He turned toward her voice but never saw her. At that precise moment, a semitruck plowed into him from behind. Nick’s face smacked the floor and his gun skidded down the hall. Fangs pierced his skin before he could twitch.No one moves that fast, he thought.Do all of them have the fangs?
He ignored the sharp pain and fisted the back of the guy’s head. A yank and a thrust and he heard the tear as the man’s teeth left his neck. Nick became a flurry of elbows and knees, and then he forced the top of his attacker’s head against his chest. With the heel of his palm, he cranked the man’s face to the side and brought his entire body weight down on the man’s neck. The moment the guy’s cervical spine snapped, Nick both heard and felt it. He tossed the body aside. That one wasn’t going to be answering questions.
Big Guy was back, and Nick swept his gun off the floor. When he pointed this time, he meant business. But he never had to pull the trigger. The man’s feet left the ground of their own accord, his body flying into the wall near the door as if he’d been thrown. His head snapped back on his neck with a sickening crack and he crumpled to the floor. In the blink of an eye, Rowan appeared, standing in front of the door and holding her hand out to him.
“More will come. We’ve got to go.Now!”
Chapter Thirteen
Rowan cursed. Nick was bleeding. Normally vampire saliva would seal a bite wound like that. Certainly the vampire hadn’t spent long at his neck, but when Nick had grabbed the vampire’s hair and yanked, a feat she’d never thought possible for a human before she’d seen him accomplish it, he’d torn the delicate human flesh of his neck. There was no way for her to tell how much blood he’d lost or if she should be concerned. At least for now he didn’t seem affected.
Nick swept his gun off the floor and grabbed her hand. But far from leaning on her for help, he sped by her and yanked her through the door. That shocked Rowan. Most humans did not handle learning they shared the world with supernaturals well. Up until now, Harriet had been the one exception. Back in 1904 when Rowan had revealed what she was to her best friend and explained why she hadn’t aged a day in the thirty years they’d known each other, the old woman had simply pulled out her tarot cards and said she suspected as much. But Harriet was a Traveller; she had been raised to be in touch with the beyond. And that had been a different time, when people had far more faith and a lot less technology.
“Where did you go before?” he asked as he ushered her up the stairs.
She marveled at his speed and agility despite his wound. He really was an exceptional human being. “I made myself invisible, just like I’m making us invisible right now.”
He grunted. “What kind of technology are you using? Who do you work for?”
“Work for? I don’t understand the question. It’s just something I can do.” She released his hand to show him and blinked out of sight.
He missed a step and tripped.
“Damn it. I’m sorry, Nick!” She hauled him onto his feet and spread her invisibility over him once more, dragging him through the door and into the alcove where she’d first seen him outside Michael’s office. “You’re bleeding.”
“I’ll be okay. We need to get out of here.”
“We need to stop the bleeding.” She pulled the tail of his shirt from his pants and tore off a piece, pressing the cloth to his neck wound. Covering him with her body, she erected a wall of dragon magic around them. It was ancient and a sister magic to her invisibility, an innate ability that her people historically used to hide their treasure. A vampire burst through the door behind them and ran straight for Michael’s office. She thanked all the gods she could think of that her enchantment had worked and the creature couldn’t smell the blood. They’d gotten lucky, but they needed to get out of there.
As soon as the hall was clear, she led Nick through the VIP lounge, but the club was packed with patrons now. They’d never get out the way they’d come in. Navigating the crowd, even while invisible, would be difficult if not impossible. She veered left and shoved Nick out onto the crowded terrace.
He looked right, then left. “Maybe we should jump?”
“How much do you weigh?”
“About two fifty.”
“Should be okay.” She wrapped her arms around him.
“Okay for what?”
“Hang on tight.” She spread her wings and lifted him straight up.
Invisibility alone wouldn’t hide her scent or the scent of Nick’s blood if Verinetti came for them. She needed to put distance between them and Wicked Divine as quickly as possible. And she couldn’t keep up the concealing magic she’d used in the alcove while she was moving. It was meant to conceal a place, not a moving object. Quickly, she soared to the car and landed silently beside it, thankful she’d had Djorji wait right around the corner.
As soon as she’d settled Nick and herself in the back seat, she dropped her invisibility.
“Where to, miss?” Djorji asked, starting the engine.
“The penthouse.”
He nodded and pulled away from the curb. When she turned back to Nick, his body was tense as a tightly coiled spring beside her. His gray eyes stared straight at her with a burning intensity that had nothing to do with attraction this time. A muscle in his jaw flexed.
“Nick? Nick, are you okay?”
His eyes narrowed to thin slits. She noticed his hand rested on his gun in its holster. “Who do you work for?”
A laugh bubbled from deep within her. “No one.”
