Free Merrick's Destiny by Moira Rogers

it gave way to more pressing practical concerns. “Do you know how these flying machines get airborne?”
    He shook his head. “Never seen one that managed.”
    “I’ll need a relatively flat, straight strip of land to get up some speed.” Paralee met his gaze evenly. “A clear strip, and quite a bit of speed. If we’re as surrounded as you say, it won’t be easy.”
    “There’s a clearing just beyond the station.” He shoved his hand through his hair. “The vampires won’t be able to take us during the day. It’ll all come down to whether or not they’ve got ghouls—and how many.”
    “The groups I’ve encountered usually do.” It was too simple to avoid them otherwise. Stick to the sunshine, and you’d get through just fine. Ghouls could walk freely in the light—and drag you back to their masters in the dark.
    Merrick nodded. “Ghouls are slow and stupid. I can handle a couple dozen on my own, but they can still slow me down.”
    “And ruin a perfectly good take-off.” Paralee tapped the aircraft’s frame. “You know, this was designed to fly low, and these brackets on the front could only have been designed to hold autofiring weapons.”
    “Really?” He squinted as he touched the brackets. “A pity they had to abandon it. I reckon it could come in mighty handy next time vampires try to take a border town.”
    “As well as now, if you can help me locate the weapons. They’d have had to modify them with remote triggers that can be activated from the control panel inside.”
    The lights flickered again, and Merrick groaned and rocked to his feet. “Let me chop up the kitchen table and feed it to the steam boiler. Then I’ll find you some weapons, you bloodthirsty wench.”
    “You like me this way, admit it.”
    “Abso-damn-lutely, sweet girl.”
    She refused to blush. Instead, she tossed the wrench aside and wiped her hands on the rough coveralls she’d found. “Just a few more things to check out, and I’ll be ready to test these engines.”
    “Good.” He reached down and caught her chin. “We’re going to make it.”
    “I know.” They just had to get past the vampires and in the air—nothing to it, provided everything went according to plan.
    The real problem was that hardly anything ever did.
    #
    The plane was lighter than it looked, but Merrick still had to fight to push it to the clearing, especially with death pressing in on him from every side.
    The vampires were awake. He wasn’t sure how he knew—hell, he couldn’t know , not really—but he’d bet his life on it. Awake and maybe peering down at him from the mountains at his back. Every snapped twig sent his blood surging until he fairly trembled with repressed energy.
    At least it made pushing the damn plane easier.
    Paralee stood on the wing, one arm stretched into the cockpit to steer the wheels. “I see the clearing. Let’s try to get as close to the hills as we dare, though. The more space I have to work with, the better our chances.”
    He grunted his understanding and pushed with renewed effort. Ghouls could be shambling through the trees even now. Or maybe the ghouls would try to shoot them down—a vampire might assume a dangerous crash could damage a bloodhound more easily than a handful of ghouls.
    So many ways to die, and he had to make sure none of them befell Paralee.
    “Just a little—” Her breath cut off in a rush. “Shit. We have visitors.”
    His skin prickled, as if the bloodhound already fought to break free. “How many?”
    “Four—no, seven. Eight…” She swore again and climbed into the pilot’s seat of the craft. “Enough to cause problems. We need to get this thing going now .”
    Eight ghouls weren’t so bad. He had a heavy gun strapped across his back and both hunting knives. “If I clear a path, can you get into the air from here?”
    She glanced at him incredulously. “Without you?”
    “Plan for the worst, love.” He heaved the plane over a rocky bit of ground and clear