Bit the Jackpot (Vegas Vampires #2)(6)
Author: Erin McCarthy

Not to mention she was almost certain he hadn’t spoken out loud, just in her head. She licked her lips nervously.What ?she whispered tentatively, her lips moving automatically even if no sound came out.

Go back in the club, beautiful.

She fell back on her butt, startled that she could hear him so clearly in her head. Yet he wasn’t even looking at her. He was slamming one of the big guys into the brick wall.

I’m serious. They want to kill me. Get back inside.

It seemed like a good plan. Get back inside away from big, hairy men throwing punches. But for some reason her legs weren’t moving. Leaving Seamus all alone just didn’t seem right. She bit her fingernail nervously. If she ran toward the door, she could call 911 and get Seamus help. That would be the smartest thing to do.

She stood up, hugging the wall, staying in the shadows as she inched toward the door.

Right then Seamus leaped six feet in the air in the most unbelievable move Cara had ever seen and kicked one of the guys in the back of the head. It should have dropped the big dude to the ground, but instead, he just growled and bared his teeth. The streetlight was right on his face and Cara had a perfect view of his face and mouth.Of his fangs.

" Arrghh," she said involuntarily, covering her mouth with her hand. Those were not just exceptionally large canines. Those were fangs. And Seamus was leaping through the air like he had superpowers.

Something was very, very wrong here. Now the big guy had seen her.

"Who are you?" he asked, getting back to his feet after kissing concrete. He took a step toward her, a leer on his face. He wasn’t as ugly as the other guy, who was currently in a headlock under Seamus’s armpit, but he looked stupid.

"Leave her be. I’ll wipe her memory," Seamus said. Excuse me? That didn’t sound pleasant. Cara started fast-walking toward the door.

Stupid cut her off, stepping right in front of her escape path. His nostrils flared. "You smell good."

Cara grimaced. That just didn’t sound like a compliment. But to prevent pissing him off, she murmured, "Thank you."

If she ran the other way, toward the street, she could get help. She chanced a glance at Seamus. He still had the ugly guy in his grip, but was getting his head pounded against the wall in retaliation. Cara winced. That must hurt. That was brain damage in the making.

It was up to her to make a break for it. Especially since Stupid was leaning toward her, his mouth wide open.

"I bet you taste really good, too," he said.

Eeew.Time to move it."What’s that?" Cara asked, pointing behind the guy’s right shoulder.

"What?" He turned.

She ran like hell to the end of the alley and out into the street.

It was a good plan.

What she hadn’t factored in was the possibility of a car driving right in that particular spot.

She popped out with too much momentum to slow down, even as she realized an SUV was only a few feet from her. She felt the impact of the huge car like a massive shove, her brain rattling, her breath sucking right out of her lungs. Then she was hurtling through the air with nothing to hold on to, a scream stuck in her throat.

This could be a problem.

Cara landed, pain ripping through her entire body, crunching and jarring and tearing.

Then with great relief, she passed out.

Chapter Three

Seamus smelled Cara’s blood flowing before he saw her. The SUV peeled back into reverse and took off, the guy behind the wheel looking panicked, his eyes glassy with shock and alcohol. With the car gone, Seamus had a clear view down the street to where Cara lay in a heap, her leg tucked under her at an awkward angle, blood seeping from her head down onto the street.

He ran,Ugly and Stupid behind him, sniping at each other.

"This is your fault," the one said.

"My fault?What did I do?"

"You had to get distracted. You had to think with your fangs. And now she’s dead, Fox isn’t, and the other chick is gone."

Seamus half listened, the fact that they knew who he was barely registering.Their attack wasn’t random, but he couldn’t deal with that at the moment. His concern was for Cara. He kneeled down, digging through her hair to find her neck and search for a pulse. If he strained, he could hear a heartbeat, but it was faint, irregular, and he wasn’t sure if it was real, or wishful thinking on his part.

This woman couldn’t be dead. If she was, it was his fault. He had approached her backstage, he had reached out to her mentally, connected them. She must have sensed something was happening in the alley and she had walked into the middle of that mess because of him. Guilt was a terrible thing. He had nearly smothered under it back during the Revolution. Had only crawled back out because Ethan had forced him to, and he wasn’t at all sure he could do it a second time.

He wasn’t finding Cara’s pulse. "Damn it." He brushed her long hair out of the way, scooted in closer.

"She’s dead, man."

"Fuck you."

"Can I have a little taste now?" the second guy said."Before her blood gets cold."

Now that made Seamus angry.Very, very angry. He stood up and yanked the knife right out of Ugly’s hand. "Get the hell out of here before I drive this through your black heart."

Ugly scoffed. "Try it."

Seamus did. The knife went right into the man’s chest, sinking deep with a sick sucking sound.

"Shit, I can’t believe you did that." The guy jerked back, swearing and grabbing at his chest."You bastard!"

His friend laughed and made no move to help him. Seamus reached back and pulled a piece of metal off the ground, car refuse from the accident. Before Stupid even had time to react, Seamus cut off his laughter by stabbing him in the same spot as the other guy. It wouldn’t kill either of them, since it wasn’t wood, but it would hurt like hell and get them away from Seamus.

" Ow! What’d you do that for?" Stupid looked downright indignant as he glanced down at the injury. "I didn’tmean for her to wind up dead. Not my fault mortals are so breakable."

"You were going to kill me, weren’t you?" Seamus asked, pressing the bottom of his shirt onto Cara’s head wound, knowing it was futile, feeling sick and bitter and hating himself.

"Well " They darted glances at each other, both grimacing and grabbing their chests. "Yes."

"Go away before I cut your damn heads off!"

They took him seriously and shuffled off awkwardly, bitching and moaning to each other.

Seamus stopped pressing at Cara’s wound. His shirt fell away, covered in her blood, as he picked up a limp hand, felt for a pulse, any sign of life.

Nothing.

She was so beautiful, even with her face contorted in agony and surprise. Her robe was sliding open, her bare breast pale, her chest still. Seamus rearranged the fabric to cover her back up. Pulled her broken leg out from under her, and brushed her hair off her lips and cheek.