When the vampire leapt at him, Dante caught the man under his chin with an uppercut that slammed his jaw closed. The vamp flew back ten feet before crashing into another vampire and rolling toward the fire.
Another fighter rolled across the floor to evade a skull-crushing kick from one of the brawlers. The vamp hit Dante’s legs, nearly knocking them out from under him. He staggered back before righting himself as the roller clutched Dante’s leg and tried to sink his fangs into his calf.
Dante seized his neck and, lifting him off the floor, slammed the vamp onto the ground. The vamp howled as his fingers clawed at Dante’s arms. These vampires hadn’t entered this building as monsters, but if they escaped, some would leave it as Savages.
He couldn’t let that happen. He’d only killed once before; he was still human at the time. He was the first officer to encounter a man wanted for the murder of his wife. When Dante identified himself and ordered the man to stop, the suspect drew a gun on him instead. With no other choice, he shot the man.
Later, he learned the gun was the same one the man used to kill his wife. He was put on leave, ordered to meet with the department psychiatrist, and returned to duty shortly afterward. While he regretted the events that transpired, he never regretted his actions. It was him or the suspect, and he made the right choice.
Now, it was him or this vampire who had lost his humanity. And this creature could not only kill him, but he could also kill Cassidy, and Dante would not let that happen.
He broke the vamp’s neck before pulling out a stake and plunging it into the creature’s heart. Dante wiped the bloody stake on the vamp’s clothes before returning it to his pocket and rising. Unlike the last time he killed, he didn’t feel shocked over this death.
He glanced over his shoulder at Cassidy, who stood a couple of feet behind him with another stake in hand. Sweat beaded her brow and slid down her face. Her distress burrowed into him until it became a festering thing he would do anything to ease.
Movement caught his attention as, across the way, a group of humans and vamps emerged from one of the halls. They gaped at the carnage and destruction filling the room before they fled the hallway for the locked door.
Zan emerged through the growing smoke and stopped to lower Bull’s body. Kneeling beside the large man, Zan felt over Bull’s unconscious form.
“Is there another way out of here?” Dante demanded.
“No,” Zan replied without looking at him.
“Then how do we get the door open?”
“We find the keys.”
Metal clinked as Zan jerked a set of keys from the pocket of Bull’s jeans. Fire reflected off the metal when Zan lifted them in the air before rising and running toward the door. Dante turned to Cassidy and drew her close while Zan shoved his way through the crowd to get to the door.
“Back off!” Zan shouted as the vamps and humans shoved and pushed against him.
Dante pulled Cassidy back as flames raced across the ceiling and arced over his head. He guided her along the outskirts of the crowd looking to stampede out the door. He started to push his way into the throng, determined to make sure she got out of this place, when an ominous creaking filled the air.
The crowd at the door turned toward the noise, and some of the fighters finally stopped trying to kill each other as the creaking got louder. A feeling of impending doom descended over him as his head tipped back. Through a break in the fire and smoke, a hole was opening to the second floor.
And then, the ceiling over the bar collapsed. A rush of smoke and fire billowed out from the burning timbers that had replaced the makeshift bar. A vamp, unlucky enough to have one of those beams crash onto his back, howled as he tried to claw his way out.
“Shit,” Dante muttered as he glanced at the ceiling.
He pushed Cassidy further back as most of the vamps lost to their bloodlust became aware the building was collapsing around them. They stopped trying to kill each other and feeding on others as their heads turned toward the door.
“Hey, Zan!” the bartender yelled from the back of the crowd. “You better move a little faster!”
Dante pinned Cassidy against the wall as more vamps rushed for the door. Wood splintered and cracked as the fire devoured more of the building. The sweat sliding down his body caused his clothes to cleave to him; the smoke clogged his nostrils and mouth as the stench of the fire became overwhelming.
A few feet away from them, a woman swayed before collapsing when her legs gave out. Unwilling to leave Cassidy unprotected, he lifted his arm and kept it in front of her while he leaned to the side, gripped the human’s arm, and lifted her off the ground.
“Got it!” Zan shouted. “Get off me!” He turned and shoved back the crush of vamps and humans swarming him. “I can’t open the door if you’re pushing me!”
Unfortunately, the crowd didn’t hear him. Dante slung the woman over his shoulder and grasped Cassidy’s wrist. Pulling her forward, he had to release her as he started plucking vamps and humans out of the way to ease the crush against Zan.
From twenty feet away, the small bartender lowered her shoulder and pushed through the crowd. “Get off him!” she shouted as she knocked one vamp on his ass.
Dante tossed aside some more as Zan planted his foot against the wall, grasped the doorknob, and pushed back with all his might.
Cassidy held her breath as she waited to see if he could get the door open. They were so close to freedom, but because the crowd was so panicked, they might die in this place with an unlocked door. Her
