Every bit of oxygen wheezed from her lungs, and dark spots swam in front of her vision. Her grip on his leg slipped, and her eyes watered as pain bloomed in her torso. She was going to black out.
With her last thought, she shot a stunning spell up his leg. He stumbled but still slipped away from her.
Moments, minutes later, she blinked, coughed, and jolted upright, her chest protesting the movement. Grunts and shouts sounded in the distance and she forced herself to her feet, breaking into a shambling trot and following the noise.
Delta had managed to catch him again, and she tore into Gregor while he tried to fend her off. They both had bloody noses and sported various bite marks where fangs had struck. Moving faster than Selina could see, he suddenly had his hands around Delta’s throat, lifting her off her feet, and she choked and gurgled. Then his eyes widened and he dropped her, backing away. “Delta, I ...”
An earsplitting howl pierced the night, and Grim materialized midair. His jaw snapped around Gregor’s arm, digging in and shaking the vampire like a rag doll. The familiar wrenched him to the ground, and blood poured from the broken flesh. Gregor struck out, but his blows seemed to glance off of Grim and never quite hit. A shield spell. Bucking upward, Gregor tried to dislodge his canine attacker, but Grim went with the movement, biting and snarling. His teeth shredded the vampire’s flesh. Selina had only seen him like this once before, the night she’d met him, before he’d become her familiar. It was scary.
Delta recovered her weapon from the ground and danced in a circle around the fight, trying get a bead on Gregor. “A little help here, O Elfish One?”
“Gregor, put your hands over your head so I can cuff you, or I’m not calling him off!” Selina pulled her handcuffs out of their holder and waited for the vampire to comply.
He did, cursing and still kicking, but unable to get the dog off of him. Her fingers shook and sweat poured down her face to sting her eyes, but she snapped the metal around his wrists. She left him there to bleed while she wrapped her fingers around Grim’s collar and used her own magic to blast him away. She didn’t worry that he’d turn on her, but her heart pounded at the sounds he made, those of a wild animal.
“Settle down, Grim. We got him. Good boy.” She stroked his fur while he vibrated with rage, growling at Gregor. She sent waves of calm out to him, magic to bring him down off the ledge.
“Get up,” Delta rasped, jerking her weapon at the big vampire. “Time to go for a little ride.”
He crawled to his feet, his hands bound before him. “Did I hurt you?”
“It’s several decades too late to ask that question.” Her gaze slitted, her eyes flashing red. “Start walking, and I swear if you try to run again, I’ll load you up with enough bullets to make sure you don’t heal.”
“I didn’t have to let you live. Then or now. Think about that.” Sighing, he turned in the direction she’d pointed him.
She snorted. “Yeah, you’re all heart.”
Selina put her hand out and dredged up a summoning spell. “Gun.”
Her weapon winged through the air and slapped into her palm. She made sure she stayed between her familiar and Gregor as they escorted him to her car. With a thought, she opened the back door and then sealed him in. He’d have to cast one hell of a spell to get out of there, and vampires didn’t have that ability. Grim squeezed into the center of the front, turning to snap at Gregor. Fortunately, the spell that kept Gregor in also kept Grim out. Both women flopped into the front seats, sighing in relief.
Gregor slid to the middle of the backseat, wincing only a little as Grim growled at him. “Sorry about that, ladies. You understand I had to try.”
Glancing into the rearview mirror, Selina arched her eyebrows. “We understand, and we still don’t like you very much right now.”
“Understatement,” Delta muttered, blowing her mussed hair out of her face. Her wounds had begun to heal themselves. The blood from the bites stopped flowing and her skin grew pink with health. She turned in her seat and kept her pistol leveled at Gregor.
Selina winced at the aches and pains that let themselves be known as she shifted the car into gear. Thankfully, it was a short drive and then she could have one of the medics Luca had on staff take care of her minor injuries.
All in all, it could have been a lot worse, considering it was Gregor.
15
“Round two of fun.” Delta plopped into the chair across from Gregor in the interrogation room.
Holding Grim off with a spell, Selina darted through the door, and closed it behind her. The room was warded against any use of magic, so hers stripped away the moment she got in. Not really ideal to lose her abilities, but necessary when holding a criminal like Gregor.
He smiled his cheerful smile. “I tried to keep us all from this, but you were very insistent.”
Plucking at one of his torn sleeves, he arched his eyebrows at them. His wounds had healed, and he had been given some of the serum vampires used to suppress the need for blood. He was fine.
“I’ll feel bad about that when you apologize for booting me in the chest.” Selina seated herself beside Delta.
Gregor kept grinning, but didn’t beg her pardon. Of course not.
“We have a few more questions for you, as we mentioned.” The blonde smirked at him. “Before you ran away like a scared little girl.”
His grin faded, but he didn’t rise to the bait. “I had nothing to do with your murders. I believe I said as much the last time we met. I can’t imagine what more I can tell you.”
Selina drummed her fingers against the table. “Oh, it wasn’t you who did it.”
“How do you know that?” He looked surprised for a second, then smoothed his expression to his usual geniality.
“Because this particular vampire isn’t a vampire at all. He’s Normal.” Delta smacked the table between them.
The redhead flinched and looked away. He blew out a breath, but didn’t say anything else.
Selina jumped into the silence. “What I’m saying is that you were at the crime scene after the fact. What I’m saying is that you know who my Normal vampire wannabe is. I’m saying that if you had manned up before now, you could have stopped innocent people from being murdered.”
He snorted. “There’s no such thing as an innocent person.”
“The man you saw? The one facedown on his bed in a pool of his own blood?” Delta leaned forward and got right in his face. “His wife is pregnant, due in a couple of months. That innocent child will never know his father now. And I blame you.”
His eyes went wide. “I didn’t kill him!”
“Not him, but there’ve been plenty of others, haven’t there?” Delta rose to her feet, swishing around the table. She put one hand on the metal surface and the other on the back of Gregor’s chair, leaning into his space. “Oh, yeah. You’ve killed dozens of people. Hundreds. Maybe thousands. It’s the only thing you’re any good at, isn’t it?”
“I have other talents. You’ve enjoyed them before.” He glanced at her from the corner of his eye, his voice silky.
“Once.” She drew so close that her breath ruffled the hair near his ear. “But we both know how that ended, don’t we? How you almost killed me. Because that’s what you do. Isn’t it, Gregor?”
Something that almost looked like guilt flickered across his face. “Yes. That’s what I do. Are you happy now, Delta?”
“No, sugar.” Her hand slid across the table, until it almost touched his. “I’m not happy. I want you to do something worthwhile for once in your life. I want you to help me save some people.”