Free Night Reigns by Dianne Duvall

flung open the door and leapt out, drawing two 9mm’s from the holsters on her thighs.
    Marcus’s jaw dropped.
     
    Her body in a defensive crouch, Ami surveyed the clearing with narrowed eyes.
    Nothing moved beyond the trees’ gentle swaying. Nevertheless, she backed toward the rear of the Prius, which was packed with more weapons.
    Marcus, looking rumpled, gaped up at her from a dozen or so yards away. “Are you insane?” he bellowed after a long moment.
    “I don’t think so,” she answered honestly. Seth, David, and Darnell had all assured her she wasn’t. But there were moments she questioned their judgment.
    Sputtering something under his breath, Marcus marched up the sloping ground toward her. “Driving like a bat out of hell on these roads ... Spinning out of control ... You’re lucky you skidded to a stop before leaving the road! You could’ve ended up like my Busa! ”
    Okay, that got her dander up.
    Ami propped her hands (still gripping the 9mm’s) on her hips. “Hey, luck had nothing to do with it. I did that on purpose!”
    He jerked to a halt, his mouth falling open again. “You did that on purpose?”
    “Yes.”
    “That whole”—he drew a circle in the air with a downward pointing index finger—“360-degree spin thing?”
    “Actually, it was more like a 450-degree spin, but yes. I can’t see clearly in the dark like you, and I had to use the headlights to check out the area and see what you were up against. And I wanted to see the whole area. Every direction. The spin allowed me to do that.”
    “Wait. Is that my car?”
    “Yes. I had to borrow it because my Tesla is still at David’s.”
    He frowned and started forward again. “How did you know I was in trouble?”
    That one required a more careful answer.
    She motioned to the scattered remains of his motorcycle. “Solid black isn’t standard for Hayabusas.”
    “You recognized my bike? As fast as you were going?”
    “Yes.” Only because she had been looking for it. “What happened?”
    Clearly he hadn’t been beset by hordes of vampires as she had feared. No vamp remains littered the road or field. His weapons were all sheathed. And he appeared unharmed.
    He hesitated.
    Interesting. He was hiding something, too. She could almost see his mind working to formulate an answer.
    He leapt the small ditch that separated them and landed only a couple of feet away. “How much do you know of my gift?”
    The special talents and abilities immortals possessed were not a result of the virus (which was why vampires lacked them). The abilities stemmed from the advanced DNA with which gifted ones were born. The older the immortal, the stronger and more varied the gifts. Younger immortals, because their bloodline had been diluted more thoroughly as a result of gifted ones’ reproducing with ordinary humans over the millennia, usually only boasted one or two gifts that were not nearly as powerful as those of the elders’.
    “I know nothing of your gift,” Ami told him. “Nothing of you beyond what I’ve learned during the past week.”
    He looked away. “Please don’t laugh when I say this, but ...” Marcus returned his gaze to her. “I see dead people.”
    “Dead people? As in ghosts and spirits?”
    “Yes.”
    “Why would I laugh at that?” she asked, puzzled. “It sounds rather ... unpleasant.”
    “It is. But there’s this movie and ... it’s become a bit of a joke... . Never mind.”
    Ami slid her weapons into thigh holsters that could accommodate the silencers. “So, that’s what happened? You saw a ghost?”
    “Yes. And it distracted me. Sometimes it startles me more than others. And, when I’m riding along faster than you were just driving, it’s a bit disconcerting to look over and see a man, walking beside me, keeping pace.”
    Ami shivered. “Yeesh.”
    “Exactly. What were you doing out here anyway? You seemed to be in something of a hurry.”
    Ooh. That was a tough one.
    “Did Seth call you?” he