"South of the medical center, but we're not stopping. I just need to position myself relative to the main buildings and we'll go outward from there."
"What?” Raj snapped.
"I know what Regina knows,” Sarah said calmly. “She's on a hillside of some sort south of the campus. The distance is difficult to judge, but it smells like a dump or a landfill."
Raj swore beneath his breath, but nodded at Danny who grinned and turned right, gunning the truck well above the speed limit.
Sarah's heart lifted when they reached the campus. She'd been pretty sure she was right about the buildings, but seeing it brought tears of relief to her eyes. Buffalo was a very flat place, and she'd questioned the idea of anything like a hill in the vicinity. “That's it,” she whispered. “That's exactly it.” She gulped down her tears. “Okay, can you drive that way, Danny?” she pointed in a generally southward direction. “I'm not sure exactly . . ."
"I've got it, darlin',” he said with a charming grin. “I'll find your girl for you."
Raj growled softly over her head and Danny sobered immediately, becoming all business. She heard a snort of laughter from the backseat where Cervantes sat. He'd been silent until this point and she'd almost forgotten he was there.
Sarah fidgeted nervously as they drove further away from campus. She kept glancing back over her shoulder, trying to align their position with what she could see of the buildings. Cervantes was watching her every time she turned, his eyes gleaming a pale yellow in the low light. That would have startled her once upon a time, but the last couple of weeks had made her pretty much immune to the oddities of vampires.
Someday in the future, when all of this was over and her life was back to something close to normal, she'd do a little research. There were a lot of things her friend Cyn hadn't told her about vampires, like the fact that their eyes glowed in the dark or when they were angry, or about how perpetually aggressive they were, constantly testing dominance against one another. But maybe it was just the ones who hung around the really powerful vampires, like Raphael or Raj. There had to be hundreds, probably thousands of them, who lived quiet, uneventful lives.
"Sarah."
She jumped at the sound of Raj's voice. The truck had stopped. Danny's hands were clenched on the steering wheel, and she could feel the tension fairly zinging off Raj's body next to her. And there was something else. She drew a breath and nearly choked. The smell was disgusting. “Oh my God,” she gasped. She began pushing at Raj, desperate to get out of the truck. “Get out,” she demanded. “Let me out!"
"Sarah . . .” He started to say something else, but then he shrugged and opened the door, sliding out of the way, catching her when she would have fallen from the high seat. The ground underneath her feet was squishy with moisture, the dirt and debris broken down by the constant freeze and thaw cycle of this time of year. She spun around until she could see the buildings in the distance, and then took off.
"Wait!” Raj called after her, but she ignored him, trading glances between the uneven ground that she could barely see beneath her feet and the campus lights far away. “Sarah.” His heavy hand grabbed her from behind, scooping her up and holding her when she tried to break way. “Stop it,” he ordered. “We'll find her,” he said in a softer voice, next to her ear. “Look."
Danny and Cervantes were standing nearby, eyes glowing in the pitch black night as their heads swiveled slowly from side to side, seeming oblivious to their surroundings and yet keenly aware of everything at the same time. Raj's arms around her loosened, but he didn't let go of her, preventing her from interfering in whatever it was his minions were doing. Almost as one, the two vampires stared at the same spot, down the hill from where they were standing.
"My lord,” Danny said, but Cervantes was already moving faster than Sarah could follow. One moment he was five feet away from her and the next, he was so far downhill she wouldn't have been able to see him, if not for the pale glow of his eyes. Danny moved closer to Raj, as if whatever they'd found made him uneasy, bringing out the ingrained vampire need to protect his master that Cyn had talked about.
"Cervantes?” Raj called.
Cervantes was a big man, not huge like Raj or even Danny, but big nonetheless. He appeared out of the stinking darkness like a golem from a fairy tale, eyes glowing that pale yellow, his head a square block over broad shoulders, and carrying the limp form of a young woman in his arms.
Sarah cried out and would have gone to them, but Raj stopped her again. “Let go,” she demanded, pushing at him.
"Take her to the truck,” Raj ordered. “Danny, open the back and get that blanket from inside."
"She's alive?” Sarah asked, stunned. She hadn't really believed Regina could be saved. Not after everyone else had died.
"Barely,” Raj said in a tight voice. He held onto her, almost dragging her around to the back of the SUV, waiting while Danny spread out a blanket and Cervantes laid the small form across the back of the cargo space.
Raj met Danny's eyes and then transferred his gaze to Sarah in a clear signal to the other vampire. Before Sarah could object the other vampire had taken hold of her, while Raj stepped up to the truck and the injured young woman's side.
"What's going on?” Sarah asked in confusion. She couldn't see what Raj was doing, with Cervantes standing next to him and Danny holding her in place. Then it suddenly occurred to her that they didn't want her to see what he was doing.
"Oh, sweetheart,” she heard Raj murmur softly. “She's been drained nearly dry and not gently,” he said more loudly. He whipped off his jacket and shoved his sweater sleeve up to his elbow. Sarah saw him raise his arm to his mouth and bend over the dying young woman.
"Wait. What're you doing?” she demanded.
Raj's sharp glance was a slash of brilliant, icy blue over his shoulder before he turned back to Regina. “He's saving her f**king life,” Danny hissed next to her ear. “Now, shut up."
Sarah gasped in surprise that the genial Danny would talk to her that way, followed quickly by intense embarrassment that she probably deserved it. Once again, she'd assumed the worst of Raj, and this time it could have cost Regina her life. “I'm sorry,” she muttered.
Raj ignored her, but Danny's grip eased slightly. Sarah shivered in the cold air, trying to imagine how much worse it must have been for Regina, lying na**d and dying in a pile of garbage. Thrown away because she was of no more use to them.
"Put her in the car, Danny.” Raj's voice drifted over to them, and it took Sarah a minute to realize he meant her, not Regina. She opened her mouth to protest, then closed it with a snap, letting Danny lead her around to the passenger compartment where he lifted her onto the seat and closed the door. Walking swiftly to the other side, he settled in the driver's seat and started the engine, turning the heater on. Sarah drew her knees up to her chest, hugging the warmth to herself, and waited.
She heard rather than saw Raj stand up. “Careful,” he said.