“From him,” Hope replied, smiling, as two Huntsmen dragged a vampire between them. “He’s clean of weapons,” one of them said. The vampire flashed his fangs, hissing weakly. His gray eyes were practically all pupil. He was so pale he was the color of old ashes.
Nicholas.
“Get off him!” I yelled, struggling wildly against the ropes. I barely felt the burn of the twine leaving raw sores on my wrists. They knocked him down so that he landed on his knees, forcing his head forward. The back of his neck was bare and vulnerable and laced with bloody scratches. “Stop it,” I begged, still trying to squirm free of my restraints as the man in the leather apron approached. “What are you doing to him?”
“Retrieving my GPS coordinates,” Hope replied smugly. “Go on, doctor.”
Kieran was trying to hold me back, and he was clenching his teeth so hard I could hear them grinding together.
The light flashed off the hook in the doctor’s hand. I made a sound like an animal in pain because Nicholas wouldn’t. He was too still, too silent. I’d have tried to chew through my ropes if I’d thought there was any chance of success. Nicholas stayed on his knees on the dirty floor, water and blood trickling past him in deep grooves. A Huntsman kept his head down in a vicious grip.
“Nicholas, fight,” I pleaded.
He struggled weakly but it was halfhearted at best. He was twitching as if there was something screeching in his ear. The doctor stood over him.
This couldn’t be happening.
The smallest details seemed curiously important: the smell of wet stone, the mud on my sleeve, the snow drifting in from outside. Nicholas’s dark gray shirt, torn at the collar. The scuff of Kieran’s boot as he shifted. And then the slide of my own boots on the slippery mud when I launched forward.
A Huntsman grabbed me by the hair from behind as the doctor slowly inserted the tip of the hook into Nicholas’s neck. He dug around, widening the wound until he found a tiny metal square, the kind I imagined filled the insides of computers and machinery. Connor would have known exactly what it was called.
“It seems your failsafe worked,” Hope approved.
“Yes, I’d heard the signal satellites were blocked,” the doctor said, examining the bloody chip. “This way, when the coordinates were finally locked in and there was still no way to send the information to us, the pain led him here. It forced him to find us. If he went in the wrong direction it just got worse.”
Nicholas’s fists clenched on the dirty floor. “You bastard.”
“Secure him with the others for now,” Hope said. “And get the units mobilized,” she added to Ms. Dailey. “We’re ready.”
They snapped metal cuffs around Nicholas’s wrists, knowing he could have snapped through the ropes eventually. They shoved him hard enough that he crashed into the wall. He fell at my feet, blinking. “Lucy? I thought you were a hallucination.”
I dropped down beside him, smiling through my tears. “I thought they were going to kill you.” When I leaned against him, my hands came away bloody.
“Not yet,” he said, sitting up properly. “Dr. Frankenstein over there likes to have his fun first.” He noticed Kieran finally. “Shit, Black. Not you too.”
“Afraid so.”
“And was that really Hope?”
“Yeah,” I grumbled. “I thought we kicked her ass already too.”
“She’s ambushing the camp,” Kieran explained.
“Where all vampires, my family included, are weaponless,” Nicholas finished grimly. I tried to hold his hand but between the ropes and the cuffs, it was more of a tangle of fingertips.
“Those Blood Moon guards can protect them, can’t they?” I asked.
“Depends how outnumbered they are,” Nicholas pointed out as dozens of armed vampire hunters filed past us and out of the caves. Several Host vampires remained, stationed at the gates. They eyed Nicholas with particular distaste, seeing as his mother and baby sister had killed their leader Montmartre. With a tiara. He totally deserved it.
“How could they be working with Hope of all people?” I asked.
“Same deal she made with Lady Natasha, I expect,” Kieran said thoughtfully. “They deal only with Hope, she deals only with them, everyone else scrambles. Not to mention, if things go the way Hope wants them too, the Host might be the very few left standing. Instant power.”
“How long before someone realizes you’re missing?” I asked Nicholas.
He shook his head. “Could be hours. Depends how paranoid Mom’s feeling.”
“Hunter might catch on that I’m not there,” I added, “but only if Sarita happens to tell her I was taken away. It looked pretty official. Mind you, one of the teachers might be on to them. I think he was yelling, but it’s hard to tell.” The moments before the chloroform were fuzzy. “Chloe was cracking secret e-mails. She already found the hit list.” I slid Kieran a glance. “Which you’re on.”
“I figured,” Kieran said. “Hart knows there’s a coup in the works. Especially if Hope is using me to buy his silence.”
“Will he stay quiet?” Nicholas asked.
“I sure as hell hope not.” He crouched down beside us, keeping his back to the cave wall. “We need a plan,” he said quietly. He glanced at Nicholas. “What can you tell us about this place? How did you get out of here the first time?”
“They let me get out,” Nicholas reminded him bitterly. “So I could lead them right to the encampment like an idiot.”
“Tell me anyway,” he insisted, his inner boy scout turning military. “Access points, weapons, weaknesses. Everything.”
Nicholas rested his head against the wall behind him, his legs stretched out. He made his posture slump, made it as unthreatening as possible. I followed suit, adding the occasional shiver to make myself appear even more unthreatening. It wasn’t exactly difficult, since I was cold and still felt a little funny from the chloroform.
“I had help,” Nicholas said softly. I shifted to cover the sound of his voice, in case the other vampires were listening. “A good man died helping me get out. All for nothing.”
“Not for nothing,” I said sharply. “Not yet.”
He nodded, swallowing. “Lee created a diversion but it cost him his life. I tried to come back for the others, but I couldn’t find the caves, even with all the markings I left behind. I’ve been out every night, searching. But there was just too much snow.” He rubbed at his face with his bound hands. After a beat of stark, charged silence, he continued. “There’s a pond of holy water past the guards there. Each cell is barred and locked, a few have crevices between the two.” The muscles in his already clenched jaw tightened. “You’ve figured out by now that they’re keeping the humans to dump their bodies in town and blame vampires?” We both nodded. “And they’re taking vampires for the same reason, to frame humans.”
“Outright war.” Kieran exhaled sharply. “Damn.” I glanced around surreptitiously. “I count five vampires, three hunters.”
“Two more vampires in the back,” Nicholas added. “And one outside with two more hunters. And Dr. Frankenstein there.” He barely glanced at the man in the leather apron. Fear and fury made his eyes gleam like broken pearls. “He just likes torture. He thinks he’s a scientist.” He ground his back teeth. “But he’s just an ordinary zealot.”
“That’s enough chatter,” one of the Host barked at us. “This isn’t a party, children.”
We stopped talking, waiting for them to get bored and turn their attention elsewhere.
“Weapons?” Kieran asked under his breath, his lips barely moving.
I shook my head. “They took my stakes,” I said. I reached casually down to adjust my pants. “Shit. My phone too.”
They both shifted to check their own pockets, then nodded. “So we’re down to the element of surprise to get us out,” Kieran murmured. “Great.”
“And my teeth,” Nicholas murmured back. Kieran’s eyes widened. He moved over, shielding us. I lifted my wrists and Nich
olas’s fangs elongated. He sliced through my ropes. I kept my hands held together so it wouldn’t be obvious.
“It’s not just us,” Nicholas said. “Them too.” He glanced at the dirty faces surreptitiously watching us from the cells. “They’ll fight if we can get them free. Regardless, once we get Lucy out, we get everyone else out too. Before or after the fight.”
“Agreed.”
I eyed them both. “I’m going to pretend you didn’t just say that,” I stated as calmly as I could. “We will all get out of this together.”
“Lucy.”
“Nicholas.” I raised my eyebrows. “You know you need me. We’re already hopelessly outnumbered. And I’m a better shot than you. So be reasonable.”
“You first.”
“Oh God,” Kieran groaned. “We’re doomed.”
Chapter 33
Solange
I was too far away to stop the Huntsmen from grabbing Nicholas, and then I had to hide from the Host vampire who was trailing them, taking up the rear guard. I followed him as quietly as I could. I’d never been this far into the mountains before so I wasn’t sure of the terrain. I finally caught the distinct glow of lantern lights and fire from the mouth of a cave a few yards up into the rock.
I heard the stomp of boots, then the unmistakable sound of running and panting. Flashlights bobbed between the trees. I scaled a shaggy pine tree, narrowly avoiding being spotlighted. I stayed where I was, peering down as dozens of hunters marched past me. I caught glimpses of military cargos, guns, stakes. Walkie-talkies burbled. I heard “Base secure” and “Operation Dawn underway” followed by “wait for the signal” I stayed still until I was sure they’d all passed by.
“Okay, that was weird,” I muttered.
I climbed higher until I could lean out and get a better look at the cave. The smell of pine resin was interrupted by blood, iron, sweat. My fangs hurt in my gums. I couldn’t see inside, but there were Huntsmen on guard detail, and human hunters as well. And when the wind died down, I could hear just fine.
Kieran.
I gripped the branch so hard, bits of the moss and bark broke off. I forced myself not to jump down and attack, to instead listen carefully until I knew what was going on. He didn’t sound as if he was in pain, only angry.
And not alone.
Nicholas answered him, and then Lucy.
I had to get them out.
I waited for what felt like a hundred years, as useless as Snow White after her bite of the apple. I strained to hear more but someone barked at them to be quiet and they fell silent after that. I could only hear the scrape of metal on metal, and someone weeping.
I didn’t have time to go for help so I was going to have to do this on my own.
I had Mom’s training, Dad’s creative thinking, my own pheromones.
And I had more than the Drake name.
I had me.
I smiled for the first time. Because there was one thing the Host wanted more than to kill Hounds and avenge Montmartre.
Me.
And if everyone insisted on seeing me as a helpless little girl, then that’s exactly what I’d be.
First I had to lure some of the hunters away, to even the odds as much as possible. I climbed down the branches and scouted the area, choosing a patch of cedar surrounded by boulders from some long-ago avalanche. I hid myself carefully and then broke a twig between my fingers. It snapped like a gunshot.
“What was that?” one of the hunters asked his companion.
“Mountain lion maybe?” he replied, sourly. “What do we care? We’re missing all the action.”
“Then we may as well do our job right,” the first hunter shot back. I cracked another twig. “I’m going,” he said. “Cover me.”
“I’m telling you there’s nothing out there.”
I waited until he climbed down far enough to be out of sight of the others before I reached out and punched him. He staggered. Lucy would be proud. I caught him before he crashed through the branches. His lip was split and he was unconscious.
After a long moment, his companion came to the edge of the overhang. “Hey, Jordan, you okay?”
A short pause.
“You taking a leak, man?” He sounded nervous now. I could smell the sweat on him and hear the sudden increase in his heartbeat. “Jordan?”
Jordan groaned. I leaned down. “Shh,” I said. His eyes fluttered back in his head. I crouched, waiting for Jordan’s friend. The tip of his rifle preceded him, sliding through the pine boughs, practically grazing my cheek. I waited, willing my muscles not to move. He stepped farther into the undergrowth, tripped on Jordan’s boot. When he stumbled, I brought the heel of my hand down on the back of his neck. He toppled like a tree. I turned him over, dragging him to lie next to his friend.
“Stay here and be quiet,” I ordered them, concentrating on my pheromones wrapping around them. “And don’t fight unless you’re in mortal danger.”
I turned back, watching the Host vampire stationed just inside the mouth of the cave move slightly. I reached for a rock, smashing it on the boulder until it split. I dragged the jagged edge over my forearm so that blood trickled down my arm. It was hot and thick and fragrant. I scattered the drops over the ground, and smeared it on the trees.
“What are you two doing?” the vampire finally called out, stepping out of the mouth of the cave. I hid myself under the overhang. I heard him sniff before dirt dislodged by his boots rained down on me. “Roman, get out here,” he barked. I could hear the bloodlust in his voice. So could the others, judging by how many of them crowded behind him. I counted four, maybe five.
“I smell a Drake,” one of them said. “Not the boy?”
“Not just a Drake,” the first vampire corrected. “Solange Drake.”
The hatred in the hissing that accompanied that statement rose the fine hairs on the back of my neck, like hackles. The sound of a long serrated sword leaving its scabbard didn’t help.
I pushed away from the protective overhang and dragged myself through the snow, making sure to leave a tantalizing trail of blood behind me. I stopped on the trail where they could see me and pretended to sag weakly.
“She’s mine,” one of them said, leaping down off the overhang. He landed a little too close for comfort. I scuttled back.
Another vampire landed next to the first.
“She belongs to all the Host,” he said.
“Kill her.”
I moved weakly, sluggishly. I wondered if adding a moan would be too much.
“No, keep her and drain her slowly.”
“For Montmartre!”
I finally allowed myself to scramble to my feet while they argued.
“Boys, boys, there’s no need to fight over me,” I called out with false confidence. They stopped, staring at me. “Want me?” I taunted, flicking blood at them. “Come and get me!”
And then I ran like hell.
Chapter 34
Lucy
Nicholas shot to his feet so quickly my hair flattened off my forehead.
“Solange is here,” he said.
Kieran leaped up too. “What?”
Nicholas smiled slowly, surprising us both. “She’s not a hostage.” He sliced through Kieran’s bonds. “Yet.”
I tripped one of the Host as he shot past us. He was remarkably ungraceful as he stumbled. I tucked my legs back in before he could reach out and snap one of them in half as retaliation. He was one of the few still left in the cave. Dr. Frankenstein frowned. “What on earth is going on out there? Can’t you see I’m working?”
“He’s got the keys,” Nicholas said, jangling his handcuffs.
Kieran used the edge of one of the tables for leverage, jumping and landing on a Host while using his locked elbow as a weapon. The table shot away, rolling on squeaky wheels, until it collided with Dr. Frankenstein. He spilled a beaker of green liquid over himself, then it fell to the ground and shattered. He collapsed groaning, but still conscious. I leaped on him, fum
bling through the strange implements in his apron pockets, trying to find the keys.
“Stay down,” Nicholas warned me, grabbing one of the iron bars set over the dungeons. He jumped, using his entire body as a battering ram, knocking one Host into another.
Kieran managed to get a hold of a long, rusty spike and used it to stake the Host he’d just knocked down. Ashes coated the already slippery ground. One down, three more to go. Now if only I could find the damn keys. My fingers still tingled from being restrained so tightly and felt as agile as frozen sausages. I pulled out three vials, a corkscrew, a gold coin, a tangle of fish hooks, a Helios-Ra medallion, two stakes, and something squishy that made me want to throw up. I flung it at the wall with a shudder. Dr. Frankenstein’s eyes opened. “Not that,” he moaned. “It’s important.”
“You hurt my boyfriend,” I said, right before knocking his head back into the floor.
And finally, finally, my fingers closed over a key ring. “Got it!”
Nicholas flung himself free of the bar, his hands outstretched when he landed in front of me. I jammed key after key into the tiny lock. He kicked back once, catching a Host who got too close. More of them were rushing back in from outside. The handcuffs finally unlocked and Nicholas snapped them apart. “Go,” he yelled at Kieran. “Help Solange.”
Kieran took off, grabbing weapons as he went. There was a box of stakes and daggers on hooks on the wall, crossbows and staves and various other things.
Nicholas spun back around, facing the others, half smiling. “I think I’m going to enjoy this.”
He became a blur of pale skin and fangs. Three Host circled around him. He had no weapons, no means of escape.
But he had me.
I filled my hands with stakes and then crouched under the shelter of one of the tables, waiting. The first blow that knocked Nicholas down had him landing hard. I rolled a stake toward him. He grabbed it and flipped back to his feet. One of the Host crumbled into thick dust.
Nicholas went low, into a rolling somersault, his palm out. I threw another stake. His fingers curled around it as he leaped back up. He’d managed to break out of the circle and with every stake he threw, I passed him another.