More footsteps came from the tunnel.That’s when I realized I shouldn’t have heard them.Vampires and werewolves tended to move silently.It was part of their nature.Part of their magic.
When they had magic.
Maybe that’s what could save me.Paranorms were always surprised at how slow and almost clumsy they were in the Null.If Melissa and her cohorts drank themselves human, if I pretended to be docile, to be their fucking queen, I might be able to outthink and outrun them.If I didn’t pass out from blood loss.
Two people emerged from the tunnel—someone I’d never seen before and Christian.
It felt like I’d taken my first breath after drowning.I had an ally, a friend, a partner who was beginning to feel like he belonged at The Rain as much as I did.Maybe that was due to his connection to my parents.He’d spent more time with them the past year than I had.He’d known a side of them that I’d never seen.He was a good man.He wouldn’t stand for my imprisonment.
Christian’s gaze swept the cave, then landed on me, steady.Assessing.He didn’t rush forward.Didn’t speak.But his jaw tightened, and something flickered in his eyes.Anger?Dread?It didn’t matter.He was here.I wasn’t alone.
“Christian!”Melissa turned to her brother, gave him an enthusiastic hug, then stepped back.“Are you better now?”
He looked at her, and that faint, unidentifiable emotion that had been in his eyes a moment ago faded away.“What is this?”
She kept her hands on his arms.“I know it isn’t what we planned.”
“Not even close.”
I didn’t try to decipher his tone.I was too caught up in the words ofwhat we planned.He and Melissa hadplannedtogether.
“I know.”She turned to face me.“The spell went wrong but in the best way possible.She’s magic, Christian.Her blood is sweeter than the blood of the Aged.It’s more addictive even for the werewolves.”She glared at Jerro.“Whichwon’tbe a problem again.I know this place isn’t ideal yet, but it will be.And you’ll finally get the girl.You deserve her.”
What the hell was she talking about?Did she think Christian wantedme?He’d never taken one step beyond the friendship line.We were colleagues.Partners even.We were humans navigating life with the knowledge that paranorms existed and had no qualms about eating people for dinner.
Melissa took Christian’s arm, stood shoulder to shoulder with him, and focused on me.“She needs you.”
I needed him to get me the hell out of there.
I searched his eyes, looking for some sign he was on my side.He was smart.Principled.He had to realize Melissa was crazy.He would put the pieces together to see…
To see that Melissa was the villain.She had been the whole time.
The past few months rewound in my mind like a movie reel, frame after frame of moments I’d dismissed or tried to reason away.I hadn’t trusted her at first.She’d lured Isaiah into biting her, had torn up Christian’s room and then the residence, looking for an aura-dampening spell.She’d caused me to crash my car into a tree—she’d put me in the hospital!Then, when I’d learned who she was, she’d explained everything away with an “I panicked.”
How had I let her into my circle?Yes, she was Christian’s sister, but I’d kept her outside my life until…
Until she saved it.One of Shelli’s stray wolf allies had attacked me in Owen’s store.Melissa cut him off.Killed him.Then, weeks later, she’d conveniently been able toslip awayfrom her master to save Christian’s life after one of Satine’s vampires drank from him.
Melissa had helped me free Deagan from the compound.Notch by notch, she’d forced her way into my confidence.I’d ignored my gut feeling and trusted her.
Melissa whispered something into Christian’s ear.She was looking at him, waiting for some kind of response.He was still looking at me.
“Are you okay?”he asked.
I searched his Melissa-matching blue eyes, analyzed his stonelike expression, his posture, the stiffness in his shoulders, looking for any sign of a plan.I knew he couldn’t do anything obvious.Jerro and the other two werewolves watched him as much as they watched me.But I knew Christian, and he knew me.He should be able to come up with a subtle encouragement, something that gave me hope.Something that saidI’m with you.
He gave me nothing.
“Not really,” I said, toneless.
He nodded.Then his gaze moved beyond me, cataloging my cell, the pile of blankets on the floor, the broken glass near his feet.
“She can’t stay here,” he said.
Melissa grimaced.“It was meant to hold moonsick wolves, not a human.It’ll be a royal palace by the end of the week.I promise.”
Another noncommittal nod.
