Vampires Among Us [Vampires Among Us 1] (Siren Publishing Classic)

pain. Shawn had disappeared, and there was no sign of Erica, either. As the men stepped up to Jennifer, Marshall heard Joshua’s breath hitch as he noticed her right arm hanging precariously off to the side, and a knife sticking out of her abdomen.
    Marshall took a few seconds to assess Jennifer’s injuries, and then gave a quick command to Joshua. “Stay with her and protect her, I’m calling for backup and medical.” He then took off in a dead run to locate Erica.
    “I need all available team members inside the school building immediately. Subject is on the loose and has hostage! Spread out and make sure all exits are covered!” Marshall stated in his earpiece, and then added, “Charles, I need Jordan with wagon at the college immediately. We have a member down.”
    Marshall was relieved when Charles didn’t come back with questions as to who was injured. He didn’t want to be the one to tell Charles O’Rourke that his oldest daughter was injured.
    A few seconds later, an anguished Kevin came across the earpiece. “Marshall, follow my voice, I need help, immediately!”
    Marshall used Kevin’s voice as a beacon, and was at his side a few short seconds later. Kevin was knelt down beside Erica, who was lying on her back, a huge gash starting at her temple, and going straight back on the side of her head.
    “Lord Almighty,” Marshall whispered. “What happened to her?”
    Kevin looked up to his second-in-command with agony etched across his face. “I changed over to tiger form in order to sneak up on Shawn and get him to release her. I took a swipe at him with a long claw, and he threw her in my path at the last second.” He took a moment to stroke Erica’s face, and in an agonized, torture-filled whisper, “I did this to her, Marshall.”
    Several other team members started showing up, and Marshall quickly took charge and ordered a complete sweep of the entire school and grounds. His friend was going through enough pain, the entire team didn’t need to witness it.
    After the team members dispersed, Marshall knelt down to assess Erica’s injuries. Upon a closer look, he realized the gash looked worse than it really was. Although it was long, it looked as if Kevin had realized what Shawn had done and pulled his claws back just in time to prevent anything catastrophic.
    “Head wounds almost always look worse than what they are. Jordan is already on the way. Jennifer was injured also,” Marshall murmured quietly, as he continued checking over Erica. Her breathing seemed to be good, and her heartbeat fairly steady.
    “Did she pass out from the blood?” Marshall inquired quietly, stopping to check her pulse, a little perplexed as to why Erica wasn’t moving. The gash on the side of her head didn’t look bad enough to throw her into unconsciousness.
    “No, Shawn threw her off of him in order to fight me. She hit the other side of her head against the wall before going down,” Kevin replied as he continued watching Erica, and then snarled, “Where the hell is Jordan?”
    Marshall hit the button on his earpiece to connect with Charles. “Charles, how far out is Jordan?”
    Joshua’s voice quickly interrupted. “Jordan and Davidrick are here now. They are getting ready to move the patient.”
    “We have a second patient,” Marshall responded. “Use my voice as a beacon to bring Jordan.”
    Joshua and Davidrick showed up at Marshall’s side a few seconds later. “Jordan is making sure Jennifer is stable,” Joshua quickly explained. Although Davidrick worked in the morgue at the hospital, he was a board-certified physician, and quite capable of handling a medical emergency.
    Kneeling down beside Marshall, Davidrick started checking Erica’s vitals. “I detect a bit of brain swelling. Did she get slammed against the wall?” he inquired, as he continued assessing Erica’s injuries.
    “Yes,” Kevin confirmed in a quick clip, but didn’t elaborate as to what had happened on the other side of her head.
    “We need to get her down to Dr. Carlson, quickly. Is your suspect still on the loose?” Davidrick inquired, glancing over to Marshall.
    Kevin lifted Erica in his arms before Marshall had a chance to answer. It was just as well, in not hearing from the team yet, he knew the answer to Davidrick’s inquiry. Yes, Shawn was still out there on the loose.
    Marshall stayed in front of Kevin, with Joshua following closely behind in order to provide cover should Shawn still be lurking around.