Free Before Dawn by Ann Bruce Page B

malevolently. Then his head exploded.
     
    * * * * *
     
    Mercy’s scream jolted through Ryan, but he didn’t stop firing. The reports were loud in the enclosed space and blended into each other until it was a wall of noise that expanded to every corner and crevice in the room.
     
    Edmond whirled around, the top part of his head a mess of blood and darker matter. Three more head shots before Ryan aimed lower. Each bullet made the vampire’s body jerk with the force of impact, but he didn’t go down. The stench of burnt flesh and hair filled the air as the silver bullets did what little they could. As Ryan emptied one gun, then another, in the periphery of his vision, he saw Vanessa drag Mercy onto the floor.
     
    Beneath the blood, Edmond’s grin gleamed white in his already healing face. He wiped a hand across it, sweeping away the more solid chunks, flicked his hand once to shake off the stubborn bits, and kept coming at Ryan.
     
    Click, click, click.
     
    He was empty. Ryan tossed the guns and went for the wooden stake on his right thigh. Edmond came at him, almost a blur. Ryan stepped to the side, but he wasn’t nearly quick enough. A fist plowed into his solar plexus, and with Mercy’s cry and Vanessa’s curses in his ears, he was lifted off his feet and airborne. The stake flew from his fingers as he crashed into a chair. It splintered loudly under his sudden sprawling weight. He slammed onto the cement floor, and the air whooshed from his lungs. There was no pain. That would come later. For one panicked heartbeat, however, he couldn’t breathe. Still, knowing he didn’t have the luxury of waiting for those dual organs to start up again, Ryan forced himself to roll to his feet.
     
    Edmond, however, was already kissing distance from him. Still crouched, Ryan rammed his shoulder sideways into his opponent’s knee. The joint didn’t break, but the vampire went down. Ryan barely had time to stand before Edmond was up and lunging for him, looking bat-like with his arms extended, fingers clawed, his cape flapping. Without thinking, Ryan grabbed the collar of the cape with both hands and, foot planted in Edmond’s abdomen, let himself fall backward, taking the vampire with him. As his back hit the floor, he pumped his leg and opened his fists, and the vampire sailed over his head. There was the dull, heavy sound of a body smacking the floor, followed by a shout of fury.
     
    He sprang to his feet.
     
    “McGinnis!”
     
    Vanessa tossed a stake at him. Ryan stretched out a hand, ready to pluck the column of wood out of the air—and was struck from behind, the blow hard enough to make his head snap back. Fuck. He stumbled, turned, and saw insanity and murder in the glassy eyes fixed on him. The vampire’s cold, slippery hands wrapped around Ryan’s neck and squeezed, thumbs digging into the underside of Ryan’s jaw. Neck muscles instinctively tensed, Ryan jerked his chin to his chest, trying to make it harder for the creature. He reached down, his fingers brushing the hilt of his dagger. A gun fired, the sound reverberating through the room. Edmond jerked, lips peeled back from his teeth, and fell down on one knee, taking Ryan with him.
     
    Thank you, Vanessa.
     
    Edmond didn’t release his stranglehold on Ryan, but he was distracted for a split second. With his fingers, Ryan speared the vampire’s throat, and Edmond’s head jerked back.
     
    A loud clang behind them as metal crashed onto cement.
     
    Edmond’s head whipped around even as he screamed, “ No! ”
     
    His grip loosened. In one swift, arcing movement, Ryan drew the dagger from its sheath, swung his arm up, and plunged down, burying the entire length of the silver blade in the vampire’s eye socket.
     
    Edmond shrieked, throwing himself back and covering his face with both hands, shaking like a man with palsy. He shrieked again, his body writhing in pain as he grasped the protruding hilt and, hands quivering, started pulling the blade