Free Of A Darker Nature by Michelle Clay

a second stun gun and shot Beau in the back.
    “He ain’t goin’ anywhere.”
    A tall, homely woman with mousy brown hair moved closer. She pointed a stun gun in Emily's direction. They'd been clever, tricking her into coming to the abandoned park in the middle of the night.
    Trent and Pete pulled someone from the storage shed. Emily cringed at the sight of their hostage. It looked like someone had taken a torch to the right side of his face. One of his eyelids hung limp and closed over the eye. Strings of wet flesh hung from his jaw and dribbled pus and other viscous fluid. Raw muscles were exposed and peppered with bits of dirt and debris. His bare feet dragged on the ground between them.
    Emily's heart pounded in her ears, and her breaths came in shallow gasps. She averted her gaze from the man's ruined face. She wanted to haul ass out of there, but fear rooted her to the ground.
    Starr sat a lantern at her feet. The others forced the captive onto his knees. “I'd like you to read this fellow. He's being hardheaded and refuses to tell me what I want to know.”
    The captive swayed, too weak to stay up on his own.
    Emily's mind scrambled for any idea to ensure their safety.
    Trent must have found her horror-struck expression amusing. “He got some sun this afternoon. They had to dig him up and move him. It would've been a lot easier if you'd just gone to the cemetery like we asked.”
    Starr shoved Emily onto the grass by the injured vampire.
    The woman with the stun gun hovered nearby, giving Emily no choice. The double stun guns continued to incapacitate Beau. 
    “I gave you a chance to do this on your own, but you insisted on doing it the hard way,” Starr sneered.
    “I don't even know if I can read him.”
    “For your sake, you'd better hope so.” Starr cracked her knuckles for emphasis.
    Emily looked into the face of the man who knelt in front of her. He seemed more angry than scared.
    “Will you let us go if I do what you want?” 
    Starr’s expression was unreadable. “Sure.”
    Emily grasped the vampire's left hand. The skin squished beneath her fingers, and she forced down the bile that rose in her throat. Foul yellow-green pus dribbled across the thigh of her jeans. The smell of damp earth and rot entered her nostrils. She could even taste it at the back of her throat.
    The vampire turned his remaining eye toward the witch. “You're going to pay for this.”
    Beau's body continued to twitch. His hands clutched fistfuls of soil, and his chin dug into the grass. He fought to get up, despite the voltage that ran through him. 
    With renewed determination, Emily clutched the man's hand.
    “Don't be stupid.” A fierce expression clouded the captive's face. “They've left me too weak to defend myself. She's going to kill us no matter what you tell her.”
    The vampire wrenched his hand free to point at Trent. “You’re a traitor! You all will get what you deserve.”
    Trent laughed. “Tell us where the old bitch is hiding.”
    Emily concentrated on viewing what lay within his mind. She found nothing, not even the faintest flicker. Her eyes opened in confusion and stared into his spoiled features. “I can't see anything."
    Starr stood behind the vampire. Her fingers stopped just short of touching his hair. “Are you trying to pull a fast one, Miss Cross?” 
    “I can only read…”
    “Dead, I know.” Starr’s voice radiated hatred. She paced back and forth behind the captive. Finally, she looked at the gunman near Beau. “What do you think, Ace?”
    The big man shrugged. “He isn’t actually dead. Vamps are in an in-between state, aren’t they?”
    Starr nodded and leveled a cold gaze on the vampire. There wasn't enough time to shout a warning. Starr swiped a broken branch from the ground then swung her arm toward the captive with a shriek. 
    The staked vampire roared as the wood splintered through his heart. He crumpled onto the grass as his hands clawed at his chest, tearing the shirt