Toni moved immediately to his side, the two of them forming our front line of defense. Lee and Maddy came behind, and Patrick and I took up the rear. He gave me a look, and I knew he didn't want me to walk right beside him—he wanted me closer to Lee, more sheltered. But he saw the determination in my eyes, and he decided not to say anything.
Jack and Toni led us out into a wide, empty hall. The evenly spaced lights on the walls were bright compared to the shadowed light we'd had in the bedroom. Claire and her followers had gone right—we went left. I was completely turned around, but I trusted that Jack knew where he was going.
We passed several sets of closed doors, until we reached the end of the hall. Jack hesitated, silently letting us know he couldn't be sure of what waited on the other side. And then he nodded to Toni, who cautiously pulled one of the doors open.
Even though I could only see a thin crack of the brightly lit room beyond, I knew it was the spacious ballroom. My heart started to pound. We were almost out. Closer than I'd thought. Jack poked his head through the gingerly opened door and quickly scanned the huge room. A second later, he slipped through, and Toni was quick to follow. We filed into the empty ballroom, but at every footfall I cringed. We weren't overly loud, but the echo alone was enough to alert someone, wasn't it? The soft strains of Mozart that had drifted across the room earlier were now gone, replaced by Tchaikovsky's Swan Lake. I couldn't wait to get out of this wrongly beautiful place.
Jack was to the outer doors, and we were right behind him. He pulled it open—not pausing this time—and I nearly had a heart attack when he ran into someone.
“Henry!” Jack gasped breathlessly. “You bloody old man! You're supposed to wait outside!”
“Kate?” Grandpa struggled to push past his Guardian, who was shoving him back.
“We can swap the drum later,” Jack complained quietly. “Can we all bail out first?”
“Grandpa, I'm fine,” I assured him, stepping up next to Lee so he could see me clearly.
He grabbed my hand, Jack still between us. “Are you sure you're all right? If you ever do anything like this again, young lady, I swear—”
“Give her the gobful later, Henry.”
“I agree with the Aussie,” Toni said acutely.
Grandpa released a tense breath before dragging me forward by the hand until I was being crushed in his embrace. “Later,” he agreed, while the others pushed past us so we could all be in the lobby area, the ballroom safely behind us.
I leaned against him, suddenly realizing that this nightmare really was almost over. Once we were out of here… I felt the need to apologize. “Grandpa, I'm sorry. I really am. But I had to do this.”
He nodded and pulled back. “I know. I love you.”
I smiled, and for some reason tears were in my eyes. “Thanks, Grandpa. I love you too.”
Patrick closed the door on the ballroom, and Jack rolled his eyes at Jason, who stood holding an arm in the elevator for us.
“You too?” Jack whined.
Jason just waved us toward the elevator. “We need to hurry—two big guys were right behind us.”
“Russians?” Patrick asked, putting a hand on my back to help urge me forward. Grandpa continued to hold my arm while we moved for the elevator.
Jason nodded. “Yeah.”
Jack grunted. “Just what we need. The commies.”
Once crowded into the elevator, Maddy pushed for the second floor. At Patrick's strange look she shrugged. “Claire suggested we stop on second and use the stairs to get down the rest of the way. It'll be easier to get out of the hotel that way. They won't expect it.”
Lee was watching the glowing numbers as we steadily climbed down. “Now we just hope no one needs this elevator…”
Her words felt like a jinx, but we didn't stop until we reached the second floor. The doors slid open and several paces away stood two security guards—one a Demon, the other presumably a Seer. Both looked dangerous, and the Seer was talking into a shoulder radio. “We've got them! Floor two!”
Maddy reached instinctively for the first-floor button, hoping to get the doors closed, but Grandpa dropped my hand to stop her. Toni and Patrick were already diving toward the security guards, Jack and Jason a short step behind them. The evil Seer saw Jason and quickly drew out his gun to shoot the vulnerable opponent. But before they could even take aim, the guards were both dead on the carpet.
Toni gestured with his bloody knife for us to get out of the elevator. “Come on, come on. Maddy, where do we go?”
“The end of the hall—there's a door leading to the stairwell.” Her voice hardly shook despite the adrenaline rush she must have been feeling.
Patrick grabbed my hand as soon as I was close, and I tried not to look at the blood on his knife. We started to run, but we weren't fast enough.
The elevator we'd ridden in was the middle of the three. There was another elevator on either side. Both seemed to ding open at the same time, as security from nearby floors flocked to respond to the call. I counted at least eight—most Demons, some Seers.
Halfway down the long hall, we looked over our shoulders and saw them giving chase and pulling out their guns.
Patrick shoved me in front of him, so he was shielding my back with his body. “Go, go, go!” He yelled to all of us, primarily the mortals. Jack and Toni fell back, behind the others, but it wasn't like their immortal bodies were the best or most effective shields.
Gunshots exploded behind us, ringing in the hall despite the silencers used on the guns. Lee screamed, but it wasn't a cry of pain—she hadn't been shot.
Jack let out a yelp and grabbed for his arm. But in a split second, it was pumping madly again, so I knew the wound had been superficial, or the bullet had gone straight through.
“Don't shoot!” someone screamed behind us. Without looking, I was pretty sure it was Yuri Dmitriev.
Viktor finished his brother's harsh thought. “She must be taken alive!”
Grandpa was puffing loudly, beginning to lag behind. Toni kept prodding him, urging him steadily forward with frequent pushes. Lee was a good runner. Better than I was. She burst ahead of us, able to reach the heavy door and drag it open so the rest of us didn't have to hesitate.
Patrick shoved me into the stairwell, and Toni snatched hold of Lee's arm, hauling her in with him. The large metal door slammed closed, and a whitish light exposed the deep stairwell.
There was nothing to bar the door with. Jack stepped forward, as if thinking he could somehow hold it. Then he came back to his senses and barked, “Move it!”
Maddy led the way, Jason at her side. Lee and I followed with Grandpa in tow while the three Guardians took up the rear. We didn't bother to try and muffle our footsteps. Speed was the object now, not stealth. Maddy stumbled and would have fallen if Jason hadn't grabbed her swinging arm. We had four flights of stairs to get down before we'd reach the first floor. We'd rounded the first flight and started on the second by the time the door above us crashed open, our enemies in hot pursuit. There were grunts and gasps—some muted shouts—but no more words. They had their orders. We tried to move faster.
Patrick was suddenly running at my other side, clinging to my arm and throwing me around the next corner to the third staircase. I felt like I was in one of those dreams where, no matter how hard you run or how fast your heart beats, you can't get away.
Lee panted evenly beside me, and Grandpa was wheezing behind us.
Maddy and Jason stepped onto the first-floor landing at the same time. But while Maddy ran for the door, Jason turned around to look back up the stairs. I realized belatedly that he held a small pistol with both hands—he was taking aim somewhere above our heads. His eyes behind his glasses were wide open and his gun was steady, but I had to wonder if he'd ever pulled a trigger before—excluding on Nintendo's Duck Hunt. He certainly didn't look the type.
He fired off a few rounds, aiming high and picking targets with care—probably just the Seers. There were cri
es of pain, so I knew he was hitting something. Patrick released his hold on me so Lee and I could dash through the door Maddy held open. But he was right behind us, and that was a good thing. Because this thin hall wasn't empty.
“Patrick!” I yelled needlessly, as the three Demon security guards lunged for us. Lee pushed into me in an effort to clear the doorway, knocking us both to the floor. I could feel more than hear Patrick dart past us toward the Demons. While he stabbed at the nearest one—missing the Demon's heart by a mere half inch—another Demon drew out a gun and aimed it at Patrick's head. It wouldn't kill him, but it would hurt him, slow him down.
I wriggled out from under Lee, desperate to do something. But before I could gather the breath to warn him about the gun, Jack was there, squeezing the trigger on his own small handgun. The Demon with the gun was blown back, momentarily dazed while Jack jumped on the last Demon, who was turning for me.
While Patrick grappled with the first Demon—both of them trying to sink a knife into the other—Grandpa and Toni reached for me and Lee, pulling us to our feet. Maddy was holding a fistful of Jason's shirt, drawing him back while he still fired his gun. The door to the stairwell banged closed, and Maddy shouted for us to go right.
Lee and I were pushed in that direction, past Patrick and Jack. Toni darted around us, thinking that it would probably be a good idea for one of the Guardians to be in front. Lee tripped over her feet, and Grandpa grabbed her arm to keep her from falling.
I heard Jack yell for Jason to keep going. I knew he had a point—these three Demons were nothing compared to those still chasing us. They had to be almost here. Two flights to go? One?
Jason and Maddy were right behind me, and though I trusted Jack, something made me slowly start turning, to make sure he and Patrick were really okay.
Things didn't move in slow motion, like in the movies. Rather, my ability to take things in sharpened, and I was able to perceive every detail at once.
Jason and Maddy continued to jog past me. She was still holding his shirt, and they both gave me a questioning look. But they didn't stop. They kept running after the others. I was glad; I didn't want my grandpa stopping for me.
I saw Patrick, a bloody gash just healing on his face from where the Demon knife had swiped painfully. Patrick was obviously winning the fight, though, because the Demon was the one forced up against the wall, and Patrick was just pushing closer. I didn't have to see the knife to know that Patrick wasn't going to miss this time.
Behind them I could see Jack on the floor beneath his opponent. The knife was in his hand though, and that hand was coming up fast. I knew that Demon was as good as finished.
It was the third Demon—the one Jack had shot—that concerned me. He was just pushing up from the floor, and he was holding some-thing—a small spray bottle that could have been perfume. Instinct—and the look he was sending Patrick—assured me it wasn't.
I don't know that I actually put it together right then, when I started running for him, but by the time I was jumping in front of him I knew it was the virus. I didn't make a sound as I swept behind Patrick, who was just letting the Demon he'd stabbed slump to the floor.
I blindsided the Demon with the virus so he didn't notice me until I was in his face. He stumbled back a step, surprised, but I knew that wouldn't last.
I took advantage of the moment by grabbing his thick wrist, and my snatching fingers scrabbled for the bottle. It was a desperate game of tug of war; neither of us were willing to lose. He knew that if he didn't use the virus, the Guardians would kill him. They probably still would. At least this way he had a chance. I knew that if I lost, Patrick would get sick again. And that wasn't going to happen.
I sensed Jack standing behind us, close to the stairwell door. He saw me, saw the Demon I was wrestling with. “Kate!” he cried in alarm, stumbling a little, off-balance as he tried to reach me.
His shout had Patrick turning behind me. He must have seen the bottle. I don't know if he realized what it was or not, but he moved to help me anyway.
“Patrick, no!” I grunted sharply.
The Demon saw Patrick's face behind me, and he knew time was up. He jerked his hands upward, trying to aim over my shoulder. I managed to cling to his stiff fingers, despite his last harsh pull. His thumb touched the top of the spray bottle, depressing the button.
I screamed as the misting substance settled all over my face—burned into my eyes. I pinched them closed, but I didn't relinquish my hold on the Demon's hands.
And then suddenly the Demon was gone. His hands ripped from mine. The bottle fell to the floor, mostly empty. My eyes were closed, but somehow—despite the horrible pain erupting in my eyes—I knew that Jack had slammed into the Demon, knocking him away. It was the only thing that made sense, because Patrick's fingers were biting into my arms, and his frightened voice was right in front of me.
“Kate!” he choked.
“Patrick!” Jack yelled urgently. “They're coming!”
I knew what Jack meant. Any second now that stairwell door was going to burst open.
“I'm fine!” I yelled, my voice cracking in pain. “Patrick, it's the virus!” It was meant to be a warning for him. I could feel the wet substance on my face. It was already evaporating, or sinking into my skin. I wasn't worried about that—Terence had assured us that Seers and humans were immune. But was I contagious? I definitely didn't want to find out. He couldn't touch my skin.
He didn't let go of me, though. In fact, he pulled me closer, wrapping an arm around my waist. “We have to run,” he told me, sounding furious. “Trust me!”
It went without saying that I did.
He pulled me forward, and soon we were running down the hall, my eyes shut tight against the violent sting.
I could hear Jack in front of us, pushing forward to keep the others moving. They'd halted at the end of the corridor, but with Jack's urging they pushed through the door.
I gasped aloud when Patrick pulled me out of the building and a wave of warm air slammed over us. “It's okay,” he said, panting thinly. “We're outside.” But I already knew that. Even without the burst of air, I could have figured it out by the change of ground. No more carpet. We were running on hot cement.
“To the left!” Jason yelled suddenly.
“I'll drive Kate's!” Toni shouted.
My car. Had they moved it, or were we parked in the same spot? Where was Jack's car?
I reluctantly tried to pry my eyes open, despite the stinging. I blinked heavily, trying to make sense of what I saw. Everything was a blur. It was dark, but all the flashing lights of the city gave an illusion of day. We were in the parking lot, and though I couldn't see my car or Jack's, I had a feeling that we were close.
It became too hard to keep my eyes open. I pinched them closed, hoping that would relieve the strain. I couldn't keep the pathetic whimper of pain from escaping.
Patrick's arm tightened around me. “It's okay,” he murmured breathlessly. “Please Kate, it's going to be okay…”
“It's just my eyes,” I told him sharply, knowing that he was fearing the worst. “Some of it got on them.”
“We're almost there. Just a little further…”
I forced my eyes open again—yes, I could see them now. The cars were parked side by side. Jack's black Altima, my maroon Hyundai. Toni already had my keys; Jack was drawing his out.
And then Far Darrig stepped out from behind the large blue pickup parked next to mine, pistol in hand.
He hadn't come chasing after us like the others, because he knew where we'd eventually end up. It made horrible, chilling sense. Almost as horrible and chilling as his triumphant grin.
Lee screamed at his sudden appearance, and I wanted to scream in frustration. We were so close—Toni could have touched the hood of my car.
Far Darrig fired a subdued shot—not as silent as I would have imagined a silenced gun to sound—and Toni fell to the ground in response, a cloudy spray of blood coming off his chest where t
he bullet had ripped inside. Jason shoved Maddy between our two cars, pushing her to the ground with his own body.
Lee dropped to Toni's side, but Far Darrig had already squeezed the trigger, intending to make her the next victim. The bullet was already discharged, and it was forced to hit another target.
The person who'd been standing right behind her.
Through blurry eyes I watched the deadly bullet pound into my grandfather's chest, the fierce impact spinning him around. He fell onto the rough pavement, and I knew he was dead before he hit the ground. His aura was gone. Just gone.
“NO!” I screamed, ears ringing from the sound of his fall.
Patrick was shaking around me. And suddenly I had no support. I fell to my knees as Patrick dove into his brother. The gun fired harmlessly into the air—a bullet possibly meant for me, next in line. The weapon clattered to the ground as Patrick slammed Far Darrig into the front of the truck's grill again and again.
I stared at my grandpa's unmoving body, the scuffed brown shoe on his closest foot. I couldn't breathe. Tears streamed from my searing eyes, and my insides felt like they were going to implode. This couldn't be happening. It wasn't possible. He couldn't be dead. What would I tell Grandma? The twins?
This wasn't happening. I would deny it forever if that could somehow change the awful truth.
Jack had tossed Jason the keys. The Seer was opening the driver's door of the Altima, and Maddy was scrambling into the back. The Australian Guardian was on the ground now, grabbing his old Seer's wrist, searching for a pulse that wasn't there, would never be there again.
Toni and Lee were stumbling to their feet, clinging to each other. Toni looked gray, but the bullet must have gone all the way through him—he was recovering from the wound. Toni saw Patrick, slamming a clenched fist into Far Darrig's already bloody face, and then he saw Grandpa's body and Jack quickly shaking his head.
Across the parking lot, far behind us, I could hear voices. The Demons were coming, yelling, getting closer. Still chasing us. Why were they still chasing us?
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