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“Do you have any sixes?”

“Go fish,” Jade says, looking at her own hand, while lying back, propped up on an enormous pile of pillows. She’s looking good, her color healthy, and she’s taken off her sling that was holding her broken arm. It’s almost like she was never in an accident in the first place, except she still has a splint on her leg. Jade sighs. “Can we be done with this game? Or at least play Hold ‘Em or something?”

“We could, I guess,” I say, while still drawing a card. “But I never really learned how to play poker, so I’d be lousy competition.”

“You’re lousy competition in Go Fish, too,” Jade teases. “Do you have any eights?”

I pass her my Eight of Spades. That’s the third time in a row that she’s taken one of my cards. She’s way too good at this game. I’d almost think she was cheating, but then, I’m distracted by Julian being gone on a murderous mission, so maybe that’s why I’m sucking so much.

Jade lays her new pair alongside her other pairs in neat rows. The bed in front of her is filled with cards. She really is dominating. “Maybe we could put some money down and make it more interesting?” she proposes, a touch too innocently.

I snort. “What money? I’m totally broke, and you’re not rolling in it either. Also, I’d have to be stupid to put money down on a game that I’m losing this badly.”

“We could start over,” she says, laying down her cards. “You can’t really come back from this far behind, so it’s not really fun anymore.”

“Fine,” I say, gathering the cards to start shuffling. “But what will we bet on?”

“Five dollars to whoever wins?” Jade suggests helping me gather the cards.

“I can do five dollars,” I agree. “But no gloating when you take my money, okay?”

“Have more faith in yourself,” Jade laughs. “Maybe you’ll actually win one for a change.”

Suddenly, the door slams open, an intense Gaspard framed in the doorway. His eyes look a little wild, his hair unkempt, like he ran all the way to the house.

“Gaspard?” I ask. “What’s wrong? Where’s Julian?”

“We need to go,” he declares grimly. “Now.”

I stand, abandoning the cards. “Go where? What’s going on?” Then I notice a spray of dried blood on Gaspard’s suit, and my stomach drops. “Whose blood is that?”

“I don’t have time to explain. We need to get you both away from here. Away from the city.”

My eyes widen, my pulse speeding. “Away from the city? Are we in danger?”

“Gaspard, explain,” orders Jade. “We’re not going anywhere with you until you tell us what happened.”

“It was a trap,” Gaspard says, looking desperate and a little exasperated, even as he gives in to Jade’s demand. “They had some of Andi’s blood and used it to make their magic work on us. They killed the others we brought with us and took the Commandant captive. Colton Haynes is demanding that we bring Andi to him by sundown or they will torture and kill the Commandant. But we can’t let Andi fall into their hands, or they’ll destroy the whole Fraternity. Possibly the whole Other World.”

“But what about Julian?” I ask, even as fear courses through my veins. But somehow, the thought of Julian being tortured or dying overrides my fear even for myself. “We can’t just leave him with them!”

“We won’t. The Fraternity won’t rest until we have him back. The Circle has underestimated who they’ve crossed this time. But even if we can't get him back, the Commandant wouldn’t want you in their clutches. We need to get you on a plane and across the globe before Haynes realizes that I’m not going to obey him. And Jade will go with you.”

“Jade is in the room with you,” Jade comments dryly. “You don’t need to make plans for me like I’m not here.”

“Haynes will stop at nothing to have Andi, including capturing and hurting those who are close to her,” Gaspard explains bluntly. “You’re Andi’s best friend, and they’ve hurt you once. Once they realize that Andi is gone, they’re going to go ballistic and do everything in their power to lure her back. You have to go with her. You’re not safe in New Orleans anymore.”

A grim hush falls over the room. Then I speak up, breaking the tension. “Gaspard is right. We should go, before Colton realizes we’re leaving.”

“Okay,” agrees Jade. “I still can’t walk, though. My leg is messed up, and the healing magic hasn’t fixed it yet.”

“I’ll carry you,” Gaspard says matter-of-factly. He moves so fast that he blurs for a second before gently coming to Jade’s side, scooping her up with a delicate touch. Jade’s arms go around his neck, and she grimaces slightly as her leg gets jostled, but she doesn’t complain.

Moving quickly, we all head to Julian’s garage, where we meet a group of dangerous-looking vampires, all dressed in black, except for a few women who are wearing wigs that look eerily like my own hair. They exchange some quiet words with Gaspard that I can’t quite make out. After their exchange, everyone splits up, each heading toward a different car in a line of cars that are parked in the garage. The familiar black SUV is missing, however.

“Where’s the SUV?” I ask.

“Sebastian had the keys,” Gaspard replies darkly, “and they didn’t give me enough time to retrieve them before they made me leave.”