“The lease on my theater ran out,” Roger replied.
The others finished piling in the car. Carver demanded, “Can you translate that from vampire dramatics to common vernacular?”
“Seamus and Anton have been amusing themselves for centuries with a wager on which spawn would last longer, Dmitri or I,” Roger said. “Anton said the bet had been settled, and it turns out my little attempts to gain notoriety haven’t been as tolerated as I thought.”
Meaning, Seamus wants us dead.Zack was grateful Takashi had already taken off down the road. He raked his hand through his hair again, further knocking it out of its ridiculous style. “We get the knives. We get anything,anythingthat could be used as a component to track us, and we get the fuck out of the hotel.”
“And go where?” Takashi asked.
“I’ll think of somewhere,” Roger replied. “After everything, I’m not leaving those bastards in charge.”
“Uh, I could use a little more context,” Kit said. “Who’s in charge of what?”
“Maybe it’s time we fill Kit and Carver in,” Takashi said. “Considering we might not live through the night.”
“Could you drop us off? Maybe we’re better off at the party,” Carver said.
“You wouldn’t be,” Vincent whispered. “He’s looking for someone to kill.”
Without protection, we’re fucked.Zack glanced at the speedometer. “You know, I think you could push it another ten over the speed limit. Maybe experiment with fifteen.”
“Someone tell me what the hell is going on!” Kit demanded.
Zack glanced to the mirror, but of course, he couldn’t see Roger in it. So he half turned in his seat and met his gaze. They shared one of their briefest staring contests, a battle of wills to decide who would start with the truth.
Zack nodded and then looked to Kit and the others. “Almost five months ago, my family received an email informing us about a vampire that needed to be slain …”
CHAPTER 37
“What the hell can be used as a spell component?” Carver asked as they entered the hotel suite.
“Technically, anything that’s got a connection to you,” Zack replied.
“Wait, what about like hair and fingerprints?” Kit said. “We can’t possibly get itall.”
Roger strode into the living room and deposited Vincent on the sofa beside the bar. A few hours ago, the suite had been their hideaway while preparing for an enchanted evening. Now, every second spent in it felt like a casket lid closing on them. Roger motioned to the master bedroom. “Zack.”
“Blades.” Zack nodded and dashed for the safe.
“I’m grabbing the shotgun from under the bed,” Takashi muttered as he followed Zack.
“What good is a shotgun going to do?” Kit demanded. “They’re vampires!”
“The child has a point.” Anton’s voice echoed throughout the suite with no clear point of origin.
One of them had hit the lights as they rushed into the suite. Roger had had his hands full with Vincent and hadn’t noticed which of them had done it. But the lights were definitely on.
Only they began to flicker and dim. The darkness from the balcony seeped through the glass and spilled onto the floor. It pooled, condensing and flowing outward, and inch after inch was vanished into the lightlessness.
This could be good. He’s expending power.If Roger could find the silver lining, he might find a way to use it to slice through his enemies.
But not everyone shared his hope. Wide-eyed, Carver glanced from the lights to the darkness growing beside the balcony to Roger standing still and shuddered. He spun on his heels. “Fuck this!”
“Wait!” Roger called.
Carver surged forward, grabbed the door handle, and pulled it open.
Seamus stood on the other side. Like them, he still wore the outfit he’d spent the evening in. What little light remained in the hallway flickered as he reached out and snatched Carver by the throat. He strode into the suite with Carver struggling in his grip.
