I shove through the people coming the other way, gasping and sobbing, not caring anymore if I’m found. I just want this nightmare to end. I fight my way back along the street, against the flow of the crowd, towards the clock tower poking its moon-face over the dark buildings. There’s more shouting up ahead, the noise getting louder. I head towards it.
Then arms catch me, and I collapse.
A familiar scent of violets and something fresher twines around me. ‘Emelia. Thank darkness.’
Kyle.
Relief floods through me. He pulls me back, away from the crowd and noise. We’re next to a shop, the large glass window dark. Kyle puts my back against it, keeping his body between me and the rioting humans.
‘Are you all right?’ He cups my face in his hands. I can’t speak, sobbing. He gathers me close and my hands twist into his jacket, melding myself to him as though I could disappear inside him. He strokes my hair and lets me cry it out, the noise from the square a swelling soundtrack to my sorrow.
When my tears slow he wipes my cheeks with his thumbs, his touch gentle. He’s a dark silhouette, the glow of fire behind him. It’s this surreal sort of quiet moment where the rest of the world doesn’t seem to matter, as long as we’re together. As though we’re in a bubble of our own.
It bursts, quickly. There’s a booming noise and Kyle’s head turns. Quick as a flash, he scoops me up, holding me tight. ‘We need to go. Now.’ He starts to run, the night becoming a blur. I hold tight. Then there’s another loud boom, the ground shifting. Kyle skids to a halt. Things start hitting me on my head and shoulders, as though it’s hailing. Kyle twists his body, trying to protect me, and I feel sharp pricks and scratches where the strange hail hits me. My hearing seems to have gone, as though I’m underwater. Time stretches out, everything happening in slow-motion. Then it speeds up again, my hearing gradually coming back. I hear screaming.
Kyle swears.
‘What’s happening?’ I whisper.
‘Quiet.’
I try to lift my head, but Kyle stops me. ‘What?’
‘You’re bleeding.’
He murmurs the words, but I stiffen. Shit. I realise what the strange hail was. A shop window has blown out, shards of glass everywhere. My hand is covered with little puncture wounds and scratches, glass splinters glinting on my skin. My scalp feels sore, warm wetness on my cheek. Double shit. Kyle’s strong, but it’s mayhem out here. Humans are everywhere, some caught up in the stampede, others with fabric tied over the lower part of their faces, their clothing tattered. There are more vampires too, not all of them Raven guards, flashing through the crowd with no regard for anyone in their way. A young man is thrown to the ground, and there’s a crack as a vampire steps on his arm, the bone poking through his skin. As more blood is spilled, vampires are starting to turn on the vulnerable humans. Across the square a cordon of Raven guards are roaring commands, fire blazing from several buildings turning the night golden red. There’s no way Kyle can protect me in this. I feel his muscles bunch as he prepares to run. Then a voice says my name.
‘Emelia?’
It’s my mother.
ChapterThirty
BREAK OUT
‘Is she hurt?’
Oh my god and darkness, my father is here as well. Kyle is frozen, overcome, his arms like iron bars. I manage to poke my head out from his protective stance.
‘Oh, thank goddess we found you. But you’re bleeding!’ Mother rushes to me, her hands on my face, smoothing my hair, red gleaming in her eyes.
‘Hush.’ My father sounds worried – I guess the fewer people who know who I am, the better.
Mother turns to him. ‘We have to get her out of here.’ The background glow is becoming fiercer and there’s crying, a high keening sound. Raven guards are everywhere, silver and black in the night.
‘I agree,’ Father says. ‘Take her home. Then she can explain herself.’ His stern gaze moves to me and my stomach drops. This couldn’t be any worse.
‘Father, I’m the one who?—’
‘Later, Emelia. Penelope, take her, take both of you to safety.’
‘I have to stay. You know that I need to be seen. The North Wind need to know Raven is here.’
My father’s lips tighten, then he nods. ‘Fine. Help me break her out.’
‘Wait,what?! No, no, you can’t hurt him, just wait! He’ll come out of it.’ I’m crying, trying to wriggle my way free of Kyle’s frozen embrace, so my parents don’t have to break his bones. But my father takes one of Kyle’s arms. My mother, after a moment’s hesitation, takes the other. I scream, I can’t help it then. And Kyle snaps out of it.
‘My lord! My lady! Forgive me.’ He lets me go so quickly I fall. He drops to one knee, his head bowed. My father catches me, his nose wrinkling. I guess I smell like blood and fear, not the best thing right now. No anti-feed spray will cover that. There’s another loud boom, a flare of light, the ground moving. I stumble, bumping into Kyle. He steadies me, but when I look at him he doesn’t seem to see me. My mother’s beautiful face twists with what looks like pity. My father’s lips are pulled back from his teeth, his fangs dropped. Uh-oh.
