Chills swept down my spine. I tried to tug on the rope, but Clark must have sensed it coming, because he held me firm. The other cult members waited until Andrea had given them the nod, and then they all drank deep, including the other guard. When they were finished, he swapped places with Clark, the final cultie to have his fill of my sweet, sweet orb-infested blood.
While the culties circled together, murmuring amongst themselves, the guard patted my wound with a new cloth before winding it tight around my arm. I narrowed my eyes at him again.
“Why are you being so nice? I thought you were going to drain all my blood and kill me. And how come none of you are demons yet?”
“Just you wait,” he murmured. “It won’t be long now.”
I opened my mouth to ask just exactly how long it would be. Maybe I had time to convince them to return me to the room. If I barricaded myself inside, I might be able to withstand an attack. Eventually, they’d grow bored and—
The alternative twisted my stomach. They’d only hunt for someone else. Someone who had no idea what was coming for them. Tears burned my eyes. I had to do something. But what? I couldn’t fight back against these culties when they were humans. What the hell could I do against them after they transformed into demonic, strength-enhanced versions of themselves?
I got the answer to that question two seconds later. As Andrea wound her arms around two of her culties to draw them near, every single one of them dropped like stones. To crumpled rag dolls on the blood-painted floor.
The only one left standing was Clark, who had only just had his drink. His eyes widened as he whirled my way. Anger flickered across his face as he took thundering steps toward me. Heart in my throat, I tripped over the other guard as I tried to stumble back.
And then Clark joined the rest of them on the floor.
“Holy shit,” I whispered, pressing a shaking hand to my heart. “What the hell just happened?”
Had my blood...somehow poisoned them? That didn’t make any sense. Not that anything about this did. The moon had turned my blood black. They thought it was their salvation. What if it had been the exact opposite of that? What if their cure for death had turned out to be their curse?
“Okay.” I sucked in a sharp breath and whirled in a circle. Whatever had happened, it was done now, and this was my chance to escape. But just to be sure...
I knelt beside Clark and placed my fingers on his neck. He was burning hot, almost scalding my skin. I gritted my teeth as I pressed my fingers harder against him, and there, just faintly, right along the curve of his jaw. I felt a heartbeat. A weak one, but it was there.
I stood and gazed around. They were alive. Which meant this could all be part of the ritual. There was no telling how long it would take them to wake again, and I had a sneaking suspicion they wouldn’t be humans when they did. Time to get out of here, as fast as my feet could run.
Steeling myself, I jumped over Clark and raced out the doorway, leaving the cult behind. I rushed through the hallway, opening every door, searching for a way out, but I found nothing but empty bedrooms, bathrooms, and studies. My search took me through a maze. Until I stumbled through an arched doorway and landed just before the red-painted front door. Salvation.
My breath shuddered out of me.
Sticking my tongue between my teeth, I grasped at the handle. The rope scraped my wrists as I fumbled to click the damn door open. The metal slid across my skin, slick with nervous sweat. I snatched at the handle again, but it was no use.
Frustrated, I stumbled back and considered my options. With my wrists bound together, I couldn’t open the damn door. I needed to cut myself free of these ropes.
That was when I remembered the dagger in the ritual room.
Swallowing hard, I glanced back the way I’d come. The new demons could already be awake, but if that were the case, surely I would have heard them by now. Or seen them charging after me, eyes glowing red, fangs protruding from their open mouths...
I was starting to get a little delirious now.
Grimacing, I twisted around and tried the door handle again. But I just couldn’t get a good grip with my hands tied so tightly together. I blew out a hot breath and settled my gaze on the hallway that stretched back toward the ritual room.
There was nothing to it. I had no other option. I could stay here and fiddle with the door for the next hour, trying and failing to get the hell out. Or I could rush back to the room and use the dagger to unbind my hands. Besides, I needed to free myself anyway. If I was right about where we were, I’d need to find a phone. And some money. I couldn’t just walk all the way back to New York City. Not from here.
My mom’s face flashed in the back of my mind, giving me a much-needed boost of courage. Tiptoeing across the carpet, I wound my way through the house’s maze of hallways and right back into the ritual room. The culties were still passed out on the floor, thank heavens. No demonic gleaming eyes peered up at me.
Yet.
I minced across the floor and awkwardly knelt to my knees after I spied the dagger glittering by Clark’s side. Just as with the door handle, my fingers struggled to wrap around the hilt. Blowing out a frustrated sigh that ruffled the hair around my face, I slid onto my back and scrabbled around like a cockroach who had been flipped onto his back.
If only Caim could see me now. He’d definitely be eager to revisit our night spent between his sheets. I looked sexy as hell like this, legs flailing in the air.
Focus, my mind screamed at me.
I shuffled a little sideways and lifted my hips to angle my hands closer to the knife. Somehow, I managed to grab it this time. Hands shaking, I clutched it against me, trying to rub the sharp edge against the rope.
Tears stung my eyes as the knife barely cut through. This was going to take awhile. Too long. I needed to get up and run. Now. Use the knife to untie me after I’d escaped this house of horrors and the demons who I swore were breathing a little heavier than they had been a moment ago.
