Just keep distracting the vampires,I told Marius.
My pleasure,he rumbled, looping around for another pass.
He and Mina could barely fly in the snow, let alone target vampires under tree cover, but even random bursts of fire helped.
Keep moving,I urged Gen.Not far to go now.
I ambushed and killed another vampire, then ran back to rejoin her.
Run! Just run!I yelled when we reached the trail. It was snowed over, but we could move more quickly here.
The faster we moved, the harder it became for Gen to weave shadows, but Mina and Marius kept the last vampire at bay long enough for us to race toward the trailhead. I spotted Henrik and Bene there, urging us on. But the final vampire was closing in on us, fast.
“Keep going. Quickly!” Henrik ordered, passing me to attack the remaining vampire.
Bene waved us on weakly. “Yes — quickly would be good.”
A fierce fight broke out behind us. I spun to protect Gen. Snarls sounded, snow flew, and blood sprayed. Then a piercing cry broke the air, and the vampire fell, killed by Henrik.
A weight lifted from my heart. The vampires who’d murdered Claudette were dead.
Bene studied Danielle. “Who is this?”
“I’ll explain later,” Gen said, placing her father’s painting into the car, then helping Bene in.
I rubbed my muzzle in the snow, disgusted by the bloodstains. Revenge never tasted as good as one imagined.
“Roux, Henrik. Let’s go!” Gen yelled.
She jumped behind the wheel of the rental car I had driven up the mountain earlier, with a stunned Danielle in the frontseat. Henrik “helped” me into the back seat, though he nearly slammed the door on my tail.
Watch it,I snarled.
He gave me that haughty,I’m surrounded by heathenslook he did so well, then turned to follow us in the second car with Bene. We raced away just as more vampires appeared on the trail, but long sprays of dragon fire kept them at bay.
I shifted to human form and wrestled on the clothes I’d left behind earlier — no easy task with Gen racing around the tight hairpins in a blizzard. She beeped and swerved as we sped past the cars blocking Grepper’s driveway.
“Can you see what’s going on?” Gen asked as we raced by.
I squinted toward Grepper’s villa, spotting at least half a dozen vampires and a woman in a white fur coat who almost blended in with the snow.
“Celeste,” I muttered.
She was pleading with Grepper and the vampires. No one, it seemed, was happy with her.
At a curt gesture from Grepper, Celeste spun away, looking pale but defiant. She raised her hands, ordering the vampires aside in her usual regal manner. Clearly, she was looking to make a quick exit.
But the nearest vampire drew a knife, and her eyes went wide.
Blood splashed in a wide arc. Celeste buckled. The vampires went into a frenzy, sinking their fangs into her body before it even hit the ground.
That was all I saw before the snow closed in — that, and Grepper closing his door in disgust.
My stomach churned, but I didn’t have it in me to feel sorry.
“What’s going on?” Gen cried, not daring to look away from the treacherous road.
I gulped down the bile in my throat. “They got Celeste,” I said quietly. “The vampires, I mean.”
