The Premier stood slowly, his face contorted in fury, his eyes now focused on me.
Oh Hecara, I was more than fired.
I wasdead.
I couldn’t move from the Premier’s gaze, as if his power had locked me in place. He said something to one of his guards, who nodded and backed up, making room for him to get up and move around the table.
A firm hand grasped my shoulder from behind.
“Sage,” Jakob said, loud enough to be heard by those around us but quiet enough to seem calm. “Why don’t you go get a towel to help clean this up?”
The Premier was walking now.
“Sage,run!” Jakob whispered.
My legs unfroze, and I bolted out of the room, cracking a charm on my bracelet that gave me a boost of speed and agility. I moved through the crowd like it was no obstacle, appearing to anyone watching as nothing more than a blur, cutting through to the kitchen and out the back door. I kept moving down the alley, ditching my vest and bow tie as I ran. Next came my button-down, leaving me in my T-shirt and black pants.
I heard yells and snarls behind me, but I couldn’t even pause to look. There would be no talking myself out of this one.
More charms clinked like bells on my bracelet, and I crushed another through my fingers. This one masked my scent, disrupting the trail of omega perfume and blood the vampires were following. Then I turned sharply to the right, cutting through a coffee shop and running through the back before the barista even noticed I was there. I took a left through the small side street, then headed towards a pet store. The animal smells would block me even further.
My first charm was wearing off, and I needed to blend in. I entered slowly, examining the fish tanks and bird cages like apotential customer, keeping one eye on the front. When I heard a stampede of booted footsteps approaching, I went down an aisle of small rodent cages, keeping me hidden from the large windows.
I held my breath as they rushed past, trying to calm my heart as their voices faded.
“Which way did she go?”
“Dammit, I lost the scent. You go left, I’ll go straight.”
I felt myself get lightheaded and dizzy. I wasn’t supposed to do this much cardio; I could pass out at any moment.
I backed up into the wall and slid down slowly to the ground, lowering my head between my knees to take big, gulping breaths of air once I landed on my butt.
I crushed another charm, this one sending a wave of blissful calm through my veins. It didn’t stop my mind from freaking out, but at least my heart didn’t feel like it was about to burst through my chest anymore.
The cashier yawned from the register up front where she was playing with her phone.
“Hey, you can go out the back if you want,” she called out in a flat voice.
I got up, peering around the corner. She was still staring at her screen.
“R-really?” I asked.
She finally looked at me, her ice blue eyes shining, sharp canines slipping through her lips as she smiled. “Yeah, I’m not a fucking snitch. Especially to vamps.”
I hadn’t been as inconspicuous in my entrance as I’d hoped, but I nodded my thanks to the werewolf and slipped out the exit at the back of the store, crushing one more charm on my bracelet to give me a bubble of incuriosity, keeping me practically invisible on the mile I had to walk to get home.
I used the time to think. First, I couldn’t believe I’d used so many charms in one day. Those had taken me months to make, from saving to buy the expensive ingredients to preparing the spells and potions just right. Ugh, maybe I could ask Mr. Calder atHemlock & Honeyto give me a discount if I told him I’d been in danger.
Those charms were the least of my concern, though, because it wouldn’t be long until the Premier forced Jakob or Nellie to give up my information. I mean, I’d even left my purse there, for Hecara’s sake. I’d be identified and found within the evening.
They could even be at my apartment already.
I jumped in front of a passing seraph woman to see if my incuriosity charm still held, and when she didn’t even blink, I breathed a sigh of relief. At the very least, I could scope out my building, and if there weren’t any vampire authorities there yet, I’d just grab as much of my stuff as I could and split.
Cindralis may have been a weak city-state, but Premiers always refused extradition of their own citizens, and hopefully my crime of making a minor scene at a vampire fundraiser wasn’t egregious enough to hire a bounty hunter to drag me back.
In fact, the whole thing would probably be forgotten about by tomorrow, right?
