CHAPTER 49

"Fuck!" Bobby yelled when another shot angled through the now shattered back window and through the passenger side window. "We've got to lose them! There's got to be somewhere in this backwater hole that we can disappear..."

He swerved to the left, just before the vampires shot again.

I'd noticed two things since the vampires started firing at us. First: vampires sucked at aiming. Second: they were not using the wolf killer ammo, or anything other than ordinary rounds, as far as I could tell.

I found the latter rather odd, considering the last vampire that I had fought, the one that had supposedly marked me, definitely had access to the ammo, and better guns too, as far as I could tell. And if you had access to better weaponry, why wouldn't you take it?

"We can't, they can track me somehow. We have to disable them and hope we can outrun them after that."

I turned in my seat, careful to keep my head down and out of sight. They might be a terrible shot, but there was no sense providing them with an easy target.

I could see that they drove a generic SUV, so nondescript I couldn't even pick out which manufacturer. Driving, too seemed to be difficult for them, the vehicle wondered every so often catching on the roughage at the side of the road before swerving over the center line, over correcting their mistake. It occurred to me that this might be their first time driving, and if that was true maybe it was their first time with guns as well.

I squinted into the dark, but even with heightened eyesight I could see nothing past the glare of their headlights.

I pulled out the makarov and took aim, right about where the driver should be.

*Pop.*

A bullet hole appeared in the windshield exactly where I'd placed it. The SUV swerved violently but managed to stay on the road. A stream of bullets fired back in response.

I thought I might have hit him, but it wasn't a killing shot. Could vampires even die? How much of history's mythology about them was right? Did they need to be killed with a steak to the heart? Holy water? ...Garlic?

I had so many questions and not a single answer, which didn't help the situation I was in at all.

"So quit fucking around and disable them already," Bobby yelled when the gunfire paused momentarily.

Right, like it was so easy.

But then I realized something. I'd always had good aim with guns, something I attributed to my wolf and her overdeveloped senses. But since I'd got the macarov from Marcus...I hadn't missed. Not once. And every shot had done more damage than I'd predicted.

I looked at the little gun. It gleamed at me in the low light provided by the dash. Nothing special, just a little unassuming gun.

Turning once more I took careful aim at the SUV's right front tire. Took a steady breath, and fired. I knew I hit because the SUV jerked a little on impact.

For several seconds I thought maybe something had gone wrong, or maybe I'd been wrong about the gun. And then the SUV started to swerve. Not little swerves either, the tire pressure had obviously fled and whoever was driving was now fighting against the pulling of friction and losing the battle. Small sparks began to light under the SUV.

"Whatever you do, keep going," I told Bobby.

"Well I wasn't going to stop and offer assistance," he snarled at me. Smart ass.

"What I mean is that they're fast as hell. The last one I faced chased be down the street in Boston and still caught up with me."

"We need to have a chat about your current hobbies," Bobby pressed the gas petal further into the floorboards, "you need a life change."

Yeah...didn't I know it.

The gunshots had stopped and I risked another peek back. The SUV was falling behind, the rim of the front right tire now scraping against pavement. The driver gunned it, determined to catch up, but the increased momentum caused the vehicle to skid into a tight turn, barrelling off the highway and into the ditch in a cloud of dust and smoke.

A moment later a silhouette appeared on the pavement, a second later joined by another. Their size began to increase. We were doing a hundred and they were gaining on us.

"Holy shit!" Bobby was glancing between the road and the rear-view mirror.

"Keep your eyes on the road," I snarled when we took a turn far tighter than was comfortable. In the back seat Darius' body shifted to the side and he let out a pitiful moan.

"How are we going to lose them if they can do *that*? They're going to catch us, I've got a good thing going! I can't afford to become a vampire."

Bobby wasn't so good under pressure.

"They aren't going to catch us, they can't run like this forever," I lied. I didn't have any clue what they could actually do, but I needed Bobby to focus on the road so we all didn't end up dead. I watched them, legs and arms pumping as they sped along the highway. Bobby had picked up speed to one fifteen, with the curves in the highway that was about as fast as we could go and still maintain control.

They didn't seem like they were slowing down, but they were no longer catching up either. We were at a stalemate, and I wasn't going to count on it ending well, especially when a deer bounded across the highway in front of us, causing Bobby to scream and cover his head with both hands.

I managed to grab the steering wheel before the car pulled to the side, and the deer, wide eyed, scrambled it's ass out of the way.

"Just drive," I grabbed Bobby's hands and put them firmly back on the wheel.

I checked on our pursuers and then fumbled with my phone.

"Raven?" Aiden said on the other end when I finally managed to dial his number with shaking fingers. "Have you considered the job offer?"

I opened my mouth, and then closed it again, because that had been the last thing on my mind.

"It's four in the morning and *this* is the first thing you ask me?"

There was a pause.

"Apologies, I'm in the lab, I often work late and lose track of time. If this isn't about the job, what is it I can do for you?"

"We're heading down four ninty-five, about twenty minutes out, two vampires in pursuit and I don't think they're calling for tea."

He was silent. I'd shocked him into silence.

"Aiden?"

"Still here. Listen carefully and follow my instructions exactly."