Shiver (Night Roamers) (30 page)

Her face darkened. “It was your fault, you know. If you wouldn’t have come back, he’d still be alive.”

“I am not Miranda!” I hollered
.

“
Oh…but you can’t fool me,” she raged, spittle forming at the corner of her mouth.

“What
in the hell do you want with us?” asked Duncan. “We’ve done nothing to you.”

“You can leave,” she told Duncan
, still staring at me with a strange light in her eyes. “I have no quarrels with you.”

“I’m not leaving without Nikki.”

She turned to him and frowned. “Very well, then you’ll die as well.”

“
There is no way in hell that I’ll let you harm her.”

“Fool,” she spat.

Duncan tried grabbing my hand just as Faye pounced on him, knocking him flat to the ground. He kicked her and sent her flying backwards, but she recovered quickly. I stared in horror as she flew back towards him, her body changed, yet again, into the gargoyle-like creature I’d met in the woods the other night.

“Run!” hollered Duncan as he punched her in the face while she tried
to rip his throat out with shark-like fangs.

“No,” I ch
oked, desperately trying to think of a way to help as they rolled around on the ground. I didn’t want to get in the way, but I wasn’t sure if he was strong enough to defeat her on his own.

“Fools,” hissed Faye
, grabbing him by the neck. “Nobody can escape from me.”

“Run!” repeated Duncan
as Faye’s claws tore into the side of his face. I watched in horror as blood began to seep out of the wound and her long, black tongue reached out to taste it.

“Duncan!” I screamed as the touch of her tongue seemed to scorch his flesh.

He raised his face in pain and let out a deafening roar. Then, although in obvious agony, he grabbed her face with both hands, and somehow managed to pin her down. He raised his fist to punch her in the face just as her hand snaked up and slammed into his chest, sending him backwards. In a flash, she was on top of him again, slamming the back of his head against the ground. “Is that all you’ve got?” she rasped, her lips twisting into a triumphant smile.

I quickly moved b
ehind her and grabbed her neck, which was actually very scaly and hard to hold onto.

“Bitch,” she rasped, knocking me backwards with her elbow. She then jumped
back off of Duncan, who was coughing and sputtering, and went after me.

“No!” I screamed, running away. Soon I was moving so fast that I felt as light as a feather. I imagined myself flying over the trees a
nd before I realized what was happening, I actually was.

“Miranda!” raged
Faye, coming up behind me. She grabbed my waist and both of us went tumbling down back towards the trees until we landed in a field of snow.

“
Help!” I screamed, as she landed on top of me and held me down with her body.

Sh
e smiled in triumph. “You can’t escape me,” she said in a raspy voice. “Roamer or not. You’re just weak and pitiful.”

Just then I saw a flash of movement and
Faye screamed out in anger as Duncan landed on her back and began beating the top of her head with his fists. She released her hold on me and grabbed one of his arms.

“Enough games,” she growled, snapping his wrist. “Now, you will die.”
She hopped off of me, turned, and grabbed him by the neck, lifting him up into the air.

“Duncan!”
I choked, trying to hit her so she’d let go.

“Oh, I do love the blood of a Roamer,” she rasped.

Realizing what she was about to do,
I jumped onto her back and began beating her with my fists.

But it was like beating on a steel door.

She knocked me down and then pulled his throat to her mouth, impaling him with her long fangs. I watched in horror as she ripped his throat apart, spraying blood all over the white snow.

“No!!!” I howled in anguish as his eyes rolled back into his skull and his body went limp.
I jumped back onto her rough, scaly back and wrapped my hands around her reptilian throat. With all my might, I squeezed until she finally released Duncan.

“Your turn,” she rasped, flying backwards.
She slammed me back against a tree and I slid off of her.

“Oh…” I groaned in pain.

“Now,” she said, turning around to stare down at me where I lay, trying to catch my breath. “This party is over.”

I looked past
her and my breath caught in my throat as I stared at the shadowed figure getting ready to pounce.

Faye attempted to turn around but it was too late, Ethan
wrapped his hands around her throat, snapped her neck like a stick and then sunk his teeth into her scaly green skin. I watched as he drained her of all of her blood and then tossed her body aside.

“You
’re alive,” I sobbed as he took me into his arms. “I can’t believe it.”

He kissed the top of my head and pulled me in tighter. “Thank God you are
, too. Good thing I heard all the commotion when I was flying past.”

“How
did you make it?” I asked, looking into his ice blue eyes.

He stared down at me.
“The bloody cloth you left near my mouth started the process. I wouldn’t have survived if not for that.”

It was then that I remembered Duncan. I pulled away from Ethan and ran over to where he
lay, staring lifelessly up at the stars.

“Duncan,” I c
hoked, kneeling down next to his still form. There was so much blood running out of his neck and his cheek was ice cold. “Please don’t die,” I whispered, running my hand through his hair. I closed his eyes and kissed his forehead.

Ethan stood over
us. “He won’t die,” he said. “If you can get him to feed.”

I looked up at him. “How?”

Ethan sighed. “Open his mouth,” he said.

I spread Duncan’s lips apart and watched as Ethan
knelt down next to us. He opened up his wrist and allowed his blood to trickle down to Duncan’s lips. “I can’t believe I’m doing this,” he said, squeezing his wrist to get more out.

“Thank you
,” I said.

“
You can thank me later,” he answered with a twinkle in his eye.

Duncan’s eyes started
to twitch, and within seconds, his throat began to form new patches of skin. Eventually, Ethan was able to place his wrist against Duncan’s mouth and he was able to feed on his own.

“I can do it if you’re getting too weak,” I said to Ethan, who appeared to grow paler
by the second.

Ethan shook his he
ad. “Nobody is feeding from you,” he said gruffly.

Duncan’s eyes slowly opened and he stared in confusion at Ethan. “No,”
he mumbled, pushing his wrist away.

“Duncan,
don’t be like that. Ethan just saved your life,” I whispered. I noticed that most of the wound on his neck was already healed when he stood up.

“Where is she?” he asked, his voice hoarse.

“Dead,” I said, motioning towards Faye’s body.

“Are
you sure about that?” asked Duncan, stumbling toward it. “Apparently, being dead around here doesn’t last.”

Ethan laughed. “It’s a good thing for you.”

Duncan turned to him. “Is it?”

Ethan rolled his eyes
.

“You need more blood,” I said to Duncan.

He bent forward and spit out some kind of bloody phlegm. “Yeah,” he agreed.  “I suppose I do. What then?”

“Well, I’m still going to Vegas to search for m
y mom and brother,” I answered.

“You still want my company?” asked Duncan.

“She won’t need it now,” piped in Ethan. “But thanks, anyway.”

“Of course you can come,” I said
, ignoring him. “That is, if you’d still like to.”

Duncan
nodded. “Yeah, I would. Nathan’s my friend, too.”

“Swell,”
muttered Ethan under his breath.

“We should all feed,” said Duncan, moving towards the woods. “
We need the strength for travel.”

I sighed. “Yeah, I’m pretty weak myself
. What about you, Ethan?”

Ethan nodded. “
Same here. So, where should we dine?”

Duncan turned around and a small smile formed across his face
. “Club Nightshade?”

Oh
, God… not that place.

“I… I don’t think I can,” I said
, rubbing my forearm.

Ethan put an arm around my shoulders and guided me towards
Duncan, who was waiting for us at the edge of the woods. “In order to live, you have to learn how to feed, like it or not, Nikki. But don’t worry; I’ll be at your side to show you how.”

I let out a long breath and then nodded. I’d do whatever it took to find my brother and mom. Nothing would hold me back.

***End of Book Two***

Thank you for reading the second installment of Night Roamers, I hope you enjoyed it! Book three should be available by the end of June, 2013.

For other books and information, please check out my website:

www.kristenmiddleton.com

If you have questions or would like to contact me
directly about my stories, my email is
[email protected]
.
I really enjoy hearing from my readers, so feel free to send me a message if you’d like. I will answer you bac
k


Some of the terms used in this story, like the word
“cobber”,
are pretty old, as are all of the vampires in this story. I only wanted to point this out as I have been chastised a little for using it. The use of this (outdated) term was done on purpose, so the reader would get an idea of how old Drake actually was
.