“It’s a good plan,” Liam agreed slowly, after hanging up. “There’s only one problem with it.”
“Which is?”
“Sending my baby girl out alone to that bloody lot of degenerates,” he replied acidly.
“Daddy, it’s the best way and you know it. I’m as safe with them as I am with you. They’re the only other ones left who don’t want to kill me, apparently.”
“Not precisely a winning argument,” Liam said, but he was half smiling. It made him look younger and just like Nicholas.
“You can follow us. That way, as soon as I get in there to call off the banishment, you’ll be right there already.”
“I hate every part of this plan,” Helena said darkly as I coughed on the smoke lingering in the hall. “Especially the part where you might just be right.”
“London died because of this stupid prophecy and these stupid politics,” Solange said. “If I can stop it but instead I sit here and let everyone else risk their lives then she died for nothing. And one of you might be next. What would that make me?”
I blinked. “London died?” I might not have liked her, but she didn’t deserve to be really dead.
Something that sounded like a small bomb went off somewhere at the end of the driveway.
“And the longer we wait here, the more danger Sebastian and Bruno are in,” Solange added as Byron hid under the library table. Boudicca went to the solarium and growled viciously through the glass. Helena swore.
“Okay,” she said finally, after she and Liam looked at each other. “We’ll go out first and clear a path. Solange, you go next. Quinn, Connor, Duncan, you take the rear guard in case anyone breaks through. Logan, Marcus, go around back. Isabeau?”
“I will fight,” she said.
“Thank you. Geoffrey and Hyacinth will stay with Christabel. Nicholas, you take Lucy home. Take the secret tunnel.” It was the one reserved for family emergencies. I wasn’t even sure my mom knew how to get to it.
“I can go alone,” I said. “They’re not after me.”
“No.” It was a Drake chorus, each voice with the same sharp tone. Even Isabeau chimed in.
“We are having a hell of a slumber party when this is over,” I said, hugging Solange hard.
“Chocolate death,” she agreed, hugging me back.
“You’ll kick ass,” I whispered. “And kick his once for me too. And call me when you can.”
She added a few more stakes to her belt and then added her leather jacket. She watched her parents cross the porch, staying low. An arrow hit one of the cars in the driveway.
“Goddamn it,” Duncan said.
“Ready?” Solange yelled over her shoulder. “Don’t kill them if you don’t have to, they think they’re doing their job,” she reminded them before kicking the door open and stalking outside. “Tristan!” she shouted, her voice sounding wobbly and delicate. “I’m here.”
She ran across the snow as if being chased. There was an eerie silence, broken only by the sound of swords clashing in the distance. I grabbed the bow and darted upstairs as the others slipped out the back door. Nicholas frowned at me from the bottom step. “Where are you going? Tunnels are generally underground, Hamilton.”
I snorted from the landing. “I’m not running away.”
He dashed up the staircase, groaning. “Don’t do this to me again.”
“I can help,” I insisted. “And I promise you can rescue me in a minute. Just let me clear the way a little first.” I went into Aunt Hyacinth’s room because it had the best vantage point from the window. Her pug, Mrs. Brown, tried to bite my ankle before she remembered she knew me. I slipped outside onto the widow’s walk and notched an arrow, smiling grimly. Nicholas tried to edge into the space with me but he banged into my elbow.
“Nicky, there’s not enough room for the overprotective boyfriend thing right now,” I said, elbowing him back. “But I could use your eyes,” I added. The moonlight and the snow made it easier but it was still too dark for me to see very well and I didn’t have night-vision goggles on me. I hadn’t even thought to pack them. Tonight was supposed to be the long-awaited family reconciliation party, not another ambush.
You’d think I’d learn.
Nicholas climbed up on the overhang, straddling the shingles. With his eyes gleaming and fangs out he looked like a particularly creepy gargoyle on a gothic mansion. “Ready?”
I lifted the bow again, sinking into my breath, finding that quiet center where nothing mattered except my fingers around the bowstring, the arrow and the path it needed to take. I shut out my boyfriend crouched above me, the cold wind, the howl of coyotes in the wood. I was the bow. I was the arrow.
“On your right, two o’clock,” Nicholas said.
I squinted, catching the shadow. I loosed an arrow, aiming it slightly to the right. I didn’t want to kill the vampire, as Solange said, just take him out of commission for the night. He flew off his feet, clutching the arrow in his shoulder.
“Nine o’clock, by the cedar hedge. Watch out for Quinn! ”
Very faintly I heard: “Lucy!”
I winced. “Oops.”
“He’s fine. Eleven o’clock, go low.”
Another arrow.
Solange was still running, crossing the field like a deer in hunting season.
“In the oak tree right of the driveway, up on a top branch,” he said. “Can you see?”
If I squinted, I could just make out a faint pale blur, and only because I knew exactly where to look. I took aim again and fired.
This target fired back.
The arrow slid with a violent twang into the very peak of the balcony’s overhang. An inch higher and it would have gotten Nicholas in the face, an inch lower and it would have scalped me. The fletching were red, like the arrow in Solange’s room. Chandramaa.
It was a warning shot. No one could have hit that target without being really, really good. Certainly good enough to take either one of us out. I exhaled sharply, my breath clouding in the cold.
“Okay, no more helping,” Nicholas said, sliding back down to the ground and shoving me back inside all in one fluid motion. “Let’s go.”
We raced around Aunt Hyacinth’s overdecorated tables full of knickknacks, Nicholas dragging me behind him like a kite. If he went any faster I might even get airtime. We went down two flights of stairs and passed the weapons room and the blood storage room before he slowed down. I was panting and jittery. Adrenaline, my old friend.
We went through the door to the regular tunnels, and down the damp corridor lit with blue emergency lights. The stone floor was slick with moisture. Nicholas was counting his steps. At eighty-three, he stopped abruptly and turned to the left. He ran his hand along the wall, dislodging dirt and spiders until he found a tiny nick a foot or so off the ground. He crouched and dug his thumb into it, turning hard. Instead of a regular door opening, there was a soft snick from the ceiling.
I blinked at the trapdoor. “Cool. I’m surprised you don’t have retina scans down here.”
“Technology breaks,” he replied, straightening. He pushed the door open and stale cold air drifted over us. “Usually at the worst possible time.”
I could just guess what Connor would have to say to that. Nicholas interlaced his fingers and made a step out of his hands. I settled my foot into it and he launched me up. I grabbed hold of the edge of the opening and struggled to pull myself up. I was inching across on my stomach, red-faced and gasping when he practically floated up beside me. I rolled over, covered in dust and spiderwebs.
There were no lights at all in this tunnel. It was so dark that once Nicholas closed the trapdoor behind us, I was disoriented. I couldn’t even see my own hands as I tried to sit up. If I’d been smart, I would have worn my regulation cargos with all their pockets. I was sure there were light sticks in most of them as part of standard procedure, not to mention a flashlight. I really needed to remember I was supposed to be a vampire hunter now. At least, part of the time
.
Nicholas helped me up and I gripped his arm tightly as he led me down the corridor. I had no idea where we were or where we were going. I stumbled, tripping over a bit of uneven ground. It was so quiet I could hear the blood rushing in my ears, my uneven breath amplified and raspy. I scraped the back of my hand on the wall. We walked for at least ten minutes but I couldn’t really be sure. It was so strange to be in such complete blackness. Even time was too dark to see. We could have been here an hour.
Eventually, Nicholas stopped. The tunnel didn’t feel any different to me, it was still damp and rough and smelled like iron, but now there was the sound of a lock opening. A narrow door opened and we went through. Something swung, grazing my shoulder. I jumped, yelping.
“Rope ladder,” Nicholas told me. I could hear the smile in his voice. “I’ll go up first and open the door and make sure it’s secure. Wait until I give you the all clear.”
In less than a minute the door creaked open. Leaves and moonlight drifted down. The air was cold and cleansing, chasing away the clinging mildew. “Another rope ladder,” I muttered. At least this one had actually rope steps, not just knots like the one I’d climbed in the treetops.
“Okay, Lucy,” Nicholas called down. “Come on up.”
“He makes it sound so easy.” It helped to mutter and mumble. It distracted me from the slick twine, the dizzying spinning that made me nauseated. My arm muscles muttered and mumbled too, finally giving in to out-and-out screaming. I was sweating by the time Nicholas grabbed my wrists and pulled me out.
The forest was beautiful and still all around us, like a painting. Snow clung to the bare branches and stars peeked through when the wind shifted. Ice glinted on the mossy trunks.
“We’ll have to walk from here,” Nicholas said. We started the long walk back to the school, moving quietly between the trees, holding hands. It was a stolen moment, sweet and swift. When we reached the road that led to the academy, I paused.
“School’s overrun with hunters,” I murmured. “And Huntsmen. So I’ll go from here on my own.”
The moment might have been sweet but the kiss scalded, like chili peppers in hot chocolate. By rights, the snow should have melted into puddles at our feet. I turned away reluctantly, toward the school buildings and the security lights; from one family to another.
I knew he was at the edge of the wintry woods, watching me. I couldn’t see him, but I could feel his presence, just as I felt him lope away when I texted him that I was safely on campus.
Chapter 26
Solange
My every instinct screamed at me to run in the opposite direction.
Not only did I have to run straight into Constantine’s arms instead, but I had to do it without snarling. I was picking up speed when Sebastian grabbed my arm and spun me around the other side of a tree. “What the hell, Sol?”
“All part of the plan,” I told him quickly. “Talk to Mom.” His hold didn’t slacken. “Check your phone.”
When he read the warning text I was sure Mom had Connor send to everyone, he dropped his hand. “When exactly did Mom and Dad lose their minds?”
“Viola!” Constantine shouted. I could see the glint of his sword as he raced between the trees toward us.
“We need to make this look good,” I whispered urgently. Sebastian sighed and lifted his chin.
I punched him.
I didn’t even break his nose, which would disappoint Lucy on principle, but he still flew through the air as if a giant had tossed him. He landed in the snow, exactly where Constantine could see him. He even groaned, clutching a fake wound. I had no idea my quiet brother had such a theatrical side. “Sorry,” I murmured, jumping over him to cut off Constantine before he reached us and decided to finish what I’d started. He shot me a boyish grin so unlike his usually solemn silences that I stumbled.
The moonlight made Constantine’s violet eyes even brighter. Three men followed behind him, swords also drawn. I leaped a fallen log, scattering snow and icicles.
“Viola.” The relief in his smile was sincere. He gathered me up in his arms, looking even more knightly.
“Tristan,” I murmured. Viola had never called him Constantine and he’d never divulged his first name to Solange. When he bent his head to kiss me, I nearly panicked. The last time he’d done that it had called Viola to the surface. He knew that his presence had strengthened her hold on me. I threw a fearful glance over my shoulder and his mouth grazed my ear. “They’re coming,” I said. “Don’t let them take me again.”
He straightened. “I only left you with them in the first place because they’d never hurt Solange and I needed to marshal my defenses.”
I made my lower lip quiver. The Viola I knew, and the Viola Constantine had known before her bloodchange, were vastly different. I couldn’t quite understand why he’d let everything go so badly since she returned. He had to see there was something off about her, didn’t he? Was he blind? “Can we just go home now?” I asked.
“Of course.” He ran his hand down my back. I looked up at him with what I hoped could be construed as love and gratitude. The worst part of it was that I’d genuinely liked him. He’d listened to me. He’d even understood me and pushed me to accept myself. Even if he’d done it to free Viola, I couldn’t help but think we’d been friends.
“Chandramaa with us, but you stay here and make sure the Drakes don’t follow,” Constantine ordered his men.
“Don’t hurt them!” I burst out.
“Such a soft heart, love,” he said, smiling down at me.
Yeah, right. Clearly, he didn’t know Viola as well as he thought he did.
“We might need them later,” I added hastily. Since we had home advantage and knew the terrain intimately, I had to believe my family could take Constantine’s men. Plus, we had Mom. Still, I wasn’t going to take any chances.
Luckily, there was no need to speak as we made our way through the forest to the encampment. Every so often we would pause in a clearing so Constantine could map our location using the position of the stars. I couldn’t see or hear the Chandramaa guard around us, but I knew they were there. Eventually the snow gave way to tramped-down dirt trails, all snaking to the same center. We passed a guard, then the field where Duncan had kept his motorcycles, then between two trees into the outskirts of the camp. I could hear faint drumming and see the warm flicker of torches and bonfires. Guards divested us of all our weapons, right down to the slender toothpick stake strapped to my ankle under my pants.
I waited until we’d entered the main field, the wind snapping the pennants and banners on the painted pavilions. Lanterns swung between the tents. Vampires turned toward us slowly.
“Chandramaa!” I called out. Constantine paused curiously. I met his eyes. “I am formally calling off the banishment on the House of Drake. Do you hear me?” I added, just as loudly.
“We hear you,” someone answered from the treetops. “Consider it done.”
“We hear you as well,” a hard voice said from behind us.
“What are you doing?” Constantine asked me at the same time. We turned to face the speaker. He was huge, with ropes of muscles and braided blond hair. He didn’t look impressed.
And he wasn’t alone.
Vampires circled around us, pressing closer. They muttered unhappily, menacingly. “The little queen finally makes an appearance,” the blond vampire said disdainfully. “Been too busy breaking all of our covenants and terrorizing the town to sit council?”
I swallowed. “I’m sorry.”
“What do we care about the town, Lars?” someone else shouted. “Do the humans care about the cattle they eat?”
“She’s turning too many eyes our way,” Lars snapped. “And if we’re going to have a figurehead queen, she should at least be benign.”
“What, like Natasha was? You weren’t here in the eighties.”
They were starting to shove one another to get closer to me. Constantine angled himself to shield me. They didn’t
have weapons of course, but the press of their anger was sharp and unyielding. “Don’t hurt her.” A woman cuffed Lars on the back of the head. “Do you want a red arrow through your head?”
“Alva, quit it,” he grumbled.
“You have every right to be angry,” I tried to shout above the harsh words and hissing. Constantine shoved at someone who came too close. “I was possessed,” I said, trying not to give away the fear choking my throat like smoke. I knew they’d be able to smell it. “Please, listen.” I tried to force my pheromones out over the crowd, but there were too many of them.
“A likely story,” a girl scoffed.
“It’s true,” I insisted, stumbling when an elbow hit me in the spine.
Constantine caught me, turned me to face him as if we were alone under the moon. “What are you saying?”
“I’m not Viola,” I told him coldly. “We cast her out. She’s not coming back.”
He staggered as if in physical pain. “That’s not possible.”
The mob shifted and I could suddenly see down the path to a circle of torches. The light glinted off metal chain and a tall heavy tree, cut down to become a post. People were tied to it at various lengths, huddled around small fires. I froze. “What is that?”
“The post you ordered,” Lars barked. “As if you didn’t know.”
Viola had set up the same kind of post her own mother had been chained to. It wasn’t just cruelty, it was madness too. “Take it down!” I shouted, ill at the sight of it. I could remember only too well Lady Venetia covered in bite marks. “Let them go!”
Someone had me by the hair. I was dragged toward the post, the angry mob moving with us. I couldn’t get away. I caught a glimpse of a trio of laughing girls all wearing white brocade gowns with dyed white hair. The Furies.
“Too little too late, princess,” Lars said, deliberately not referring to me as the queen. I couldn’t care less about that, except it meant I was losing what little ground I still had.
And I really didn’t want to have my head chopped off or whatever it was they were planning to do.
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