Suddenly, the floor in front of us turned to ice. Andros slid, nearly toppling over and crushing me.
Evan and Malcolm both pointed their palms at the floor. But nothing happened. They were out. We slipped and slid across the ice as more bullets flew our way from a guard on the far side of the room.
I heard Evan grunt and my eyes dashed over to him. He clutched his side. A ripping sound and a roar filled the room as he transformed from a man into a bear, his face lengthening into a snout, his teeth elongating, his entire body growing even larger as magic encased his body, ripped his clothing, and healed his gunshot wound. He turned, prepared, I was certain, to attack the guard who'd shot him.
Out of my peripheral vision, I spotted Callum sinking his fangs into the guard's throat.
Was he helping us or simply sating his bloodlust? I couldn’t tell.
Grayson nearly ripped the exterior door off its hinges. Our crew exploded outside, and poured down the steps of an emergency exit, Evan at the rear, still growling.
As we ran out into the open, heading across a grassy area toward our escape vehicle, a cleaning crew truck that stood idling in front of a building across the street from the Pinnacle, I limply extended my palm. I tried to pull shadows around us and hide us from view—television crews were already parked down the street, reporters standing in front of the shifters who hadn’t yet been rounded up by Pinnacle police. Overhead, there was even a helicopter with a spotlight. Currently, that beam was focused on the shifters.
But any moment, it could turn and catch us.
My magic merely flickered like television static. The shadows came and went as fast as the eye could blink.
I couldn’t hide us.
That alone, was bad enough.
But then Andros lurched to a complete and utter stop—his skin turning a deep, unnatural shade of blue.
6
I tried to wriggle out of his grip, but Andros had frozen like a statue just outside the doors of the Pinnacle. I was trapped in the huge man’s grip under a stone archway. My hand instantly flew to the comm set in my ear. “Help!”
I glanced around to see what immediate threats might affect me, but unless the vampire horde burst through the same door, we were at least a bit away from all the chaos outdoors. We had stormed out through a side door, not the main entrance, so we weren’t in direct line-of-sight of the huge crowds. A pergola with a couple picnic tables shadowed us and kept us hidden from the chaos that was happening just down the road. Past the patio, I could see all the prairie dog holes, but even when I turned on my weakened infrared vision, I didn’t get any heat signatures near us.
Malcolm’s distraction strikes had worked.
The guys all turned back at my call, even though they’d been far ahead of me, streaking across the grass. Even Evan turned back, though he was still in his massive brown grizzly form. He shifted to human again, even though that meant he was naked as he jogged back toward me behind the other guys. For one singular moment, I thanked Coach Lundy for being such a prick. Because we’d run away. We were still running away. And I’d never have been able to do it without that sadistic bastard.
I shoved up against Andros’ frozen shoulders but I couldn’t get enough leverage to lift myself out of his grip. The night air and the fact that damned vampires were behind us both sent shivers down my spine.
“Shit, what the fuck did he get hit with?” Z waved a hand in front of Andros’ frozen face. He chewed his lip, worried for his cousin, brown eyes ricocheting from Andros to us.
“He’s the same color blue as that mist,” I said, while Malcolm cupped his hands under my feet and gave me a boost so I could lift myself out of Andros’ grip. I slid slowly up his frame, which had become as hard and rough as pitted granite as if he was a statue that had been exposed to the elements for years.
“Another delayed effect,” Gray said, studying Andros’ face. Then he tapped his ear and spoke into his mic. “Forget subtle. Use the GPS and get to me now.”
My eyes darted up as a white van with a cleaning company logo parked across the street whipped out of its spot, revved the engine, smashed across the road, making cross traffic screech to a halt. It jounced up over the curb, barreling straight toward us. In a move that looked straight out of a Fast and Furious flick, the van fishtailed in the grass and skidded so that the sliding door faced us.
I looked toward the lawn near the Unnatural Ball. Several people stared in our direction.
We weren’t flying under the radar anymore. Shit. I tossed shadows over our faces, though they were a weak grey. Hopefully, they worked like masks.
A news reporter in heels started booking it across the lawn toward us.
It might have been paranoia, but I felt like the helicopter spotlight swung in our direction too.
Adrenaline and nerves stormed under my skin as we hurried toward our ride.
Grayson reached the van first and slid the door open with a thunk. The back of the van was empty, seats removed so we could make a fast getaway. He, Malcolm, and Zavier picked up Andros and heaved the huge statue of a man inside. Andros’ body juddered against the van’s floor and rocked it side to side. Then the guys clambered over him to crouch wherever they could find a spot.
Evan slid in front with the driver, not Jim but another one of Gray’s guys, and grabbed a trash bag full of clothes set on the floorboards.
I mashed myself inside and slid the van door shut just as our driver whipped the van around.
Evan shoved on a shirt and smashed a hat low over his features before he rolled down the front window and yelled in a low tone I didn’t recognize, “Vampires! Run!”
The reporter who’d been stalking us froze.
As if Evan had predictive powers it was only seconds before the horde burst through the doors.
The reporter didn’t stand a chance.
Our van lurched back off the sidewalk, bumper scraping against the concrete as my cheek hit one of the tinted windows. Pain smacked my face but compared to what I’d already been through tonight, the bruise was nothing.
A horror story unfolded on the lawn in front of the Pinnacle. The building looked like the damned Roman Colosseum—and tonight, it was hosting a bloodbath as awful as any the original had ever seen.
Raging vampires spilled onto the lawn. It only took seconds for the predators that Callum had freed to attack any humans that weren't shifted. I didn’t hear the screams because as the van screeched across the asphalt, the reporter and the guests from the ball became nothing more than pencil-sized figurines in the distance—but I didn’t need to hear. The soundtrack my mind made up was horrific enough.
My eyes searched for Callum, the solitary sane vampire. But I didn't see him anywhere. I didn't know if I just couldn’t recognize him among the attackers, or if he had disappeared into the night.
Both options scared me.
I took and released several deep breaths as we took a ramp up to the freeway and the Pinnacle building was finally lost from sight. That’s when I slid down from the window and settled onto the floorboards. I blinked a few times, trying to come to terms with reality.
We did it.
It wasn't neat.
It wasn't the clean job I was hoping for—I was certain our faces had been caught on camera more than once, and I needed to go corrupt and erase those feeds ASAP. We still had to unravel whatever had turned Jolly into a blue, stone giant. And there was the little detail about releasing a blood-crazed horde of vampires on Hidden City.