I lurched into a run. I was no match against a vampire’s speed. I was a tiny, soft lion cub trying to outrun a hyena. I was a butterfly against a hawk. I was—
“Someone get her, or you will all die in my bed!” Constance screamed faintly, and I ran faster.
“Duck!” Jenks shouted, and I veered to the right, slipping on the tile and going down with an ungraceful thump as I tried to shield Zack. I looked up from the floor, shocked as a heavy stone lamp thudded into the wall and shattered. If it had hit me, my skull would have been crushed.
“Squeak!” Zack said, clinging to my hair for dear life, and Pike screamed, falling back and ripping his clothing from him. I stared, oblivious to Jenks shrilling at me to get up and run. Pike was on fire. Zack had set his clothes on fire!
“Rachel, go!” Jenks shouted, and I jumped, startled when his sword poked me.
Pike was rolling on the floor to put out the flames. Three more of Constance’s people were storming after us, and I spun to my feet. Boots squeaking on the tile, I began to run.
“Left?” I said. I skidded around the corner—only to slide to a halt when the two I.S. agents waiting for us in front of the elevator looked up.
“We got her,” one said into a radio, and I put a hand up to Zack before he toasted anyone else. Okay, I totally got he might have some revenge needs to work out, but setting people on fire was not a good option. They rarely died, and living with burns . . . No. That was worse than hell.
“Zack, I mean it. Do not set them on fire,” I said as I kept coming forward, and the kid began squeaking at me. “I don’t care!” I shouted, and the two men looked at each other as if I was crazy. “It’s not just surviving that counts. It’s how you survive. Pick something nonlethal.”
“Fire isn’t necessarily lethal,” Jenks grumped.
“That’s close enough!” one of the men at the elevator said. “Hands up!”
“Oh, for little green apples, fine,” I muttered, fisting my hands and putting them in the air. But I was talking to Zack, and I felt the faintest zing of line energy as he gestured and a small glow took form in his hands, looking really odd since he was a mouse.
“She’s not strapped!” Pike shouted from behind us, and I turned to see him loping forward, three men from Constance’s personal security with him. There were six of them, and three of us. I liked those odds any day.
“Squeak, squeak . . . squeak!” Zack said, and my internal balance gave a hiccup as a bolt of tiny force shot straight up into the light above us.
Eyes wide, Pike skidded to a halt as the lights in the hallway began to glow, a high-pitched whine coming from them. “Take cover!” he shouted, then kicked in a door and dove for shelter.
“Squeak!” Zack said again, and I jumped when the glowing lights shot out a wave of force to coat the five remaining vampires. Ozone crackled the air, and they shook, dropped, and went still. Every last one of them.
“Holy shit,” I heard Pike whisper from the office, too smart to poke his head out just yet.
“Are they alive?” I asked, pulse fast, and Zack shrugged, staggering to grip my hair to keep from falling. Clearly it had taken a lot out of him.
Jenks darted to the nearest downed vampire, his dust a brilliant silver. “They’ll be fine,” he said, and I hit the elevator call button. “This would be easier if you were two inches tall. What happened to plan C?”
“I accidentally swallowed it,” I said, arms going over my middle when Jenks faced me in disbelief. “I’m sorry, okay?” I said as we waited for the elevator. “She jammed a chocolate in my mouth, and I accidentally swallowed it!”
Zack was clinging to my hair, and I carefully gave him my hand to sit in. He looked exhausted, his ears and whiskers drooping. “And you might get your wish before this is over,” I muttered to Jenks as I gave Zack the option of my shoulder again and he took it.
I felt like a time bomb with no display. I could shrink down and go mouse at any moment. I mean, sure, the charm was encased in plastic, but my gut was probably like Mount Vesuvius at the moment. Now that we were free and running, I kind of hoped it wouldn’t happen. Strutting out the front door with Zack would do loads for my confidence.
Except when the elevator dinged and opened, it was full of two I.S. officers in combat gear, clearly as surprised to see me as I was to see them.
I fell back, my hand raised protectively to Zack as Jenks dropped to hover menacingly before us. The kid had just channeled a crapload of line energy and I wasn’t helpless—even if they looked really big in their anticharm gear.
“You think you can bring me in?” I said, trying for bravado as I scrambled for options. “How bad do you want to go home tonight?” I said, bluffing, and they looked at each other, one shrugging as if they were trying to decide something. But they hadn’t pulled their weapons, and the one seemed positively sheepish as he stuck his foot out to keep the doors from closing.
“Ah, we’ve been talking,” he said, his voice incredibly deep and soothing. “You need to get to the surface, Ms. Morgan?”
Ms. Morgan? My lips parted, and I let my hand drop from Zack as Jenks’s wings clattered in surprise. Eyes narrowed, I took a step forward to stand before the open door. They took up a lot of room in there. “Why would you help me? Your boss wants me dead.”
“Morgan!” Pike shouted, and I spun, seeing him disheveled and hurting as he stood beside the kicked-in door, his clothes charred and red skin showing.
“Why doesn’t he stay down?” Jenks muttered, and Zack squeaked something derisive.
“Step away from the elevator,” Pike said as he limped forward. “You two! Get out here and help me take her in!”
Heart sinking, I turned to the guys in the lift and winced. I was going to have to do something really ugly, or Zack was going to do something worse.
“Oh, no!” the larger one said suddenly, a hand going dramatically to his chest. “I can’t move. She got me with a spell!”
I blinked, startled as he hit the back of the elevator and fell to the floor.
His buddy stared at him, shocked, and the “downed” vampire grimaced. “Dude . . .” he prompted, and the light of understanding blossomed.
“Me too!” the second officer said and, groaning, he fell down as well.
“Go, go, go!” Jenks shrilled, and I turned, lips parting. Pike was striding forward, murder in his eyes. Pulse pounding, I stepped into the lift and hammered at the “close door” button.
“Morgan!” Pike bellowed, eyes black as he lurched closer, one shoe missing. “You are mine,” he panted as he caught the closing door and pushed it open.