A Curse Unbroken (21 page)

If I’d been in better shape, I would have offered them support or words of comfort. But I wasn’t, and besides, what the hell would that have done? Judging by their now catatonic expressions, they were going to need at least two years of therapy before they could tie their own shoes.

I looked to Helen. She stood perfectly still, coffee cup in hand, despite most of the contents spilled across the front of her shirt. “Could someone get me some scrubs?” I asked in a hoarse voice.

No one moved, with the exception of the new doctor who fainted. In his defense, I did look pretty damn nasty.

It hurt to talk, but I tried again. “Please?”

Helen gave me a short nod then took a few stumbling paces toward the employee locker room. She didn’t make it very far. Three more vampires came tearing down the hall. If that wasn’t bad enough, a werelynx in human form followed close behind them. He was dressed like a ninja and swinging nunchucks with sharp blades protruding from the tips. Helen retreated in the time it took me to let out the mother of all swearwords.

And then the screaming started all over again.

Chapter 16

Helen yelled, “Celia, do something!” and shoved me forward. I would’ve turned around and slapped the shit out of her if I hadn’t been worried about the three crazies about to kill us. I pushed the linen cart toward the approaching vampires. But I was so weak, the toddler with the bandaged arm could’ve pushed it harder than I did.

The vamps didn’t exactly leap out of the way of the cart in terror of me. It was more like they took a step back, exchanged glances, and, oh yeah, laughed. One said something to the others in what I believed was Portuguese. I didn’t speak Portuguese; I spoke Spanish. But I understood enough to know he said something like, “
That’s
Shah’s holder?”

The werelynx swinging the nunchucks also seemed unimpressed. He stopped doing his Bruce Lee thing just to furrow his eyebrows at my nasty self. He shrugged, folded his nunchucks, and shoved them into his ninja belt. I guessed he felt I wasn’t worth soiling his weapons when he could kill a wimp like me with his bare hands. He moved forward, only to step into what remained of Edison. When he glanced at me again, I had already backed up halfway down the hall, far from the terrified humans. The bad guys hadn’t come for them. They’d come for me. I needed to put some space between us.

The ninja said something to the others while pointing to the clumps of Edison ash. The vampires’ amusement faded as it became clear that yes, they had the right gal. All three of them glared at me. I held tight to the bedsheet and bolted when they charged.

I faintly remember hearing what sounded like screeching tires and something crashing through the lobby before thick fingers twisted into my hair and wrenched me back. I was thrown past the horror-stricken crowd, their screams becoming muffled when my head and back smacked against something hard.

Stars swarmed my vision and everything hurt. Goddamnit, even my eyebrows felt the excruciating jolt of my impact. I opened my heavy lids only to find that I’d lost the sheet covering me and was embedded spread-eagle into a wall.

I was bleeding, I was hurt, and I was about to get torn to pieces by three vampires and a ninja werelynx. Terror should have gripped me by the throat. Fear should have chilled my bones. Horror should have released my screams. Instead my only thought was,
Oh God, I’m naked!

It wasn’t a rational thought, but don’t judge me. I’d just been thrown across a room and embedded into cinder block.

The bad guys rushed me. When mere feet remained between certain death and me, three large and snarling wolves the size of my tigress collided with them like giant rams, shoving them across the Emergency Department and away from me.

Koda and Gemini had arrived.

I lifted my chin, forcing my lolling head to straighten. Shayna skidded around the demolished nurses’ station, her eyes wild as she took in the destruction around her.
“Dude!”
she yelled when she saw me.

My head slumped forward, and my body tried to convince me this was a good time for a nap. But the sound of splintering glass, growls, screams, and whatever other noises accompanied an Emergency Department being demolished insisted I should stay awake and try not to die.

Shayna hopped over the debris, shock whitening her pixie face as she took me in. “I’m okay,” I slurred.

Shayna clasped my left wrist and pulled. “Don’t worry, Ceel. You’re not alone. I’ll get you out.”

That was easier said than done. She had to prop her foot against the wall for leverage as she yanked. Each pull sent currents of sharp pain shooting into every nerve in my back. “Shayna, don’t,” I begged.

“It’s okay, Ceel. You’re almost out,” she insisted.

No, I wasn’t, and her efforts to save me were killing me. A sickening crunch filled my ears over the chaos in the ED. I hoped the sound was chunks of wall falling around me and not my crumbling spine.

From where I was rooted, I had a clear view of one of the Gemini wolves and a vampire destroying the inpatient pharmacy. The medication-dispensing robot whipped around as they duked it out. Clumps of bloody fur stuck to the windows and what appeared to be a hand crawled along the ledge.

Shayna was still trying to dislodge me when one of the robot’s arms jabbed Gem in the eye. The vamp used that moment to strike. He kicked Gem through the pharmacy’s glass wall. Gem landed atop shambles of metal and sheetrock. He flipped, narrowly dodging the ninja’s swinging nunchuck. Gem went after him, but the ninja threw something that temporarily darkened the ED with smoke.

I coughed and gagged; whatever he’d thrown burned my lungs and throat. The smoke cleared in time for Shayna to free me from my cinder block prison.

And for the ninja to appear in front of us.

“Shayna!”

She dipped and rolled out of the way before the blade could puncture her skin. Fortunately, she kept moving because the ninja didn’t stop. Unfortunately, she released me in the process. My body felt like rubber, but I didn’t exactly bounce when I face-planted into a pile of rubble.

“Ouch,”
I whimpered through a mouthful of dust.

It took a great deal of effort, time, and a whole lot of swearing before I could push up onto my elbows. To my left, Koda was dodging bullets from yet another vampire who had arrived. He’d killed the one who had thrown me into the wall, but that one hadn’t been wielding a weapon. His howls echoed, rattling against the devastated halls, when a couple of bullets pierced his ribs.

Smoke wafted from his fur in tendrils. Koda could take being shot by gold, so long as the bullets missed his heart and brain. The screaming humans didn’t have that luxury. I scanned the area, searching for somewhere to stash them.

Twenty feet to our right was the medical supply closet. There wasn’t a lot of room, and the super-beasties could easily break through the keypad, but the door was constructed with thick metal and would provide protection from the barrage of shots being fired. I crawled forward, staying low mostly because I couldn’t stand.

“Helen.
Helen!
” I called louder when she continued to scream. “Get everyone into the supply closet!”

Helen didn’t hear me, but one of the nurse techs did. She ran to the door. It took her a few tries to open it with her trembling hands, but she managed. Another nurse urged everyone forward. They piled in, shutting the door tight behind them.

I pushed up on my legs, only to fall on my face again, narrowly missing the spray of bullets punching holes into the wall behind me. Another gun-wielding vamp had arrived because hey, why not? Collapsing into more broken glass, though horrifically painful, was the only thing that saved me.

Shit. All I could do was lie there like a very naked and oozing slug.
Aric. Where are you, wolf?

Aric didn’t respond to help me. But Koda did. He tackled the vampire like a seasoned linebacker. He may have been hurt, but he tore into the vamp and ripped him apart. Ash exploded as he made the kill. He veered, ready for more, but the ash had occluded his vision, and he didn’t clear it fast enough to avoid the ninja or his lethal nunchucks.

Koda yelped when the ninja stabbed the tip of a blade into his haunches and then raked a knife across his face. It was horrible, but the attack brought Shayna racing from the opposite corridor. She lifted the IV pole and split it with her power, transforming it into two long and razor-sharp scythes.

The ninja leapt away from Koda and attacked. He wasn’t afraid. He was a master of weaponry.

But so was my sister.

Shayna howled one of her more pathetic wolf calls and spun forward, spinning her scythes. The ninja hadn’t expected someone so thin to be so lethal. His eyes widened when Shayna all but gutted him with her first strike. He pivoted right then left, catching one handle with the chain of the nunchucks. He brought the blade down, but couldn’t avoid Shayna’s kick to the groin.

The ninja recovered too damn quickly, reaching for a dagger from his belt and jabbing it at Shayna. She twisted out of reach, bringing her other scythe down in an arc. He evaded her blade and whirled back, and together they began a deadly dance of strikes and blocks. They fought like two vicious gladiators, my sister’s cunning and skill leading the ninja away from Koda, giving him time to rush another vampire.

I wasn’t a coward, but I was badly hurt and needed to hide from the last gun-toting vampire staggering through the rear entrance. He’d lost a foot, and yet he hobbled faster than most humans ran.

The linen cart had been pushed off to the side near the wall. It wasn’t much in the way of cover, but it was my only option given the condition of the ED. I crawled through the devastation and the ick. Shards of glass and splinters of wood scraped painfully against my breasts, belly, and thighs. It took me a moment, but I finally managed to reach the small pocket of protection before the vamp noticed me.

My body gave out just when a pair of feet in bloodred platform Mary Janes stepped in front of me. The most notorious Catholic schoolgirl had arrived.

I glanced up Edith’s long legs, careful not to look too closely. Edith wasn’t a fan of underwear. “Hi, Celia,” she said cheerfully. “The master sensed you were in trouble and sent us to help you.”

“Eh?” was all I managed.

Edith hauled me up by my shoulders with ease. She tossed back her long midnight hair and grinned. “The master also sends his love,” she said right before she kissed me.

That’s right. Edith kissed me. On the lips. I clenched my jaw shut before she could shove her tongue down my freaking throat. My eyes were wide as I kicked out uselessly. Edith’s eyes were closed as she continued what she probably thought was one hell of a smooch. I wanted to gag, having had an idea where her lips had been, but that would have granted her access to the inside of my mouth. No way in hell did I want anything of Edith’s near any of my orifices.

If it wasn’t strange enough having one of the Catholic schoolgirls making out with me, an odd blue haze surrounded us, and all I could think about was Misha. I thought of his gray eyes and how they softened only for me, and about that wicked smile he flashed when he was up to no good.

Then, unexpectedly, he materialized through the far wall and stalked toward us. It was hard fighting off Edith’s tongue as it slid against my teeth while I gawked at Misha, flabbergasted by what the hell was happening. His black silk pants hung shamelessly low on his hips, exposing his Herculean physique, glistening with sweat. He slinked leisurely, like a serpent over the rubble, while his long mane swept off his powerful shoulders. My eyes widened as
every
part of him tensed with each step. When he reached me, he pushed my hair away from my face, and joined our kiss.

I just about had a coronary, but then Misha vanished and was suddenly inside me, building my strength and caressing everything that hurt. Including my ass.

I jumped away at the realization, flipping backward—away from Edith and the linen cart—and landing in a crouch. The strange blue haze surrounding me intensified and glowed, erasing my pain and damnit all, tingling
every
part of me.

Edith fixed her attention on my breasts. “The master will be pleased by your response,” she said, smiling.

The cocking of a gun had me scrambling back toward Edith. I dove behind the cart and hunkered down, narrowly missing getting shot. Edith just stood there and tilted her head like she couldn’t understand my reaction. “Edith, get down!” I yelled.

She huffed. “What’s the big deal? They’re only bullets.”

The gun jammed, but then the vamp managed one more shot. It hit Edith right in the arm. She screamed in agony as smoke rose from her wound and black pus seeped from the gaping hole.

Edith peered at her wound and back at me. “That fucker is shooting with gold bullets!”

“I know. Get down!”

Instead of listening, Edith completely lost her shit. She looked up at the ceiling, raised her arms, and screamed. I fell back on my new and improved ass. I’d only heard her scream like that once before—when we’d found the beings who’d kidnapped and tortured her master. It was a guttural, primal, PMS type of scary scream—good for us and bad, very bad, for the vamp who’d shot her.

I snagged a patient gown seconds before she picked up the linen cart and flung it into the gun-wielding vamp. He grunted upon impact but all I could see were legs sticking out from the bottom of the cart. The cart shook as he tried to rise, but not before Edith screamed once more and launched herself on top of him.

Edith pierced her carefully manicured and deadly nails through the flaps of the cart and reemerged with the vamp’s colon. She tossed the intestines and what resembled a kidney aside. I stopped watching then. Not only because I was grossed out, but because her kiss had somehow transferred some of Misha’s power into me. And Lord knew I needed it then. The ED was suddenly flooded with more
weres
and vampires chanting,
“Shah, Shah, Shah,”
as if trying to locate him.