Delilah Devlin - My Immortal Knight 04 by Relentless Page B

and the vamp exploded into a dark cloud of dust. His clothing floated to
the floor.
    “Bastards,” Pia whispered beside him.
    “They’re just doing what’s natural,” Max said, giving her a steady
stare. “Offing vamps.”
    Pia turned her head and lifted her upper lip, baring her fangs.
    “Not your best look, baby.”
    “Good thing I’m not trying to impress you then, hmm?”
    Max turned his attention back to the interior of the Piki Tiki bar.
This place had quite a history—a long association with the vamp scene well
before they came out of the closet.
    He hoped the owner had good insurance. The bar was trashed. Tables were
overturned, chairs lay in splinters, attesting to the battle that had raged
inside. Broken glass sparkled like diamonds on the tiled floor.
    A wolf with golden fur circled in front of the group huddled in the
corner, snapping and snarling. Suddenly, he faced off with the vamps, lowering
his head until it nearly touched the ground. A rumbling growl built in his chest.
Each time one of the vamps looked ready to answer his challenge, he neatly
corralled him back like a dog herding sheep.
    The vamps returned the rumbling, snarl for snarl. However, they soon
didn’t attempt to step outside their corner. It was a standoff, with the golden
wolf in the superior position. His pack mates had only to wait for him to cull
the vamps from the herd, one by one.
    “I hadn’t realized they were so goddamn big,” Joe’s whispers came
through the headset. He still hovered behind Pia at the end of the building.
    “How would anyone mistake them for dogs?” Pia said in her odd, gruff
voice. “They’re all monsters, but that gold one’s the worst. He knows what he’s
doing.”
    Max agreed this wolf was a bigger danger than the others. His actions
were calculated, intelligent. However much he might empathize with these
wolves’ lust for vamp blood, they weren’t discriminating about what they
chomped on. They’d kill humans just as quick. “We better move now,” he
whispered, and gave Pia a final look. “Make your shots count, baby. The head or
the chest.”
    Pia nodded and crouched beside the corner of the window, her weapon
held steady in both hands.
    He ducked beneath the window so the occupants within the bar wouldn’t
see him as he sped toward the entrance. At the door, he counted, “On three.
One, two, three.” As gunfire erupted from the front and back of the bar, he
shoved open the glass door, tossed a grenade, and rolled into the room. When he
came to his feet, he aimed and fired at the golden wolf just as the grenade
exploded, shattering more glass and distracting the wolves momentarily.
    His first shot struck the wolf in the shoulder. The wolf staggered back
and then shook himself. Rather than doing the expected and charging toward Max,
he leapt into the air, bypassing Max. In a second bound, he broke through the
large plate glass window, landing on the boardwalk outside.
    Max had only a moment to spare a thought for Pia, before a dark-furred
wolf crashed into him.
    He rolled with the beast, struggling to bring up his gun.
    The wolf clamped his teeth over the shoulder of Max’s flak jacket in a
bone-crunching grip and shook his powerful head.
    Max flailed, helpless for a moment, and then clutched the fur at the
wolf’s neck. All his strength focused on raising his gun. He pressed the barrel
beneath the wolf’s jaw and pulled the trigger.
    In a spray of blood and gray matter, the wolf crumpled on top of Max.
He shoved it away and struggled to his feet.
    Joe and Quentin battled the third wolf. By the looks of things, Max
almost felt sorry for the beast. In the close confines of the bar, the vamps
had forgone their weapons for hand-to-hand combat. They wore their vamp masks
and traded blows and bites with the wolf. The muddy brown wolf was quickly
losing the fight. Blood streamed from his mouth and nose, his chest heaved.
    Max swung back to the window and realized Pia’s weapon was