Chapter 160
Elliott looked at Aaron in desperation. The only way he was getting out of this situation without giving himself away as something un-human was if he had a little help. The Guardian Leader shrugged and picked up his pool stick from where he’d laid it on the table. “What the hell?” He looked at his friend, the surgeon, and though he was shaking his head like he thought this was a bad idea, he was the only other person in the bar who wasn’t cowering. He stood and readied himself at about the same time as the bikers charged.
The Guardians didn’t hold anything back as the large leather-clad men descended upon them. Aaron wielded the pool stick like a staff, and Elliott wondered if he’d done this before, though he didn’t have much time to think about it when his fists began to fly. Blood splattered across the pool table as his left hook connected with the bulbous nose of an overweight biker dude with long red hair and a nasty smile.
Women screamed as tables came crashing to the floor. Elliott didn’t have much of a chance to check on his two companions as he dodged one assailant to take on another. At one point, one of the assholes landed a cheap shot in his kidneys that hurt like hell. That guy got a nose full of elbow and fell backward into a barstool and didn’t get up right away, so Elliott moved on, taking a few shots to the nose that made him think he might need plastic surgery to put his face back together.
It would’ve been easy to start twisting necks, but these guys weren’t Vampires, and their deaths weren’t as excusable. He noticed the other two on his side were under the same impression. Hit to hurt, but not to kill. The doctor wasn’t exactly a big guy, but he was a scrapper, and Elliott was impressed that he didn’t seem to have a scratch on him. Or maybe that was part of being a Healer.
About ten minutes into the fight when the bikers wouldn’t stay down, Elliott realized they needed to get out of there before they were forced to escalate matters, something he didn’t want to do. He caught Aaron’s eye for a moment and saw the slight nod. The next thing he knew, Jamie was sliding underneath the pool table. An object went flying through the air so quickly, Elliott couldn’t quite make out what it was Aaron had tossed him, but when the doctor flew to the front door faster than a streak of lightning, he imagined that must’ve been the car keys.
Once they were outside, Elliott knew he had a better chance of getting into his own Caddy and taking off. There wouldn’t be anything the Guardians could do about it. He’d left the car doors unlocked, just in case he needed to retreat, and his car was parked so that he could pull out quickly. But they needed a diversion.
About the same time as the thought entered his mind, Aaron shouted his name gestured at the exit. Even though Elliott was tied up with two of the biggest bikers, he decided to take things up a notch. He grabbed the barstool the other guy had gotten to know intimately a few moments ago and swung it around his head, hitting both of the bikers in the skull. They both went down in a heap on the ground.
Elliott was impressed when Aaron thought to rip one of the round table tops off of its base and hurl it across the room at the reforming line of bikers. It took them out like a bowling ball hitting pins, clearing the way to the door. Both Guardians took off, leaping over fallen bodies and sprinting to the parking lot.
As soon as the fresh air hit him, Elliott shouted, “See ya around, boss man,” but then, turning to his car, he realized that wasn’t going to happen. He would’ve ran right over the motorcycles lined up in front and back of it, if it weren’t for the fact that all four of his tires were stacked on the hood and trunk. “Well, shit,” he muttered.
The doctor was behind the wheel of a Buick Somerset, yelling for him to get in, and while he knew it was against his better judgment to take any more help from these guys, he thought he had little choice. Aaron was shoving him toward the back seat, so he jumped in just as the bikers hit the front exit.
A plume of dust filled the air as Jamie pulled out of the parking lot, barely giving Aaron a chance to close the front door. Elliott turned to watch out the back glass as the bikers scrambled to their bikes, but they were growing more and more distant with each second, and he realized this car must be souped-up. After a few minutes, he turned around and relaxed, thinking there was little chance they’d ever catch up.
His nose began to protest, and he though it must be broken. He didn’t dare look in the rearview mirror to see, though. Sometimes it was better not to know. That didn’t stop him from laughing when he realized Aaron had received a few blows to the face as well. One of his eyes was swollen and turning blue and his bottom lip was cut and swollen. The Guardian didn’t seem to think his laughter was very funny, but Elliott couldn’t help but proclaim, “The man ain’t pretty no more!”
Shaking his head, Aaron responded with, “Me? You’re one to talk!”
He imagined that was true. He probably looked a lot worse. Still, he replied, “Well, I wasn’t exactly pretty to begin with.”
The doctor caught his eye in the rearview mirror and shook his head, and Elliott realized there still wasn’t a mark on the guy. It seemed very unfair. Then, to top it off, he reached over and put his hand on Aaron’s face, and a few seconds later, it was back to normal. Jamie yawned like the process was a bit draining but waved off Aaron’s offer to drive.
“Son of a bitch,” Elliott muttered. “That ain’t fair. I wanna be pretty again, too.”
Jamie caught his eye again and with a straight face replied, “I’m sorry, my powers aren’t that strong.”
Aaron laughed, a sound Elliott was pretty sure he hadn’t heard before, and he was sort of surprised the guy even knew how. He seemed like a bit of tight ass, even if he wasn’t a half bad guy. He shook his head at Jamie, who also seemed pretty okay, and said, “So the Healer’s a wiseass? Nice. But seriously, my face hurts, too. Can you fix it?”
He saw an exchange of glances between the two men in the front seat before Aaron said, “I’ll let Jamie pull over and fix your face under one condition. You’ve got to promise not to take off like you tried to do back there at the club. And… you have to come back to headquarters with us and at least hear us out.”
Elliott’s mouth dropped open—which hurt, and he realized his lip was split, too—so he shut it for a second before asking, “You think I’m gonna go all the way to KC with you two? I have a job, you know? I have a life.”
Aaron was shaking his head incredulously. “Why in the world would you want to keep selling cars for a living when there’s so much more you can do?” He looked flabbergasted.
Feeling defensiveness rising, Elliott replied, “I already told you. I know what y’all do, and it ain’t for me.”
Not giving up, Aaron responded, “I understand that, but I was asked to bring you in and show you what we do. Once you get there, if you decide you don’t like it, fine. You can leave. But at least hear us out? All right?”
Something told him this guy wasn’t used to losing. With a deep breath, he said, “Fine, I’ll go. But I can tell you right now there’s no way in hell I’m actually going to stay.”
Aaron looked slightly amused. “Fair enough,” he said, and Jamie slowed the car down, pulling to a stop along the side of the road. The doctor was shaking his head, like he thought this was a bad idea, but he got out of the car, and so did Elliott while Aaron scooted to the driver’s seat.
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