Deaths Excellent Vacation

mother, who was crouched over her.
    The rest of the vampires seemed more concerned with taking on Bones than dealing with Tammy or my mother. I rolled under a truck to get to Bones—and then screamed as my shirt went up in flames.
    Goddammit! There must have been oil drops pooled underneath the truck I’d rolled under, and the useless sparks from my hands ignited it.
    “Kitten, you all right?” Bones called out.
    “Fine!” I yelled back, afraid he’d get killed rushing to check on me.
    Stupid, stupid, stupid, I lashed myself. Oil plus sparks equals fire , dumbass!
    I’d just ripped my burning shirt off when a car slammed into me, pinning me to the vehicle behind me. I gasped at the unbelievable pain, paralyzing in its intensity. Tammy screamed. Over that, I heard Bones hoarsely call my name.
    Something thudded on the mangled car pinning me. The redheaded vampire. He smiled as he pulled out a silver blade, knowing as I did that I couldn’t shove the car off in time to save myself.
    But there was something I could do. Oil plus sparks equals fire, I thought savagely, and I rammed my fist through the car’s fuel tank.
    A terrific boom went off, combined with the agonizing sensation of being thrown backward, burning, across the parking lot. For a stunned second, I didn’t know if I was still alive. Then I realized I wouldn’t hurt this much if I were dead.
    Move, I told myself, fighting back the lethargy that made me want to curl up wherever I’d landed. Keep blinking, your vision will come back.
    After a few more blinks, the parking lot was in a double outline, but I could see. Check for incoming. Do you have any knives left? Two, right, make them count .
    “I’m okay,” I called out, my voice almost unrecognizable. I hated giving away my position, but I was more worried about Bones losing it if he was too distracted to feel our connection and thought I’d been blown to bits.
    “Christ almighty, Kitten,” I heard him mutter, and smiled even though it felt like it cracked my face. I was afraid to look at my skin. Burnt bacon could pass for my twin right now. You’ll heal, I reminded myself. Quit worrying about your looks and get back to worrying about your ass.
    I flexed my fingers, relieved that the horrible splitting sensation was gone. Now I could grasp my knives with purpose, and my vision was clearing by the moment. Through the dirty car window in front of me, I saw Bones fighting off four vampires. He whirled and struck in a dizzying display of violence, slicing and hacking whenever they came too close. Now, where were Tammy and my mother?
    I’d sneaked around a few dead vampires—one of them crispy, I noticed with satisfaction—and was tiptoeing around a Benz when X sprang out of nowhere. He shoved me, slamming me into yet another car—God, I was so sick of feeling my bones crunch against metal!—but instead of springing forward, I let myself slump as if dazed. X was on me in the next second, knees pinning my torso to the concrete, glowing green gaze victorious as he raised his knife.
    My hand shot out, the silver knife clenched in it going straight into his chest. I smiled as I gave it a hard twist. That’s it for you, X.
    But he didn’t slump forward like he should have. Instead, the knife he’d raised slammed into my chest without an instant’s hesitation.
    Pain erupted in me, so hot and fierce it rivaled what I’d felt when the car exploded on me. That pain grew until I wanted to scream, but I didn’t have the energy. Everything seemed to fade out of view except his bright emerald gaze.
    “How?” I managed, barely able to croak out the word.
    X leaned forward. “Situs inversus,” he whispered. His hand tightened on the blade, twisting—
    Blue filled my vision. I didn’t understand why, and for a second, I wondered if it was even real. Then the blue tilted to the side, X’s severed arm still holding the knife in my chest, but the rest of him elsewhere. Sheet metal, I thought dazedly. Bones must have ripped it off a car and wielded it like a huge saw.
    X was on his back, the stump from his right arm slowly extending out into a new limb as he fought Bones. I wanted to help, but I couldn’t get up. The pain had me pinned, gasping and twitching as I tried to escape from it.
    “Don’t move, Kitten!” Bones shouted. A brutal rip from his knife sliced open X’s chest, oddly to the right of X’s sternum. Bones twisted the blade so hard it broke off, and then he was next to me,