There was, however, one person who was.
But the only way he could claim responsibility would be by being one step ahead of us, lying in wait. I hoped I was wrong.
Because Amelie was missing.
“You need to come take a look at this,” Bishop called, his foot nudging the body of a young Asian man. I stepped around the bodies, closing the distance just as vomit shot out of the man’s mouth.
“He’s changing,” I stated, my gaze rolling over the other bodies. “Check the others.” Mortimer, Bishop, Fiona, and I inspected the litter of bodies and found five more already wearing their stomach contents; another six were convulsing. “Twelve of them are changing.”
In their killing spree, the fledglings had managed to create twelve new vampires.
“They are evolving,” Mage whispered without even a hint of “I told you so.” There was nothing to gloat about here. If those fledglings could go from mass murder to using their venom while on the run, we were in real trouble.
With a thought and flicker of my fingers, twelve individual pyres erupted on the platform floor, the smell of burning flesh curling my nostrils. I stopped on Galen, waiting until Lilly gave her silent nod. When she stepped away, I ignited him too.
He’d been a pain in the ass but he didn’t deserve this.
“Caden, have you tried calling her? Maybe she went after a stray.” I prayed that everyone else was too distracted to connect the dots.
With a shake, Caden pulled out his cell. And frowned.
“What’s wrong?”
“Evangeline. She called me. Five times.” He punched in a button and held the phone to his ear, muttering, “I was too distracted to answer.”
“She’s probably just worried.” I watched as he paced, scowling. The faint ringing on the other end went on and on and … no answer.
Sliding the phone into his pocket, he settled a hard-jawed look on me.
“Go find out,” I commanded. “Call me when you know.”
He vanished.
“And then there were six,” Mage said under her breath. I couldn’t tell if that was a warning to me, but I didn’t care. My weakness had always been and always would be Evangeline. I wouldn’t think straight until I knew she was okay.
The flashing tracking bracelets around my arm reminded me that we had to move. But to where? I was being pulled in every direction! I headed for the stairs, hoping to get a better feel when we reached street level. This place would be crawling with emergency crews soon enough anyway.
My boot hit the first step when Lilly yelled out, “Sofie!” I turned to find her staring at me, her own phone to her ears. “Forget the trackers. We need to go that way.” Her little black bob shifted smoothly as she nodded toward the tunnels.
“Why?”
Her lips pressed together. “Kait thinks she found Jonah’s horde.” By her grim expression, I knew that it wasn’t coming as good news.
Chapter Five – Evangeline
“Julian!” I screamed, pushing past the snarling wolves, balancing two containers of blood against my chest.
It did nothing to distract Julian, his hands gripping Brian’s neck as he bashed the man’s head against the hard ground. Over and over again, relentlessly. I could see the back of his mangled skull—matted with blood—and, though I knew it would heal on its own if it had time, it didn’t appear that Julian would be letting up.
To my left, Veronique faced off against Cecile, the two vampiresses baring their teeth and snarling at each other as Cecile hovered over the cooler of blood.
A quick glance at Julian’s and Veronique’s empty cartons identified the catalyst of this brutality.
“Julian! Here!” I dropped the containers to the ground and peeled off the lids. That caught Veronique’s attention. Within two blinks, she was at my feet, sinking her teeth into a fresh bag.
But Julian’s rage persisted and bits of bone and gray matter splattered the ground.
I warned you. Vampires aren’t keen on sharing, Max said.
“Julian. Hey …” I ran over to my friend—the friend who had saved me when Ursula wanted me dead, the friend who I shared more in common with than anyone else in this entire ordeal—and grabbed his shoulder, trying to break the murderous rampage he was on.
My touch apparently turned that murderous rampage onto me.
He lashed out, growling, his wild arm connecting with my jaw. The bone cracked and pain reflected through my neck and skull. Another round coursed through my back as I slammed into the wall. One … two … for three seconds I was sure I would defy all odds and cry. Then the pain dissipated and I was whole again.
I scrambled to my feet just as Julian stalked forward, his hands out, looking ready to tear me apart. Though I knew I’d heal, eventually, I also knew this was going to hurt. He was so much stronger than I was.
“Julian …” My hands went up in surrender. “You don’t want to—”
A massive black body flew at him from the right. Max’s jaws wrapped around Julian’s neck, primed to tear out his jugular.
I shrieked as I watched them tumble in a pile of fur and skin, claws raking and fists flying. Brian found his way to his feet, his skull no longer smashed. His hateful eyes locked on Julian, as if waiting his turn.
The sound of a bone snapping, followed by a canine yelp echoed through the tunnel, setting my hair on end. I knew Max would heal but hearing his pain was worse than feeling my own.
Max struggled to stand, one of his hind legs very obviously broken, his ocher eyes still fixed on Julian. He would attack again to protect me, even with broken bones.
For the love of God, Max, just stay down. You stubborn fool! I silently screamed as Julian rose to his feet, his attention shifting between Brian and me, as if deciding whom to attack first.
Fine, but he’s a dirty fighter. Watch out.
My mouth dropped in shock, temporarily distracted. Did I just … You can hear me?
There was a pause. Yes. I suppose I can. Max turned to me, and I swear the big beast may have smiled.
Julian came at me again, face contorted with rage, eyes red and veiny, looking ready to rip my head off my shoulders. That strange energy bubbled in my core, and I assumed it was terror—I’d be lying if I didn’t admit that I was terrified. I didn’t want to fight. I just wanted my friend back.
With that silent plea in my mind, my hand flew out in front of me, palm out. “Julian! Stop!”
His charge ended as his feet planted themselves. He blinked and squinted several times, as if trying to regain focus. “Evie?”
Had I somehow gotten through to him? “Yes, it’s me. Your friend. You’ve been in this haze for hours. It’s time to take a break.”
He blinked several more times, like he’d just awoken from a dream. The red disappeared from his eyes, his pupils returning to normal. “Did I hit you?” His eyes widened. “I’m sorry! I don’t know what got into—”
The distraction afforded Brian his chance. He lunged, sending Julian flying back, his head smashing into the stone wall. As Julian crumpled, Brian charged forward, grabbing hold of Julian’s shirt to pummel his body against the wall, looking intent on returning the brain-bashing favor. Julian cried out as his bones shattered without a chance to heal.
Rage erupted inside me. I charged after Brian, throwing my body into his side. The force sent us flying across the room. The refrigerator broke our momentum, teetering a few times before the entire thing toppled, a prominent dent visible in its steel door.
Brian regained his balance and hovered over me, his hands around my neck, an intense look in his eyes as his fingers tightened around my flesh.
“Go to your cooler!” I croaked as my arm flailed toward the opposite side of the tunnel. Brian froze. His eyes darted between me and the corner twice before he released his grip and quickly claimed his spot, his teeth sinking into a fresh blood bag.
Well, I’ll be a monkey’s uncle.
“What?” I rubbed the sting out of my neck, watching Brian with distrustful eyes.
What do you mean, what? Max retorted. Brian was ready to break your neck and he just stopped. That doesn’t happen.
“It just did.”
“Are you okay?” Julian asked, helping me up. “That guy’s an ass**le.”
“Yeah, well, you haven’t exactly been charming lately, either.”
Julian grinned sheepishly. I couldn’t help myself; I threw my arms around his neck in a tight embrace. “You were horrible! I’m so glad you’re back. Please stay like this.”
I felt his body relax and mold itself into mine. I closed my eyes and sighed, a wave of contentment spreading through me.
He suddenly pulled away, his eyes searching with anticipation. “I need to see Amelie.”
“We need to stay here.”
“But—”
“I know. I get it.” I grabbed his hand and squeezed as I recited the reasons that only hours ago I’d fought to accept. “It’s too dangerous for us to be there. They can’t fight and watch over us at the same time. We need to stay here.”
He nodded, indicating that he understood, and the distraught aura around him faded.
Max’s nose jabbed into my shoulder. Try something for me. Go tell Veronique to stop feeding.
I felt my face scrunch up as I looked over at the petite French woman, now sitting back against the wall with her eyes closed, a bag hanging from her mouth.
Just do it.
With the commotion, I forgot that I’d been able to talk to him telepathically before. I was desperate to do it again. Why? I asked inside my head, hoping my conscious effort to converse with him was enough to relay the words. I didn’t seem to be tied to all of his thoughts and I hoped he wasn’t privy to all of mine.
I have a theory.
With a smile—we could finally communicate telepathically!—I closed the distance. Veronique’s hideous red eyes narrowed suspiciously as she assessed me.
“Veronique,” I fought the urge to look away. “You need to stop feeding. You’ve had enough. Your needs are satisfied for now.”
I expected her to cackle wickedly. I expected her to snarl, perhaps spit. But she regarded me for a moment, and then her hand dropped, taking the bag with it. Slowly, her eyes returned to their normal beautiful olive green.
What the … “Max?” I asked slowly, unable to peel my eyes from her face. Though I didn’t know Veronique well, the strange connection we’d lived through for a time, thanks to the pendant and the curse, had bonded us.
He sauntered over to stand beside me. I think you just compelled a vampire.
“But … but …” That was impossible. Vampires could not be compelled by anyone but the original vampire. Mage could compel vampires. But I was not the original vampire. “Evangeline?” Veronique’s delicate French accent was such a contradiction to the ravenous side we’d just seen. “Where is Mortimer?”
“In New York City. He’ll be back soon.”
She nodded. “Why are you staring at me like that?”
“I’m just … I …” I leaned back on my heels, stumped. “How do you feel?”
Her mouth puckered. “Satisfied?”
Max’s loud snort filled the cave and I couldn’t help but giggle.
I could compel vampires. How on earth had this happened?
I was still giggling to myself when Caden stormed in.
“Evangeline!” I didn’t have a beating heart anymore and yet something skipped inside me with the sound of his voice. “What’s wrong? What happened?”
“Nothing’s wrong!” I threw my arms around his neck, inhaling his delicious scent. It was slightly off. Pulling back, I quickly saw why. “Except you’re covered in blood.”
He grimaced. “Yeah, I know. What happened here? Are you okay?”
“I’m fine. How bad is it out there?”
Though I’d been too excited to notice it immediately, I could sense his worry. “Not sure yet. I saw that you called. Five times.” He took in the room, his eyes skimming over Cecile and Brian, lingering on Veronique and Julian for a long moment, before settling on the turned-over fridge. “What happened?” he pressed.
“They were going through the supply really fast and we were going to run out so Max and I went out to—”
“You went out?” Jade eyes sparked with anger. “You promised me you’d stay here!”
“Well, I had no other choice!” I snapped, indignation suddenly flaring. “Besides, I’m fine around humans. I didn’t lose control,” I assured him. Not in the way we he had feared, anyway.
“And what if you’d gotten hurt?”
My head fell back with my groan. I was used to Caden worrying about my safety when I was a human. But I wasn’t human anymore and he needed to stop treating me like a piece of glass. “Would you just listen?” I didn’t want this to turn into a fight. “We had to get blood so we went to a hospital about thirty miles west of here. I stole an entire truck of it. It’s about two miles back that way. I drove it off a cliff.” Caden’s brow arched but I rushed on before he could interrupt. “We got back just in time because they were already fighting over the last bags like barbarians. They’d either still be bashing each other’s heads in or we’d be chasing them through the town by now. I’m fine, Max is fine, and there’s more supply that we need to bring in.” I reached into my pocket and pulled out my shattered phone. “This was a casualty.”