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, fumbling 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.