Dagger

  “How’s Aristede?”

  Just a few doors down, Tep was still in a coma, and Aristede was fighting for his life.

  My eyes found hers. “Felanie hasn’t left his side. The Holy Water did a number on his ghul genes. They’re using enchanted stem cells to try and repair the damage, but it’s touch and go right now. Felanie’s even considering cloning his human DNA and transmigrating his soul into the new body, but the Shamans say the procedure’s too radical and should only be considered as a last resort.” I blinked the dampness away. “We’ll have to see how it plays out.”

  “And you. How are you doing?”

  I shrugged. “Other than the fact that Limp Dix—”

  “Who?”

  “Mr. Dixon, the Head master. When I passed him on the way down here he said something about wanting to meet with me in his office about the gang that attacked the dance, which I seemed to know so much about. Wouldn’t be surprised if I end up getting kicked out of Montefuego.”

  She tried to squeeze my hand. “Maybe I’ll just have to have a talk with him.” Her eyes twinkled.

  I thought about bringing up Phillipe and what he’d told me. But seeing her lying there, so frail, I couldn’t put her through that. Not now. Not when I didn’t know what to make of it myself.

  Leaning close, I kissed her forehead. “I love you, Mom.”

  “I love you too, Dagger.”

  I don’t think she’d ever called me that. Then again, I don’t think we’d ever used the L word to each other. The other L word.

  It was new. And it was good.

  ****

  I left DUST just before dawn and raced through Montefuego’s hallways, stopping at Cassie’s. No one was home. They had to be at Marco’s. I dashed to his place and knocked.

  No answer.

  Where could he and Cass be? What if they’d somehow disappeared and hadn’t returned with the others?

  My knocking turned to banging.

  A loud beep startled the shit out of me.

  It was the text message alert from the replacement cell phone I’d picked up at DUST.

  Whipping it out of my pocket, I was just about to check the message when the door opened.

  Marco.

  “Dude, you’re okay!” I threw my arms around him and squeezed tight.

  He squeezed me back, firmer than he’d ever had. His lips nuzzled my neck. “Glad to see you, too.”

  Something didn’t feel right. I broke the hug. “Where’s Cass?”

  “In her dorm, asleep, I assume.” His fingers rubbed his lips.

  “No, she’s not. I stopped there first.”

  “Don’t know what to tell you.” He raised an arm and gripped the doorframe, effectively barring the way in.

  “Aren’t you going to ask me inside?”

  His eyes shot to the window. From my vantage point I could just make out a hint of crimson tainting the inked canvas of the night sky. “Dag, it’s almost morning. Maybe she’s just trashed on Margaritas and didn’t hear you knock. Or”—he winked—“Alexei might have decided he likes her better than you after all.”

  Considering Alexei was currently being debriefed by his agency, that wasn’t very likely. “Let’s try calling her together.” I pushed past him into the room, my eyes scanning every corner.

  I whipped out my phone and the flashing display caught my eye.

  You have one new text message

  I’d completely forgotten about the message I’d received just before Marco surprised me at the door. I pressed the retrieval button. The message was marked urgent and it was from Cass.

  at Marcos. get here fast. heard him talking to strange german dude bout heineken. Some shit about a meeting tomorrow night in france at tan dragon hotel. I think hes on drugs. Im scared.

  I couldn’t deny it any longer. Marco’s odd transformation at the dance. His new persona. The way his eyes had messed with my head. Wanting to get rid of me before dawn. And now, Cassie’s message. German dude. Heineken. Heinrich. Marco hadn’t gotten over me. He’d gotten into Heinrich. What was it the ghul had said about leaving me something to remember him by? Oh, God.

  “Is something wrong?” Marco asked.

  I mustered every ounce of my undercover training to remain composed, even though my heart had ruptured. “Nah. Not getting a good signal. My battery’s pretty low.” I slid the phone into my pocket. Since Cass had texted me just before Marco answered the door, she must still be here. And there was only one place I hadn’t looked. “You’re right. Cass is probably fine. Let me just hit the head and I’ll get out of your way.”

  His eyes darted to the deep pinks creeping through the window then back to me. He was desperate. Running out of time. I wanted to hold him. Tell him everything was going to be okay. But he wasn’t my Marco. He was something else. Something I couldn’t even bring myself to think outright, because if I did, I would just go insane.

  And if he’d hurt Cassie …

  “Sure,” he said. “You know where it is.”

  I shuddered as I walked past him. My heart pounded in my head. Arctic blood raced through every artery. Despite the horrors I faced on a daily basis working for DUST, nothing could come close to the terror I felt at this moment.

  My trembling hand reached out and grasped the bathroom doorknob. Taking a deep breath, I turned it and opened the door.

  Everything seemed in order. Everything on this side of the shower curtain, at least.

  I stepped inside, moving toward it. I always cracked up at the frightened characters when I watched this scene play out in a million movies. I finally got it.

  It’s all a joke. None of it’s true.

  I ripped the curtain aside—

  —and witnessed firsthand, the magnitude of my delusions.

  Cassie lay in the bathtub, pale and unmoving. Blood seeped from bite marks in her neck.

  I dropped to my knees, feeling for a pulse. It was faint, but steady. Lifting her in my arms, I stumbled out of the bathroom.

  Marco was gone.

  I lay her on the bed. “It’s going to be okay, Cass. I promise you. You’re safe now,” I whispered in her ear, my hot tears dripping on her cheeks.

  I punched in DUST’s emergency number on my cell.

  The sunlight was streaming through the windows now.

  But I’d never experienced such darkness in my life.

  Chapter Twenty-One

  I tailed him down the Paris streets, through Trocadero Square, pulling the Citroën into a parking spot across the street from the hotel, La Tanière du Dragon.

  Dragon’s Lair indeed.

  He nodded at the two scarlet-hat-and-jacketed valets standing sentry by the hotel lobby doors and disappeared inside.

  There was a small pop when I flipped a switch on the dashboard and activated the cloaking spell. Anyone surveilling would see an empty automobile.

  In a few moments a light appeared in the windows of the penthouse suite. He was waiting. I took a deep breath.

  “Magnify hotel entrance view.”

  My windshield became a lens and zoomed in on the target.

  Magic Mirror, eat your heart out.

  The glass was filled with a tight image of the two valets.

  “Enhance visual.”

  The screen went infrared, revealing glowing faerie eyes on the one valet, and shiny ghul eyes on the other.

  Looked like I wasn’t going to be waltzing through the front doors. I glanced at the roof of the hotel on my side of the street. Guess I’d be dropping-in by more unconventional means.

  ****

  I squeezed the trigger. The grappling hook shot across the gulf between the two hotels, embedding itself in the wall just above the penthouse suite balcony doors. Securing my end to some pipes on the roof, I gripped the triangular handle bars attached to the line and pushed off the ledge.

  Adrenaline surged through me. Traffic blurred below, the Champs-Elysées just a vague impression to my right.

  Swinging my legs out in fro
nt of me, I braced for the impact as the balcony doors loomed.

  Crash!

  I rolled and sprang to my feet.

  Marco stood before me, arms crossed, as though he’d been expecting me.

  “Ever heard of a thing called knocking?” he asked in a monotone.

  I fought to control the tremors. “How could you hurt Cass?”

  His eyes misted over. “Is she going to be okay?”

  “She’s been in the hospital since last night. She’ll live. No thanks to you.”

  “I didn’t want to, you have to believe me. I really tried.” His lips parted wide, exposing the sharp teeth of a ghul. “I guess I just got hungry.”

  I retched, but nothing came out. “When?” I began, unable to finish the question.

  He smiled. “When was I initiated? Just after you screwed me over for Alexei and broke my heart. I got a visit from a very distinguished gentleman of German extraction.”

  “Heinrich,” I whispered.

  “I tried to resist him, but he took me and showed me the true ecstasy of male bonding, something you never did. He gave me the confidence to believe in myself, to be a man, and not settle for second best. And then you had to go and take him away from me, too.”

  “Heinrich’s not a man. He’s a ghul. A creature. ” I wiped my eyes. “And now, you are, too. You’ll never be a man now.”

  “Says the boy who couldn’t even perform when we shared the same bed.”

  “Marco, listen to me.”

  He hissed and lunged.

  I ducked, avoiding his wild swing. Even though he had ghul strength, his fledgling status put him at a disadvantage. I barreled into his gut, sending us both hurtling over the settee.

  He sneered, slithering out from under me. “If you’d have shown this much passion in the bedroom, Dag, things might have worked between us.”

  “Sorry, Marco. Stiffs don’t make me stiff.” I sprang, aiming an uppercut right at his jaw.

  But his ghul reflexes kicked-in and he seized my fist before it connected, twisting it, and grabbing my throat with the other hand. Then he smashed me against the wall, pinning me a foot off the ground.

  His fingers closed around my throat. “You know, I think I’m getting the hang of this preternatural strength thing.”

  I kicked out as hard as I could, landing a solid hit to the groin. Getting hit in the nuts hurt, regardless of flesh-munching status. His grip weakened, and I ripped his hands away, this time shooting him a left jab, which sent him sprawling across the bar.

  “I don’t want to hurt you, Marco. I guess they forgot to tell you being a ghul doesn’t make you impervious to pain.”

  He sprang to his haunches. “Especially the pain in the ass you turned out to be.”

  Seizing a torchiere lamp, he swung it at me. It connected with my left shoulder, knocking me into a book case. Knick-knacks and books flew everywhere. I tumbled to the floor and the unit crashed on top of me. Marco tore the book case off me and tossed it like cardboard. He raised the lamp to crush my skull.

  I grabbed a shard of glass from a shattered picture frame and flung it at his neck, embedding it right into his jugular.

  The torchiere dropped from his hands. He plucked the splinter from his neck. A fountain of dark blood spouted from the wound and onto the carpet.

  Tackling him onto his back, I reached into my jacket and pulled out the silver dagger. I drove it partially into his chest, but held back at the last second before it pierced his heart.

  Tears filled his eyes. “I guess there’s no chance of us ever getting back together, huh?”

  My eyes flooded. If I pushed the blade just a little deeper he would cease to exist. One less monster in the world. That was my duty. Only this wasn’t a monster. It was Marco. My Marco. And he was dying before my eyes.

  “Dag,” he whispered. “I’m … so … cold … I guess I can’t … even cut it as … a supernatural being.” He tried to chuckle, but it devolved into coughing, blood streaming from his lips.

  What had I been thinking? I’d sooner end my own life than snuff out his existence.

  I brushed the hair from his eyes. “Marco.”

  A blaring alarm cut me off. Running feet echoed down the corridor outside. The Reich knew I was here. In moments, they’d swarm the hotel suite. “Come with me, Marco. I don’t know how, but I’ll find a way to make you better.”

  I pulled the knife from his chest.

  His eyes struggled to focus, finally locking onto mine. “And we’ll all be together again. You, me, and Cass. Just like nothing ever happened?”

  “I promise.”

  Shouting from the other side of the door. Then banging. I lifted Marco in my arms.

  He clasped my hand. “I’ve always loved you, Dagger.”

  A barrage of bullets struck the door.

  I lowered my head to give him one final kiss.

  A sudden wind tore through the room, accompanied by bright lights and the roar of a motor. A helicopter hovered just off the balcony.

  “Get in!” a voice boomed from the chopper’s audio system.

  Alexei.

  Marco’s eyes burned through me. “Didn’t take you long to break that promise,” he snarled.

  He sprang from my arms and shoved me across the room. Dashing out the balcony, he leapt through the open helicopter doors.

  I staggered to my feet, just in time to see Marco sink his teeth into the surprised Alexei’s neck. The helicopter lurched away.

  “Marco, no!”

  The suite doors burst open.

  Without risking a backward glance, I sprinted through the balcony threshold, gunfire exploding all around me.

  I sprang over the railing, barely managing to grab hold of the helicopter’s right landing gear strut as it moved away from the hotel and into the Paris skyline.

  A sickening wave of vertigo washed over me. Cold sweat coated my hands.

  Alexei. I had to save him.

  I pulled myself up.

  One of my hands slipped, nearly sending me plummeting into the Louvre. But I held on, dangling for an eternity, before re-establishing my grip. I hauled myself up, foot by agonizing foot until I reached the passenger side opening, where Alexei lay clutching his throat, blood still oozing from the wound on his neck.

  Marco was strapped into the pilot’s seat, but even his ghul senses couldn’t compensate for his lack of piloting skills. He caught sight of me crawling into the cabin and yanked one of the controls.

  The helicopter banked sharply, sending me reeling backwards. I latched onto the seatbelt securing Alexei to his chair, my feet dangling in the open air. The chopper swayed from side to side, up and down, circling Notre Dame. I could almost reach out and touch the stone gargoyles lining the cathedral’s roof.

  Pulling my legs back into the helicopter, I swung them up and over, connecting with Marco’s jaw. He let go of the stick and I grabbed it, steering the craft away from a stone wall and over the church.

  But Marco grabbed me by the throat. “Alexei’s an even tastier specimen than I could have ever imagined.” He licked his lips. “I want you to watch while I devour him and absorb his likeness as my own. We’ll see how you feel.”

  His words hurt more than if he’d pummeled me with his fists.

  “But first,” he continued, “I want a taste of you.” He grinned, exposing razor teeth.

  My fingers fumbled with his seat-belt lock. I pressed the release button, and yanked the belt free, elbowing the steering lever.

  The chopper banked sharply. Marco let go of my throat, sliding from his seat and out of the helicopter. He gave a loud cry as he fell. I righted the chopper and strapped myself in, craning my head outside. The left landing gear strut had broken Marco’s fall. He was dangling by one hand.

  “Hold on, Marco!” I cried over the roaring wind. “I’ll set you down safely.”

  He stared at me, his eyes pleading. Then his hand slipped, and he plummeted into the night sky, crashing into the Seine.
br />   “Marco!”

  A hand touched mine. I spun. Alexei’s eyes were barely open. His skin was pale. He pointed to the cockpit. “Dagger . Look.”

  The Eiffel Tower loomed right ahead.

  I shifted the controls and the chopper lifted higher, barely missing the top of the monument’s spire.

  Slumping back in my seat, I could only think of Marco. I’d failed him in every possible way. I turned to Alexei. “Are you okay?”

  He ran his fingers over the ugly gashes on his throat. “Don’t worry about me. I’ll be okay.”

  The puncture wounds. When ghuls died, their feeding marks were supposed to disappear from their victim’s neck. A small ember of hope sparked in my heart.

  “What are you doing here?” I asked Alexei. “How did you know where to find me?”

  He smiled. “I went to see Cassie at the hospital. Once she told me what she’d overheard about Marco, I figured you could use a little back-up.”

  “I’m glad you came.”

  The smile left his face. “Dag, there’s something I have to tell you.”

  Here it comes.

  He met my gaze. “Now that Delacroix’s gone, I’ve been reassigned. I got the word during my debrief yesterday.”

  I turned away. Marco’s ghuling. Cassie in the hospital. Mom. Aristede. There was only so much I could take right now. “So how much time til you start the new gig?”

  “Monday.”

  My eyes welled. “Two days. I guess that doesn’t give us very much time, does it?”

  “Actually, it gives us plenty of time.”

  I looked over. “How do you figure?”

  He grinned, dimples flashing. “Let’s just say my new assignment involves keeping an eye out on your agency’s activities. And since it’s located right under the school …”

  “Then you’re going to remain at Montefuego?”

  “At least until graduation.”

  “Wait a minute,” I said. “That means you’re going to be spying on me?”

  His eyes grew serious. “It means we’re going to be working together and finding out which side’s on the up and up, yours or mine. But until we blow this whole thing wide open, no one can know we’re on the same side.”

  He reached into his coat and produced a sealed tube containing a parchment page.