“I guess she got better,” Kieran said darkly. Rage sent a dark red flush creeping up his neck. Hope was the one who’d murdered his father, after all.

“Kieran, don’t freak out yet,” I said, my teeth chattering from cold and adrenaline. “If you freak out, I’ll have to freak out too.”

His lip curled but he managed to get the homicidal gleam out of his eye. I felt only marginally better. Escape seemed impossible, not escaping, even worse.

“Get out of here,” someone moaned from a dark corner. “They’ll kill you.” The warning ended in a broken-sounding cough. Chains rattled somewhere down the line of caves. Kieran and I stared at each other helplessly. How long before someone missed us? Would Sarita tell someone I’d been taken away? Had she realized yet that the lockdown wasn’t school-sanctioned? Would York know what to do? And could they even find us? My head swam as I watched Hope speak into a walkie-talkie, then order two vampires out of the cave.

She’d thought Kieran’s father was too liberal and murdered him.

She’d tried to kill Solange.

She’d allied herself with Lady Natasha in order to take over the League completely.

She didn’t approve of treaties with vampires.

“She’s Dawn,” I said slowly. “She has to be.”

Which meant she was also the one who’d kidnapped Nicholas and had him tortured.

Now I was the one feeling the homicidal rage.

“And that’s Ms. Dailey beside her,” Kieran said, glaring at the woman next to her. They both looked our way. “I should have known.”

“The teacher who dosed Hunter with poison?”

“Yes.”

“I thought she was awaiting trial,” I said out of the corner of my mouth as they strode toward us.

“Apparently there are serious gaps in the Helios-Ra security system.”

“Apparently.” No wonder her alias worked so well. She’d been clear off any of our radars. “Hope has to be the one behind all of the disappearances too.”

“Clever girl,” Hope said, suddenly standing over me. She was thinner than she’d been before. “I’d hoped you’d join the League and our cause.”

“I didn’t join your cause,” I said. “You’re killing people.”

“Collateral damage.” She waved that aside. “We had to make everyone see the truth. A vampire gathering right here and the League looks the other way.” She shook her head sadly. “It’s not right. And I’m not the only one who thinks so.”

“You murdered people,” I repeated. “You’re keeping people locked up! And you framed Solange, didn’t you?”

“I had to show the League the worm in the rose.”

“You’re the worm in the rose,” I shot back.

She slapped me across the face. Kieran surged to his feet, getting in front of me as I staggered back against the stones. Hope looked down her nose at him. “Little Kieran Black,” she said. “You’ve always been more trouble than you’re worth. Better hope your uncle doesn’t think so.”

“Why?” he asked as I wiped blood from my lip.

“Because if he tries to break out of headquarters, you die. I couldn’t have him or his deluded agents interfering, now could I? Not tonight, not after all this careful planning.”

“What happens tonight?” I asked.

Hope and Ms. Dailey exchanged a significant glance. “I suppose we can tell you,” Hope conceded, pride lacing her words. “After all, it’s too late for you to get in my way.” The man in the apron started to slice long, fleshy lengths out of what looked like a half-calcified heart. Parts of it turned to ashes under his fingertips. I gagged and tried not to look. “Tonight, we finally take down the Blood Moon.”

Kieran and I gaped at her. “I don’t know how to get back there,” I said.

Hope just laughed, reading my sudden pause. “I don’t need you, silly girl. I finally have accurate GPS.”

“Where the hell did you get that?” Kieran asked.

“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.