He was beating the crap out of two vampires. She stared in amazement as he used kicks and blocks she'd never seen. Boxing, he'd said. There had to more to it than that. No human took on vampires as easily as he was doing. She frowned. He was human, right? Sure, he was. He had to be. She knew that. Then how...

"Hey bitch." Closed in a vice like grip, Sian struggled to get free. So mesmerized by Taz's fighting skills, she'd forgotten the fifth asshole. Without warning, his teeth sank into her throat. She cried out in agony and fear. This couldn't happen. She fought back, using elbows, knees and heels, but he countered her every move. His fangs dug deeper. He'd be able to rip her throat out with the grip he had on her. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Taz take a brutal blow to the chin. His head flipped up and back and he went down hard.

No. Not fair. They'd come so close freedom. It couldn't end here. She couldn't let it. Letting her weight fall toward the ground as if unconscious, she pulled her attacker off balance. Twisting free, she spiked her nails into his eyes, gouging, digging and finally popping them free of their sockets. He backed up, bellowing like a bull moose, his hands slapping over his eyes.

"My eyes, my eyes. She fucking blinded me."

"They'll heal...eventually. Or, maybe not." She stood up shakily, her hand attempting to staunch the blood seeping from her own throat. "But that's nothing to what I'll do to you if you come after us. I'll make sure you're staked for the early morning sun, asshole. We are leaving. Follow us at your own risk."

The big bull vampire shuddered, his head turning, tracking, following her voice. For the moment, he was of little threat. She spun around looking for Taz, to find him once again standing, his chest heaving as he stared at the vampires on the ground. Three of them. She raced over. "Taz, are you alright? Are you hurt?"

He couldn't get any words out. He reached out and pulled her tight against his heaving chest. "I will be. Shit. I'm so out of shape."

She pulled back slightly to stare up at him in astonishment. "Huh? You just fought three vamps. I doubt you could do better anyway."

"Four."

"What?" She spun around, still held in the circle of his arms, to find Terrance, the lecher orderly, crumpled in a heap off to the side.

"I'm glad you're on my side, Taz. I never even saw those last two arrive."

He reached a hand to her head, tilting it so he could see the rip in her throat. "Hospital for you, my dear."

She shook her head, then winced. "No," she said hoarsely. "This will heal. Let's go before any more of these assholes come."

"Good idea."

Exhausted, the two stared at the small train, then down at the long tunnel ahead of them. "Walk? Drive?"

"Is driving an option? I want out as fast as I can."

"Walking will buy us a little time, maybe. Their control panel should tell them if the train is moving away from the warehouse. This way, they'll think these assholes are handling the situation. Won't come looking for a while yet."

Sian grimaced. "Walk it is." She glanced back at the mess of unconscious and injured vampires. They were her own kind, yet she felt nothing for them. "What about them? Kill them or leave them?"

He hugged her tight, then stepped back with his arm around her shoulders, tugging her down the tracks. "Regardless of how tempting, killing them isn't going to make any of this right."

Sian looked up at the beloved face. How could he, after all he'd suffered, still hold true to his high morals? "Honestly? You don't think they deserve death for what they did to you?"

"Not if there is another way." His firm tone brooked no argument.

Curious and a little envious of his clear cut moral ground, she had to push. "And if they are waiting for us at the end of this ride? What then?"

"The same thing as we've just done if we can. And if not...then death it is. But only if there's no other option."

"They're going to be waiting for us on the other end. You know that, right?"

"Then maybe they will be the ones in for a surprise." He pulled a phone stick out of the pants. "We aren't entirely helpless. With this, we can set up a rescue of our own."

Walking steadily, Sian watched and listened as Taz called several of the power people he knew. She, in theory, could call someone, too. Only she didn't know whom to trust. A year ago, she'd have said there was no trusting a human. Now, she wondered at the reverse. Could she trust any vampire?

They moved forward. Hands linked. The mileage passed quickly. Taz had shifted her world. She owed him so much. And now, they might make it out of this alive, after all. In fact, Taz had arranged for a tactical party to head for the tunnel entrance even as they spoke. This stage of the war would be over soon.

Then the real work would begin. Helping those poor people—in what could be a long and painful process. If they could be helped. Some of them had been in stasis too long. Nerve tissue had deteriorated, muscle tissue had wasted away to nothing. She didn't know what, if anything, they could do for them. It would probably take months if not years to sort out this mess. At least now it could be sorted out.

And maybe she could sleep in peace again, wrapped in Taz's arms, and without all those faces haunting her dreams. She smiled, a tiny intimate smile. Maybe that intimate Halloween party could happen after all.

"Thank you for finding me. For saving me."

Surprised, she looked up to see he was speaking to her. She swallowed hard. Her heart in her throat, she stared at the man who'd given her so much. "I had to. Life without you...well...let's just say, I wasn't too interested in living it alone."

She reached up and dropped a warm kiss on his chin. "When you disappeared and I knew the worst, my goal was to rescue you or perish in the process."

He stopped and spun her around, pulling her close. "And now? Before we walk out of this tunnel and finish this hell? And now?"

Caught by the heat in his gaze, she smiled. "And now, I wouldn't wish to be anywhere else, but in your arms."

"And yet you were prepared to leave me. You pushed me away." Deep brown eyes gazed into her own, searching for the truth, needing the reassurance that she'd be there for him.

It hurt that she'd done that to him. "The situation scared me. I loved you so much. I didn't want you to lose everything. You are human. And I...well, I'm like them...vampire."

"You're nothing like them." He tilted her chin so he could stare deeper into her eyes. "Don't ever say that. What we have is special. We'll work out the problems whatever they are...just don't run off on me again."

"Never."

He lowered his head and sealed her promise with a kiss.

Breast cancer is a disease that affects everyone. Dale's aunt and two of her best friends are breast cancer survivors. She’s honored to be included in this anthology that will benefit so many valiant women in their struggle against this crippling disease.

A prolific, multi-published writer, Dale writes romantic suspense, paranormal romance and crossover young adult books in multiple genres. She also writes nonfiction in many different fields. Sian and Taz are both minor characters in Vampire in Denial.

To find out more about Dale and her books, visit her at
http://www.dalemayer.com
. Or connect with her online with Twitter at
www.twitter.com/dalemayer
and on Facebook at
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Psychic Vision Series

Tuesday's Child

Hide'n Go Seek

Maddy's Floor
- coming soon

Young Adult Books

Dangerous Designs
- Book I

Vampire in Denial
- Book I of Blood Ties

Gem Stone Mystery Series - coming soon

In Cassie's Corner – coming soon

Two days until Halloween, or, as the not-so-gentle folks in Crossroads, Mississippi, liked to say…two days until hell came calling.

Sheriff Ava Dushaine climbed slowly out of her patrol car. She could smell death in the air. It was a dank scent she’d grown used to since being appointed as a paranormal liaison in the Crossroads area just over six months ago.

Liaison, my ass. More like watch dog
. She straightened her shoulders, checked her gun, then walked toward the dead body that had been tossed right in the middle of the road. A deliberate position, one that placed half of the body in the territory marked by the werewolves and half in the territory claimed by the vampires.