Nicholas didn’t say anything, and he didn’t move away, either. Instead he dipped his head lower, his mouth brushing the skin under my ear and then trailing down to the side of my neck. My head lolled back. Part of me waited for the scrape of teeth, but there was only his lips and his tongue. I was the one who turned slightly and bit gently on his earlobe. His hand pulled me closer against him. It was a struggle to remember why we hadn’t gotten along all these years. I couldn’t think of a single thing to bicker about.
I couldn’t think at all, actually.
I was all warmth and shivers. Night-blooming jasmine sent out sweet tendrils of scent. If I closed my eyes, I could believe we were somewhere exotic, in the jungle or a secret garden in India. I had just slid my arms around Nicholas’s neck when the lights flashed on, then off. We froze.
“Alarm,” Nicholas whispered. “Someone’s opened the tunnel door in the basement.”
We hurried down the hall, just as Logan came running down the stairs, his hair still wet, his shirt half-buttoned. There was a shadow in the doorway to the steps leading downstairs. When it stepped forward, it became London, her fangs out as usual. Her hair, usually so strictly slicked down, was a mess of oil- dark spikes.
“You!” I hollered and launched myself at her. My temper burst like a pie left too long in the oven. Nicholas’s arm clamped around my stomach, holding me back. I felt like a cartoon character, punching and kicking at air and cursing. London just stood there, pale and quiet. That had me calming down more than Nicholas’s struggles to contain me. I’d never seen London when she wasn’t sneering at me or shooting her mouth off . She didn’t do meekly repentant. It scared me as much as, if not more than, everything that had happened so far.
“I’m fine,” I muttered so Nicholas would let go. I pushed my hair out of my eyes.
“Where the hell have you been?” Logan demanded, advancing on London with the kind of fury I’d never thought to see on his pretty face. “We thought you were dead. Or had betrayed us right into that bitch’s hands.”
“I didn’t know,” she said softly, wretchedly. “I swear to you, I didn’t know.” She lifted her chin, expression hardening so that she looked a little more like herself. “Where’s everyone?”
“Trying to find Solange,” Logan told her. “Who gave herself up to save us all. You included.”
“I didn’t know Natasha set the bounty. I’ve served her for years, loved her like a mother. How was I supposed to know? Or do you not remember that she was there for me when the Drakes weren’t?” I hadn’t heard about this particular blemish on the Drake family tree. I’d just assumed London was crabby all the time because it was in her biological makeup. “She asked me to bring Solange to her, to put an end to any rumors that might start a civil war. And she thinks Montmartre will take her back when there’s no threat to her crown.”
“Damn it, London,” Nicholas muttered.
“I thought I was helping. And I’m oathed to her service, to the royal court.” London whirled on him. “What was I supposed to do?”
“Not hand your own cousin over to that bitch, for a start,” Nicholas shot back.
London’s eyes narrowed. I assumed she was going to launch into a vicious tirade, but instead she took three steps toward me so fast I bumped into the wall behind me trying to get away from her. Rage poured out of her. If I wasn’t immune to her pheromones, I might have passed out at the onslaught. As it was, it made me vaguely light-headed. Nicholas half stepped in front of me.
“Stop it, London.”
“Where did you get that?” she demanded. She grabbed the bronze sun hanging from the strap of stakes between my breasts. Her grip was so hard, the bronze dented. I was trapped between her, Nicholas, and the wall.
“I just found it. Get off of me.”
“Do you know what this is?”
“No. I found it under Hope’s window.”
Her pale eyes went pink at the edges. I’d never seen that before. I leaned back to get away from her even though there was nowhere to go.
“Hope? Hope is here?” She whirled, glared at Logan. “Where is she? Where’s the Helios bitch?”
“She’s an honorable hostage. She doesn’t get hurt, Solange doesn’t get hurt.” Logan blocked the staircase.
“She’s a traitor.” She said it so quietly I nearly didn’t hear her. I did hear her teeth grinding together, however.
“What are you talking about?” Logan demanded.
“I went back to the court after I left you. I still have friends there despite the bounty, friends that will help the Drakes, should it come to that. Hope is double-crossing Helios. She has her own unit, secretly plotting with Lady Natasha. If Hope helps Lady Natasha get rid of Solange and any Drake threat to her throne, Lady Nata-sha, in return, helps Hope gain control over the Helios-Ra by refusing to treaty with anyone but her.”
“Lady Natasha would never treaty with humans,” Logan said quietly. “She’s always refused.”
“Exactly. It would be quite a coup for Helios. And Lady Nata-sha gets her own human army, ready to wipe out any vampire who doesn’t serve her.”
“Well, that’s just freaking great.” Logan jerked his hand through his hair. He blocked London when she tried to dart around him. “You can’t kill her,” he insisted. “Solange’s safety might just depend on it. It was a fair exchange at the time.”
“I’m not worried about Solange right now.” London snapped the sun disk from the strap, yanking me forward with the sudden momentum.
“Hey!” I stumbled and then straightened, glowering. “Ouch, damn it.”
“Do you know what this is?” London yelled at us, holding up the sun. “Do you have any idea?” She tossed it on the floor and spat on it. “This calls Hope’s unit to her. They knew she was here— they’ve known all along.”
“She offered herself,” I whispered, glancing at Nicholas. “Remember? Hart said he’d stay, but Hope insisted.”
“It’s a declaration of war,” London continued. “It means they’re on their way here right now, to set her free and kill anyone in their way. We have to get out of here.”
“We can’t just hand the farm house compound over to them, even saying they can get past Bruno and his crew,” Logan said.
“But someone does have to warn the others,” Nicholas argued.
“Call them,” London said. “But do it fast. We have to get out of here.”
“They’re in stealth mode. The phones’ll be off ,” Nicholas said. “And I’d bet anything either Mom or Dad or both of them are on their way to the courts right now. You know Dad’ll try and talk his way out of the bounty. He’ll be walking right into her hands.”
Logan pulled his phone out of his pocket.
“Let’s at least warn Bruno.” He dialed, waited, his mouth tense. His fangs seemed longer, sharper. He hung up after a moment of quiet, clipped conversation. “Good news and bad news.” He started up the stairs, taking them two at a time. When the rest followed, I had to grab the back of Nicholas’s shirt to keep up. “They found Aunt Hyacinth. Bruno’s gone to get her.”
“So, we’re on our own,” London said grimly.
“Aside from the guards. What’s that noise?” Nicholas frowned as we rushed down the hall. Boudicca barked loudly, scratching at Hope’s door. It took Logan only one kick to break down the door.
The sound was the whirling of helicopter blades.
And Hope was launching herself out of the window, toward the rope. The trees bent, leaves whipping into the room from the force of the wind. The sound of the engine shook the walls. A painting fell off the wall, glass breaking.
Three vampires and a large dog leaped at Hope and not one of them reached her in time.
She swung out of reach, her blond ponytail and strappy sandals incongruous against the helicopter as the armed agents pulled her inside. Arrows rained through the window once she was safely out of the way. An arrow thudded into the bed, three into the floor, another missed Logan’s ear o
nly because London shoved him behind the dresser. I leaped toward Boudicca, grabbing for her collar. I tugged her behind the door, Nicholas pushing us both when we weren’t moving fast enough for his liking. He cursed the entire time.
“You lunatic, leave the damn dog.”
“Shut up, she’s a member of this family, too!”
“And she knows how to get out of the way.”
“In your family you drink blood. In mine we look after animals.”
Boudicca was growling, straining against my grip, trying to get back to the window.
“If you two are done yelling at each other,” Logan said drily. “They’re gone.”
“But the rest are coming,” London said. “Ground crew,” she added when we just stared at her. “Do you really think they’ll let this opportunity pass them by? They know half the family’s scattered, looking for Solange or Hyacinth.”
“Well, shit.”
“Exactly.”
“I’ll go,” Logan declared.
“You can’t,” I said, chasing him down the stairs.
“I damn well can.” He nodded at Nicholas. “Get her in the safe room and lock her in.”
“Bite me, Logan,” I shot back hotly. “You can’t just go barging into the courts, you idiot. You’re a Drake, and every bounty hunter in the country is out for your blood.”
“So? We can’t just let the rest of them go in blind.”
“I know that. I’m suggesting you and London stay here and defend the farm.”
“And you?” Nicholas asked silkily, suspiciously. “What exactly do you think you’ll be doing?”
“Hope was so keen on having me join up with the Helios-Ra,” I said, crouching down to pick up Hope’s dented sun pendant. “So why don’t I?”
CHAPTER 21
Solange
Sunday evening, later
“You look awful,” Kieran said.
I would have glared at him but it was taking all of my concentration just to drag one foot in front of the other.
“Stop saying that,” I muttered. I hoped I wasn’t slurring my words. Even my tongue was tired. Nighttime helped, my metabolism was already stronger when the sun was down. Come morning though, I just knew I’d pass right out. Passing out didn’t worry me so much; it was not knowing if I was going to wake up again.
It was nearly my birthday. No party, obviously; no silver-wrapped presents or cake for me— just blood pudding. Gag. I couldn’t help but remember my brothers’ desperate fights to survive their bloodchanges. They’d weakened so much so fast, it was almost like they were in a coma. It hadn’t lasted long, but it hit hard and heavy. Only the elixir of Veronique’s blood would give me a fighting edge.
An elixir I no longer had.
I couldn’t think about it. It wouldn’t do me any good and, anyway, if I had to do it all over again, I would. I stumbled over a tree root, caught myself on an oak branch, and nearly put my own eye out. Kieran caught my elbow. I had to blink rapidly so there was only one of him, not two dancing blurrily with each other.
“You’re getting worse.”
“If you tell me I look awful again, I am so going to kick you in the shin.” I yawned, swayed slightly. “Tomorrow.”
“Just try not to fall asleep before you hit the ground. You’re harder to catch that way.” I knew he was trying to sound confident, but I could smell the worry on him. I could actually smell it, like burned almonds. Weird. I sniffed harder. He raised his eyebrows at me. “Are you smelling me?”
I smiled sheepishly. “Yeah, sorry.” I rubbed my nose. “You’re worried about me. It smells like almonds.”
“Seriously?”
“Yeah. Weird, right?” I sniffed again, frowned. “And I smell stagnant water or mud or something.”
“I smell like an old pond?”
I shook my head slowly while my exhausted synapses finally fired straight. My mother’s training flooded me, my brothers’ stories heard from the privacy of the stairs leading to the attic.
“Not you,” I said suddenly. “Hel-Blar.”
Kieran froze, but only briefly. “Out here? Now?”
I tried to make my feet move faster. He grabbed my hand and dragged me. Hel-Blar weren’t to be trifled with. Faintly blue, smelling of rot, with red-tinged eyes and an insatiable appetite for blood. Animal or human, willing or unwilling.
And quiet as bats.
Still, my hearing must be getting sharper even as I grew weaker, because I could hear them skulking between the trees, trailing us, surrounding us like a pack of rabid dogs.
“They’re coming,” I whispered. “And I can’t outrun them like this.”
Kieran nodded grimly, swinging an odd-looking gun out of its harness.
“Holy water,” he explained. I made sure I was well out of the trajectory of his modified bullets. “Stay behind me,” he said needlessly. I was already behind him, using a maple tree to prop myself up, a bouquet of sharpened stakes in my hand. The smell of rotting vegetation and mushrooms was overpowering to my suddenly sensitive nostrils. I gagged.
“They’re here.”
Their speed alone was terrifying, along with the animal gleam to their eyes. They practically floated, pale as wraiths, slender to the point of being skeletal. Their fangs were sharp and pointed, but so was every other tooth in their head. One of them licked his lips at me.
“Just a taste, princess,” he drawled. “You might like it. What do you say?”
I whipped a stake at his chest and he exploded into dust the color of lichen. All vampires crumbled to ash. If I died during the bloodchange, I’d turn to ash too, but it might take a few hours. Uncle Geoffrey claimed it was a Darwinian safety mechanism, to make sure we were never discovered as a species, even after we died.
And this was so the wrong time to be thinking about it.
The others hissed and snarled and all the hairs on my arms stood up. Kieran fired his gun. Light burst like embers whirling through the air, like a carnival trick. Another scent joined the wet rot: singed flesh, burning hair.
“There are too many of them,” Kieran grunted. I just grunted back and threw another stake. It missed its mark and was hurled back at us so quickly it pinned the flared hem of my dress to the trunk. Bark flew off in bits, biting into my legs. I swore and yanked myself free.
“Too close,” I murmured, nearly tired enough not to care if I fell over and was eaten.
“Stay with me,” Kieran snapped, firing again. A Hel-Blar flew like a rag doll, crashed into one of his friends. I was already on my knees. That patch of thick ferns looked so inviting. Kieran hauled me up with one arm, still firing with the other.
“You’re supposed to run away,” I mumbled through a yawn. “You promised.”
“The hell I did.” He shoved me behind a massive elm tree. “We have to get out of here. Any of your secret gates around here?”
The moonlight was almost as bright as sunlight, searing my pupils. Everything else was blurry. I squinted, tried to make out the shape of the trees around us, the valleys, the location of the river.
“Over there?” I suggested hesitantly. “On the other side of that valley. Maybe.”
He kept firing, to give us some cover, and I concentrated on not passing out. Those jagged rocks looked just as comfortable as the ferns. Just a little nap.
“Don’t you dare,” Kieran said sharply. “You can’t sleep yet.”
“But I’m so tired.”
“Keep moving.”
“Wait. The rocks . . .” I rubbed my eyes. “There’s a gate behind those rocks.”
“Good, get—ooof.” A dagger bit into his arm, cut through thick leather and skin. Blood welled like plump raspberries. He gritted his teeth. “Just a cut. Keep moving.”
I had to crawl through the undergrowth, feeling through the dead leaves for the handle. The iron was cool under my fingers, the rust rough against my palm.
“Got it.”
Kieran kicked out at a Hel-Blar who was far too close for comfo
rt. He kicked out again, switched his gun for one that shot little vials. The first one hit the ground and broke open, releasing a cross between mist and powder. It was delicate as lace, hovering in the air. I felt funny, entranced by the way it clung to leaves and the Hel-Blar.
Hypnos.
“Stop,” Kieran commanded grimly. The Hel-Blar paused, confused. They hissed frantically but didn’t move. I didn’t move either. “You,” he said to the vampires straining against invisible chains. “You’ll get the hell out of here and you won’t come back. You’ll keep running until you’re clear out of the country. And if you try to drink a single drop from any human, you’ll walk straight into the next sunrise.”
A howl, a grunt.
“Go.” They shuffled away. I lay where I was, unable to move. Kieran crouched beside me, his expression regretful but determined,
“I’m sorry,” he said.
“Kier—”
“Shhh,” he interrupted. “Don’t say anything.” The Hypnos powder worked through me, making my limbs heavy, my voice falter. “I have to do this, Solange,” he murmured. He brushed a kiss over my forehead, gentle as moth wings. Anger and fear burned through me, betrayal was a conflagration that might burn the entire forest to the ground. When I’d suggested he betray me, I hadn’t thought he’d take me literally. I’d been a fool to trust him.
And now it was too late.
CHAPTER 22
Lucy
Sunday evening, later still
“I don’t know how I let you talk me into this,” Nicholas muttered as we ducked into the corridor. “It’s a bad idea.”
“It’s brilliant,” I insisted with more certainty than I actually felt. The corridor was damp and cold and confining and hardly gave us an advantage in a fight. But the only alternative was the woods, which were swarming with renegade Helios agents.
Sometimes my life was just weird.
Nicholas stayed close, his arm stretched behind him so that his hand could grip mine. I tugged experimentally. He tugged back.