Dave Carver (Book 1): Thicker Than Blood by Andrew Dudek Read Free Book Online Page A

control.” And he reached over and slid the van’s door shut.
    “Freakin’ office warriors, man,” I snarled. “Coward.” I looked at May. “Ready?”
    “Whenever you are, Captain Carver.”
    I found myself grinning. Captain Carver . I liked the sound of that. With a wordless cry I lifted the sword above my shoulder and ran towards the vampires.
    May outpaced me easily. She’d always been faster than me, but she used to have put a little effort into it—damn, I was out of shape. Her sword was held in front of her like a cavalry commander ordering a charge.
    The vampires surged forward, a hiss rumbling from their throats so loudly it was practically an inhuman wave of force.
    With her free hand, May pulled from her belt a long, thin piece of wood. She pointed the wand at the lead vampire and muttered something in a dead language. There was a sound like a car hitting a wall of cement, and the vampire was picked off of his feet as if by an invisible bird. He rolled around in the air for a moment before hitting the sidewalk. The second vampire, who was right behind the leader, was taken down like a bowling pin. Both of them lay still.
    A third vampire vaulted over his fallen peers. He got a good five feet of air and his fingernails extended into catlike black claws. May ducked under his pounce, letting the vampire land directly in front of me.
    This vampire, like all vampires, looked human at first. He was about six feet tall with a blond buzzcut and a respectable business suit. Like most vamps, he was good looking, which was one of their best weapons. While they’re stronger and faster than humans and they can take their prey by force, vampires typically use ambush tactics. By looking like an attractive guy or girl they can get close to their prey until their ready to strike. It lets them be a little more subtle, a little more seductive. In service of that goal, a vampire is almost always going to be attractive.
    At least when they want to be. But ask any TV makeup artist: It takes a lot of effort to take an ugly person and make them pretty. Especially when you’re dealing with supernatural levels of ugly.
    As I watched the vampire’s face seemed to melt away. His features blurred and distended. His skin turned papery and gray so that it hung off of his body like another set of clothes. He snarled, wolflike, revealing a mouthful of long, dagger-like teeth. But what really drew the attention was the way his eyes darkened until they were totally, completely black.
    Like I said: not so hot.
    The corpselike thing swung his claws at me, but I was ready. I jumped back, letting him sail pass harmlessly. He overcommitted, putting too much into the attack, and for just a second he was off-balance. It was long enough. I swung the sword, my arm vibrating with the energy, and took his head off at the shoulder. The vampire’s body wavered on its feet for a moment, before it dropped boneless-like to the ground.
    May was grappling with the fourth vampire. A thick, clear liquid bubbled at the ends of his fangs. I closed in to help, but the vamp that May had put down like a bowling ball was back on his feet and in the fight. He hit me with massive force, his clawed hand closing around my neck.
    We hit the ground in a flurry of oxygen-starved grunts (from me) and animalistic snarls (from him). The sword dropped from my hand. I managed to get an arm in between me and the vampire, so the enchanted leather took most of the damage. The female vampire appeared above me, too. Her eyes shone in the darkness and, while her companion kept me pinned to the ground, she descended with her fanged jaws hanging open.
    Suddenly, like a demented elephant, the horn of the van started beeping. The two vampires looked over their shoulders to see what the commotion was about. Krissy sat in the driver’s seat, hammering at the steering wheel like she was trying to drive a nail into the horn. I slid my hand beneath the vampire’s claws and, with a grunt