Free Vampire Beach: High Stakes by Alex Duval

down their supernatural beauty when they wanted to. He’d learnt that back when he was fighting Luke Archer, the bloodlusting vampire who’d made himself look like an entirely different person when he was on the hunt.
    The bouncer stared at Zach, too, obviously thrown.
    ‘We’re going in,’ Zach told him.
    The guy dropped his arm. ‘Fine. But if you get into trouble, it’s on your head. I told you, you don’t belong here.’
    He’s right about that , Jason thought as they walked in. The Red Lake was dark, but that didn’t disguise how filthy the floors were. The air smelled like stale cigarettes and stale beer. And the clientele consisted entirely of big, mean-looking guys. Jason suddenly felt like an idiot in his polo shirt and sport coat. At least Zach could make himself look large and nasty.
    ‘Freeman.’ Zach nodded toward the back of the room. There was a table under a hanging light, and a bunch of guys were gathered around it playing poker.
    Adam sat in the corner, surrounded by dangerous-looking dudes. He held a few tattered cards in his hands, and a stack of money was piled on the table in front of him.
    Jason stared in surprise. ‘I thought he said he was in trouble.’
    ‘Doesn’t look like trouble,’ Zach replied. ‘I’d say he’s at least ten grand up. Maybe more.’
    Jason headed over to the table, trying to ignore the stares of the other patrons. When Adam spotted him, a huge smile spread over his face. ‘Jason!’ And then he saw Zach, and his smile got even bigger. ‘My friends are here, guys. Deal me out.’
    The four nasty-looking guys at the table turned to check out Jason and Zach. The one dealing the cards grunted and started to shuffle. Adam took his money and started to get up.
    ‘Not so fast,’ The dude closest to Jason said standing up. He was at least six foot five, and had a tattoo of the Grim Reaper on the back of his shaved skull. ‘You have my money.’
    Adam froze. ‘I won the money. You all saw me.’
    One of the other guys, a skinny dude with black, greasy hair, laughed. ‘He won the money, all right.’
    ‘Let’s go, Turnball,’ Zach said, stepping forward.
    But the Grim Reaper was still standing between Adam and the door. More importantly, he was standing between Adam and his friends. ‘Sit your ass down and play,’ he ordered Adam. ‘You can leave when I’ve won my money back.’
    ‘He has to go now,’ Zach said evenly. ‘We’re not waiting.’
    ‘If he tries to leave with my money, I’ll break his arm,’ the Grim Reaper replied, his eyes never leaving Adam.
    Adam’s face paled and he sank back down into the chair.
    ‘That’s not very sportsmanlike,’ Zach said softly.
    The skinny dude laughed again. ‘You want in, pretty boy? You can play, too. Teach us all to be sportsmanlike.’
    ‘We’re leaving now. Adam, get up,’ Zach said flatly.
    Adam glanced at Jason. Jason nodded. Slowly, Adam stood up. He shoved the money into his backpack and started inching his way around the table. When he reached the Grim Reaper, the guy pounced.
    Zach hit him before Jason even realized he’d pulled back his arm. The big guy’s head snapped to the side, and he stumbled backwards.
    Instantly, all the lowlifes jumped to their feet. Jason heard a hollow thudding sound, as if something heavy had fallen to the ground. He caught a glimpse of something black and metallic under the table. A gun? he thought frantically. And then the skinny guy was rushing him.
    Jason instinctively ducked the blow. He wrapped his arms around the guy’s waist and tackled him to the floor, landing with his weight on the dude’s chest.
    ‘Oof!’ The skinny guy struggled for breath, trying to wriggle out from under Jason. Jason punched him in the jaw, then punched him again. The guy stopped struggling.
    As he climbed to his feet, Jason could see Zach moving – fast. The Grim Reaper was down, his chair was knocked over, and another guy’s fist was flying toward Zach’s head. Then