She stayed on Adrien’s heels as he put his feet in motion again. She ignored the body on the floor, holding her breath as she moved by. Surely death had an odor, and she didn’t want to smell any of it.
One hallway led to another room, another hall, a narrow staircase, a real rabbit warren.
Lily stuck close, resisting the urge to hold on to the bottom of his coat. Her back itched with the thought that someone could attack her from behind. She felt jumpy and as her chain vibrated, and she reached out to sense what he was feeling, she knew Adrien felt the same way.
When she stepped into what had to be an attic, she heard the sound of movement on the rooftop above, someone walking or sliding on tiles. Then a thump and a harsh cry.
Adrien caught her arm and met her gaze, his jaw tight. We have to go up there. When we flew in, no one was on the roof, but I think Sebastien is there now and he’s in trouble.
She nodded. Let’s go. She stepped onto his foot and slung her arms around his neck.
Hold on tight.
You got it.
She felt him dip down and heard the faintest sliding sound and knew he’d just armed himself. The next second he shot into the air, passing through the roof at a wide angle so that they went about thirty feet into the air off to the side.
Four men on the roof. When I land, roll away from my right foot, but catch hold of the tiles. You can do this.
Lily’s heartbeat went into overdrive as he flew down once more and landed. She rolled and caught at the tiles, but slipped, tried to catch, slipped some more but finally held fast. Her arms and hands were scraped up. She thought she’d be bruised—then she felt it, vampire healing because of the chains. But the tug of the chains told her she had to get closer to Adrien, especially since he battled three hooded, robed figures.
Fanatics.
She looked up and watched as another man, the Ancestral in striped pajamas and a dark silk robe, stood at the edge of the roof.
She turned and crawled in Adrien’s direction because the blood-chain still tugged hard.
Adrien whipped into the air, moving closer to her and faster than the other vampires. She watched him use his battle chain first, whipping it to his right and catching the forearm and therefore the dagger of one of the attackers. He jerked hard, which flipped the man in the air and brought him down on his back. He grunted but stayed there.
The other two rushed Adrien. She couldn’t make out all his moves because he was so fast, but by the time they reached him, he had a dagger in each hand. Then she saw it, how he separated and became two different men. The act alone gave him an advantage, since the remaining attackers paused, probably stunned by the maneuver, which gave Adrien the opportunity to move with swift jabs and quicker retreats.
The attackers took up more defensive positions, working the two Adriens farther apart.
Once more Lily felt the tug on the chains and began working her way back up the roof, scrambling each time, scraping up her hands all over again, but she didn’t care.
Adrien had to survive, and she had to do everything she could to help.
The Ancestral remained at a distance as Adrien battled the other men. She glanced in his direction. He appeared to be concentrating hard, his arms held wide—and that was when she noticed how the night air seemed wavy and strange all over the roof and several feet above.
The waves emanated from the Ancestral. She realized she was watching the creation of the single most important element vampires used to keep themselves hidden, the disguising ability of the Ancestrals.
A world of power, of violent factions, of fanatics and Ancestrals, and of certain gifted vampires who could split into two equal parts.
A cry sounded in the air. The Adrien to the right withdrew his blade from his attacker’s throat. Only one enemy remained and Lily wasn’t surprised when Adrien re-formed his body and, with unearthly speed, all but whirled around the final attacker. The man started to levitate and almost gained a quick takeoff speed, but Adrien launched above him, the chains tugging hard, cut his neck, and the vampire fell back to the roof. He would have slid off, but Adrien flew again, caught him, and finished what these men had started.
Lily rose up and gained her footing more easily than she thought she would. She glanced down and realized her feet were only partially touching the tiles: more siphoned power. She walked, or moved, or half flew in Adrien’s direction.
He breathed hard, hands on knees. He met her gaze. Sorry you had to see this.
She looked down at the dead vampire, blood pouring from his neck.
“I’ll get a cleanup crew.” The Ancestral had his phone out. It struck Lily as funny that these creatures, who could create disguising waves out of nothing, who could split into two parts and do battle, would use human technology to call for cleanup.
“You’re smiling?”
Lily glanced at Adrien. “I can’t believe you even need phones, with everything else you can do.” She put her hand to her cheek and shook her head. “I might be feeling a little hysterical right now.”
“They’ll be coming from the south, about two minutes out.” The Ancestral, who looked to be no more than thirty, wore his hair corporate-short. He had large brown eyes, visible in Lily’s continually improving sight.
He met her gaze, took in the chain, and dipped his chin once.
Adrien introduced her to Sebastien, and by the time she’d exchanged bizarre pleasantries on the roof of his home, a disposal crew had arrived.
Sebastien extended an arm, a graceful gesture in the direction of the home beneath his feet. “Shall we?”
Adrien quickly took Lily’s hand. “Which room?”
“They’d just started into my study when I escaped to the roof. I believe that chamber might still be intact.”
Sebastien disappeared first, sinking through the mass of the building. With his free hand, Adrien wiped sweat off his forehead. He called to the foreman of the crew, thanked him for his hard work, then the vibration began. Lily’s last view of the roof involved watching one of the disposal crew, a huge pack on his back, start power-spraying the blood away.
Maybe for that reason, or because she’d just witnessed more killings, or due to the action of moving through another solid mass, the moment Lily’s feet touched the soft carpet of Sebastien’s study she dropped to her knees. She worked hard not to hurl all over what she could see was a finely woven Persian carpet.
She felt a hand on the back of her head. Waves of energy pulsed through her, and the nausea passed. Her head didn’t even hurt. She sat back on her heels and looked up at Sebastien. “Thank you. I don’t know what you did, but I feel much better.”