Bad Vampire by Lauren Dawes (read aloud books txt) 📕

to keep count of the revolutions, but it was like being on a demon rollercoaster and the brakes were broken. The windshield buckled and shattered with each revolution, eventually shattering on the third spin. Glass sliced my face and neck, but it was all a drop in the ocean compared to the pain in my shoulder. I think I screamed…

Then it all went to black.

Nine

Intermittent light flickered somewhere close to my face as I regained consciousness. It only took a second for the pain to make itself known, forcing me to suck in a low moan that would’ve sounded porny and hot if it weren’t for the blood… or the broken glass. In front of me, all I could see was asphalt. Tiny flecks of glass congealed in my own blood sat in puddles around me. I shifted my eyes over to the right when I heard a shuffle. Sawyer was there, stirring slightly.

Opening my mouth to talk, I found my voice suddenly gone. I swallowed and tried again. “Sawyer? Are you okay?”

“Hmmm?” He had a thin coat of dust on him, covering the shoulders of his shirt.

“Sawyer?” I hissed. I didn’t know how long either of us had been unconscious for, but the sky outside had already gone from the cool gray of dawn to a bright orangey-pink. The sun had risen. I couldn’t hear any sirens yet, but they would come.

I hoped they’d come.

My partner was still hitting the ZZZs, and honestly, I would’ve been right there with him if it wasn’t for the need to get the fuck out of here. The pain in my shoulder was a dull throb, the sensation content to sit in the background for now. I knew when I moved, all that would change.

Craning my neck, I tried to figure out how we had landed. The car was on its side, with me at the bottom and Sawyer hovering above me, only staying put because of his seatbelt. The windshield was gone. All the windows had been shattered, and the smell of gasoline hung heavy and noxious in the air.

I was all for waiting for the cavalry to arrive, except there was a small wisp of black smoke curling up from under the hood. The tendril weaved and dance with the air current. Heat would follow if that spark got enough oxygen to it.

We had to get out of here by ourselves.

Inching my hand around, I slid it down to where the seatbelt clipped into the socket and pressed the button. Nothing happened, even after I jiggled the damn thing and cursed at it for good measure. Sweeping my gaze around the car, I glanced up at Sawyer dangling above me, and spotted the still sheathed dagger on his thigh. Straining, I reached up to grab it and was thankful my fucked-up shoulder was on the other side.

Sliding the knife free, I wrapped my palm around the hilt and started cutting the nylon strap holding me in place. It came apart easily under the knife, which was pretty convenient. I also noticed I didn’t have to saw at the thing. The blade just cut through it like it was…well, a knife through butter. I’d have to remember to ask him about that later.

Once I was free, I dropped the knife and called again to Sawyer.

His eyes flew open as he inhaled sharply. They were wild as he looked around, trying to process the scene. He stared at me, blinking.

“Hey, it’s okay,” I told him. “We need to get out of here though. I think it’s going to catch fire any moment now. Can you undo your seatbelt?”

He nodded, and I braced myself because he was hovering a few feet above me in the air, and once the belt was gone, there was only one way to go. I tried to shift away as much as I could, but he landed awkwardly, showering us both with dust.

I coughed, hissing out sharply as the movement jostled my right shoulder.

“You’re hurt?” he asked suddenly.

“I also can’t breathe on account of you sitting on my chest right now.”

“Fuck. Sorry.” He shifted a little, letting me suck in a breath of dusty, smoky air.

“Can you crawl through the windshield…well, what’s left of it anyway?”

He looked at the space and nodded. “Yes. I’ll slide out, then come back for you.”

“Great plan,” I wheezed out, my vision alternating between sharp clarity and eighties Vaseline-rubbed camera lens. “Go do that.”

Sliding from the wreckage, he almost looked graceful, and I wondered whether I could do the same thing. Probably not. A few seconds later, he was gone, and my chest tightened a little. Rationally, I knew he was just outside the car, but as far as my pain-addled brain was concerned, he’d abandoned me at my hour of need.

“Sawyer?” I called hoarsely.

“I’m here,” he said. “There’s an ambulance on the way.”

“Can you get me out?”

My eyes were trained on the opening he’d disappeared through, but I jolted back when his face popped back into view.

I sucked in a pained breath.

“Sorry, he said. “I need to at least try to get you out before—Fuck!”

Alarmed, I demanded, “What? What’s happened?”

But he didn’t have to answer. The black smoke that had just been a tendril before was now billowing thickly. The cloud rose quickly from the car, along with the heat of an intense fire.

“Get me out of here, Sawyer.” I wasn’t above begging if that’s what he wanted.

He disappeared, and I sucked in a sob. He was going to leave me here because I was a sucky partner and nobody wanted to work with me. This was karma wrapped up in a flaming car wreck. There was a sound, like something metallic tapping. I looked down and found my sword waiting patiently for me. Shifting my uninjured arm around my body, I picked it up from the footwell and stared at it.

“Can you get me out of this?” I asked it.

“Cat, we need to find the sword.”

“It found me,” I called,