“Shouldn’t we hide?” one asks as I scan the hall for security. “He said that—”
“You’ll die,” I whisper. “The only way to survive is by getting out of here.”
“What’s going on?” an old woman asks, her voice breaking.Fuck.I know that if this was my first contact with a vampire, I would be reacting like this, too. I also know that not all of them will be able to keep up with me. I pull out Gustavsson’s silver cross, and search through their faces for the one who seems to be the most alert.
“Hold this,” I say, handing it to a tall girl with brown curls. “If you see anyone behind us, hold it up. And don’t look them in the eyes.”
“What are they?” she asks.
“They’re vampires,” I say. Under normal circumstances they wouldn’t believe me. “And they want to kill us. So, stay behind me.”
We run. The next security guard, stationed at a corner, is more taken by the scent of my blood—and possibly that of the others—than she is by the weapon in my hand. So, before she spots it, I jump on her. This one realises what I am, but instead of fighting me, her eyes flash red, trying to compelme.
“Not happening,” I say, before plunging my weapon into her. I miss the first time, staking her shoulder as she tries to run, her blood spraying me. But I don’t miss again. One of the humans screams. “It’s you or them!” I shout. There’s blood on my face, but if my bloody face is the most terrifying thing they see tonight, then I’ll have done my job.
At the end of the hallway is a rose window. And if there’s a window, it means we’ve finally reached one of the exterior walls. “Donot look them in the eyes!” I remind them. I already know there will be more vampire guards here.
And there are: The victims can hide, but they’re not allowed to escape. That would ruin the fun. At least a dozen vampires are all lined up by the windows, and my heart races. I’ve done this before. But there are too many vampires. Where the fuck is Penny’s helper?
I search the features of the security guards, and to my utter shock,Jannetis amongst them. Stella is right behind her.How?Gustavsson told me they’d both been sent to jail and had their fangs pulled out. Did they escape?
Despite my initial shock, a thrill runs through me now that I see them. I’ve been waiting for this moment since they introduced themselves in the archive. It’s their fault I’ve got the fucking Familiar’s mark, after all. The makeup that’s covering it is supposed to be resistant to sweat, but it’s starting to melt, the beige joining the blood in ruining my dress.
“Oh, they’ve made it all the way here!” one of the security guards says. They’re armed with batons. I suppose shooting us would be a waste of our blood. “You’d have had a better chance of living if you’d hidden, instead of trying to run.”
“And you would have had a better chance of living if you’d kept your mouth shut,” I say as I take the first shot. The silver bullet finds its way into his brain, and he collapses. I finish him off with a stake, granting him a far quicker death than he deserves. Then several things happen at once; just like in the warehouse outside Silverbirch, most of the vampires turn into bats. And when I try to grab one as it flies past, it escapes.
Just five vampires remain, amongst them Jannet and Stella. Jannet hasn’t recognised me yet. I see her squeezing her eyes shut and realise that neither she nor Stella knows how to turn into bats. Instead of attacking me and risking being staked, one of the vampires turns to the humans, eyes glowing red. “Kill her!” she commands them.
I told the humans to close their eyes so they couldn’t be compelled, but they didn’t listen, and suddenly they lunge at me, a pair of hands gripping my neck. A fist collides with my face, and I guessthis is why I’m usually not allowed to focus on saving victims until the organiser of the blood party is dead. A young guy picks up my silver gun, while another continues to strangle me. But the girl with the silver cross, who must have kept her eyes shut, starts pulling them off me, shouting at them, hoping to snap them out of their trances.
The lights in the hallway, in the entire castle, suddenly switch on. The ten minutes are up. The guests will be turning into bats and swarming through the castle any second now. I don’t want to hurt the humans, but I can’t waste time. I elbow one of them out of the way, get my gun back, and shoot the vampire that compelled them straight in the head, before driving a stake through her chest.
Screams ring out in the distance. Obviously not all the humans followed us. I wanted to saveeveryone.I reload my gun, blood boiling, and Jannet lunges at me. She’s terrified, eyes bright red as she strangles out the worddie. “You first,” I say.
When I drive my stake through her, her smoke reaches my nostrils, burning my lungs. I don’t feel the satisfaction I used to after killing a vampire. Instead, a sickly dark thing spreads across my bones, a reminder of what I really am. What would Aliz think if she saw me now?
I look up. Only Stella remains. She’s shaking, her pale skin almost purple as she stares at the pile of dust that used to be Jannet. Then she looks at the humans, at the blood on my face. “I didn’t want to hurt them,” she starts, her voice breaking. “I never wanted to—”
A gunshot makes the walls tremble. My ears ring, and Stella’s brains spill out of her now cracked skull. Down the hall stands a figure dressed in black, wearing a white mask with a black cross painted down the middle.
Penny had told me she would send another hunter.
“You took your time,” I mutter, raising my stake to drive it through Stella’s limp body.
“Don’t,” the other hunter says. “We’re running low on prisoners. Once she heals, we can use her to train against compulsion.”
Even with a mask muffling her voice, I recognise her. “I thoughtyou were sending someone,” I say. My hand, still holding the stake, trembles.
It’s Penny.
Here, in Inverness.
A part of me, the part that’s known her for four years, couldn’t be happier to finally see her again. We’ve never been apart this long, and I didn’t realise how much I missed her until now. But another part of me is terrified. The deadliest vampire hunter Callisto has ever produced is now only twenty minutes away from the new life I’ve built in Tynahine. If she sees the Familiar’s mark, which I’m hoping is still concealed by makeup and blood, she won’t think twice before killing Aliz.
My throat feels like sandpaper, and Penny reaches down to touch Stella’s body. It will take weeks for her brain to unscramble, for her broken skull to seal shut again. “What are you doing here?” I ask, still in disbelief. I can’t quite believe it’s Penny. She takes off her mask, and my eyes sting as I take her in. Her sharp features are clean of makeup. She’s as inexpressive as always, incapable of showing whether she missed me or not.
“Is Trellis dead?” she asks, ignoring my question. She turns Stella onto her side and writes something on the near-dead vampire’s cheek.
