Demon Night

mirror to see, but Jane had turned to look through the window, and her head was blocking the view. In the side mirror, she only saw the glow from the fire in Jane’s backyard. They were going to turn the corner in a second, lose sight of Ethan and that…whatever it had been. “Jane! What are they doing?”
    “I can’t—they’re going too fast…Oh my God, how can they move that fast?” Jane’s voice rose shrilly, then abruptly lowered. “It looks like they’re pushing that thing back toward the house.”
    “Both of them? Together?” Ethan had been injured, bleeding across his stomach, but he’d seemed strong when he’d told her to go. She hoped she’d done the right thing by listening to him. “Does Ethan look okay?”
    “Yes. Yes, they’re both fighting and—oh, Jesus . There are knives and guns and swords back here. What the fuck is going on?”
    Charlie drew a quick breath through her nose, prepared to answer her…and the scent hit her, rich and dark. Blood.
    Her body tightened; her fangs began to ache. She’d been careful when she’d poked her finger and cast the spell, inhaling only through her mouth. She’d forgotten that Sammael had bled in here as part of his ruse to get her out of the house.
    She focused hard on the road, not breathing, and pushed the need away.
    It didn’t recede as much as it had the last time.
    They rounded the end of the block; from farther down the street came flashing lights. Probably a siren, too, but she couldn’t hear it through the spell.
    “Turn around, Jane,” she rasped. “Don’t let a cop see you up out of the seat like that.”
    No driver’s license, and a pile of weapons in the back. She didn’t want to be pulled over now.
    Jane seemed to realize it at the same instant. She sat, buckled up. “Let me drive, then.”
    Charlie shook her head. “I’ve got some stuff to tell you, and I don’t think you’ll be able to concentrate on the road.”
    Charlie thought she’d be lucky if she could. She controlled her breathing, ignored the hunger.
    A high, rising note slid into her. Fear. Light and elusive, barely a touch; she stole a glance at Jane. Her sister was staring at her mouth.
    “Oh, my God, Charlie,” she said in a small voice, and the fear shifted into disbelief, dread. “Smile at me.”
    Charlie looked through the windshield again, her lips pressed together. The taillights of a car farther down the street wavered in front of her, and she wondered if she’d ever see red lights again without thinking of Sammael’s eyes, the vampire sucking at her neck.
    She’d never been this terrified in her life. Would have given anything for Ethan to appear beside them, so she could stop and lean on him, fly away and put off telling this to Jane for as long as possible.
    But Jane wouldn’t be put off. She reached out as if she meant to push back Charlie’s upper lip.
    Charlie caught her wrist, then met her eyes. They were wide with surprise—and though Charlie felt the shudder that raced through her sister’s body, Jane didn’t yank her hand away.
    Jane swallowed. “Your skin is like ice,” she whispered.
    Charlie let go of her wrist. “And your hair is sticking up in the back.” But she couldn’t hold it in, had to wipe at her cheeks, use her sleeve to clear her vision.
    Jane seemed to attempt a smile, drawing her feet up to the edge of the seat, wrapping her arms around her shins. Her gaze remained on Charlie’s face, her voice thick. “Are you okay?”
    “Yes. No.” She lifted her hands and spread them wide before slapping them back to the steering wheel. “I don’t know, but I think I will be.” If Ethan was all right. If Jane handled the news about Dylan as well as she had her sister being a vampire. If the blood in the car didn’t turn her into a ravenous animal by the time they got…wherever they were going. “We’re about to hit I-5. Should we go north or south?”
    “South.” Jane was still studying her. “Were you bitten?”
    Charlie touched the side of her neck, thankful that the bite marks had long since healed. “Yes.”
    “Was it that guy? Ethan?”
    “No. He’s not a vampire.” She immediately regretted saying the word out loud; now there was no way to take it back. She rushed on, “He tried to stop it.”
    “A vampire,” Jane echoed, then put her face between her knees, slid her hands up to link them behind her head. Charlie recognized the pose—it had been the same the night their dad had told them