He groaned. "I have a bad feeling about this."
"Don't say that," she whined. "That's worse than when you have a good feeling."
He stepped away from her, then edged to the side of the roof, peering over just enough to get a view of the ground. He nodded resolutely. "Yup, they're surrounding us. And there's more here. Twenty at least."
"And more coming." Pandora squeezed her eyes shut. Think, think.
But Jax came up with an idea first. "Make us invisible. It worked in Atlantic City."
She bit her lip. “I can try, but that was the first time I’d ever taken another person into the shadows with me. I don’t know if I can repeat it. And if we’re moving too?” She paused, shaking her head, hating to admit her own limits. But he needed to know. “I’m not sure how long I’ll be able to keep it up during a fight.”
“Okay,” Jax said. “Then you go invisible.”
"What?" She spun on her heels to face him. "Absolutely not. I'm not leaving you to face these guys alone. They'll kill you!"
"I have no intention of fighting a hundred vampires all by myself. I'm not that stupid," he said and then grinned. "But it's nice to know you're concerned."
"Oh, shove it," she muttered.
Jax's expression grew more serious. "No, I mean it. Go invisible and hide. Obviously, they're here because they sensed a vampire. If you're gone, they'll leave me alone. Why would they want to kill a titan? One, it’s not that easy. And two, the ramifications would be far more trouble than they're worth. Vamps aren't hesitant to kill their own, but when it comes to offing other supernaturals, they know their place. Like those vamps back in Atlantic City—if not for you, they wouldn’t have come near me. And even with you, they were just trying to incapacitate me, not kill me."
"Are you really willing to bet your life on that?"
Jax turned toward her, his seafoam gaze capturing hers. "My life isn’t the one I'm concerned about."
She melted, right there on the spot, frozen insides warming up and dripping away as her heart gave an ever-so-gentle beat. "Jax—"
"No, just listen to me for once. Go invisible, and then I'll get down. They'll leave me alone, and I'll go back to the car like you don't even exist. Find me on the road when the coast is clear."
And then he leapt off the roof, making the decision for her.
Freaking Jax!
She clenched her fists, wanting to punch him for being so idiotically heroic, but instead she for once just listened, wrapping the shadows around her and disappearing just in the nick of time. A second later, ten vampires flew up onto the roof and landed easily on their feet, searching for the girl they knew came up but they’d never see go down.
The gravel, though, now that was an issue.
Pandora shifted her weight ever so slightly, but the crunch was unmistakable. Ten sets of blue eyes honed in on her location, peering through narrowed lids at the empty space, suspicious.
One giant leap it is—Neil Armstrong style.
Pandora kneeled down, wincing as the tiny stones beneath her shoes scratched against one another with her shifting weight. One of the vamps stepped closer, nose up, trying to smell her sticky, stolen blood. But he was too late.
Pandora launched, shooting up into the air and out over the ledge before falling gracefully toward the ground. She landed in a tuck against the sidewalk near the front entrance of the rest stop and rolled to her feet. But when she glanced over her shoulder, she paused. None of them were following. All ten vamps stood at the edge of the building, looking down toward the ground, unhurried, more intimidating than anything else.
And the more Pandora edged away, the more disinterested they seemed to become. A few trickled off. They all stopped watching, stopped caring. And as she followed Jax to the edge of the parking lot, the more wrong everything just seemed to feel. None of them were following him. None of them had even stopped him. They let Jax waltz right on through to the car, and they gave him absolutely no problems as he sat inside and started the engine. The hairs on the back of Pandora's neck stood erect as everything in her body screamed, this is wrong, this is wrong, this is wrong.
But Jax merged back onto the highway. Pandora followed after, using her superspeed to keep pace with the car. Every so often he glanced around, wondering where she was, but her gut urged her to remain invisible, to keep following at a distance.
It can't be this easy.
Nothing is this easy.
Nothing.
And then she heard it.
The patter of light, swift footsteps. One. Then a dozen. Then too many to keep track of. And before Pandora could do anything, vampires emerged from the trees, moving faster than the human eye could see, and barreled into the side of Jax's car. Immediately, the SUV flipped, rolling onto its side, screeching as metal bent and twisted, as pieces tore off and scratched. The force of the hit was so strong the car flew off the road, somersaulting into the forest before disappearing from sight, taking Jax with it.
Pandora tore off the highway, sprinting after the car. By the time she got there, Jax was already surrounded. He pulled himself through the shattered window, strong titan skin bleeding from the crash, bright red and flowing in a way that made Pandora gasp—a way that wasn't supposed to even be possible. As soon as he landed with his back against the dirt, catching his breath, the vampires pounced.
When the first one attacked, Jax jumped to his feet, ignoring the pain, and punched him in the throat, sending the jerk flying. The second went for his back, but Jax turned, sensing the movement, and kicked him in the gut so hard he rolled head over heels away. The third got Jax by the arm, digging sharp nails into his skin and drawing even more fresh blood. Jax flung him off, but the vamp just licked his fingers and stood, ready for another round.
So much for that whole theory about vamps not killing other supernaturals, Pandora thought, biting her lip, unsure how to proceed. We're not really known for impulse control.
Sure enough, as she thought it, two vamps broke off from the pack, not going for Jax but for the car. They licked his blood from the paint, eyes igniting when they tasted the power hiding beneath his skin. The scent stretched across the small clearing, turning each vampiric gaze brighter and brighter, more and more intrigued.
But before they could touch Jax, Pandora was there—the definition of no impulse control as she blindly attacked, no plan, just pure adrenaline.
She jumped on one vampire's back, then dug her teeth into his neck and ripped it apart. She let his stolen blood sink into the forest floor, not bothering to watch as she moved swiftly to the next and kicked him in the back, using his body for leverage to reach the vamp closest to Jax. When that guy reached for Jax's neck, Pandora grabbed his instead, then sank her nails into his skin and threw him back. A woman tried to pounce on Pandora from behind, but she misjudged her location, barely nudging Pandora's shoulder. Pandora reached out with her palm, grabbed the female vamp's throat, and clamped, twisting. Her neck snapped, and she dropped. In a few minutes, it would heal, but that was just enough time for Pandora to get through the crowd.
She kneeled over Jax.
"Are you okay?"
He grunted. "I'll live. At least," he added, glancing around at their somewhat precarious situation, "I hope so."
"Then get your ass up and help me," she ordered, reaching for his hand and then pulling him to his feet.
Without hesitation, they went back-to-back again. Jax didn’t need to be able to see her to sense her movements. He knew her too well. They'd trained together too often. They could do this with their eyes closed. And as the vamps came, they fought as one perfect unit, always moving in a circle, always guarding the other's back, always keeping one another safe from harm. When a vamp got within reach, they attacked, one after the other, faces and bodies blurring until all that was left was instinct, quick punches and strong kicks, not enough to kill but enough to keep the horde back, enough to stay alive.
For now.
But they couldn’t keep it up forever.
The vampires pressed closer.
And before Pandora realized what had happened, the pressure of Jax against her back disappeared. His warmth vanished, leaving her cold.
She spun.
Two vamps had him, one on each arm, pulling.
He screamed, a guttural sound that ripped through his throat as his arms reached their max, and the vamps kept pulling on opposite sides, trying to tear him in half. Never one to give up, he kicked off the ground, did a back flip, and used his momentum to throw the vamps off balance just enough that they released him. But when he landed back on his feet, his left arm hung uselessly by his side, and a grimace passed over his face. Before Pandora could move, he gripped his bicep, then clenched his teeth and gasped as he popped his shoulder back into place and raised his fists to keep fighting.
I can't let him do this.
They'll kill him.
Eventually, they'll kill him.
As soon as the thought came, Pandora let the shadows fall away, let the light touch her body, reappearing in the blink of an eye. And just as fast, the vamps grabbed for her, cutting their nails into her skin, one set and then two, and then five.
"Dory!" Jax yelled, forgotten as the vampires pounced on her—their true target.
Fangs pierced her skin, drawing out her blood as nails continued to slice gashes that bled and healed, over and over as they forced her lower, legs bending even as she tried to stand. With each drop of blood that fell to the ground, with each drop that was sucked into their hungry mouths, Pandora weakened, strength seeping out.
But she didn’t fight.
She let them.
She was giving Jax time to run away.
"Go," she yelled as her knees slammed into the dirt, and the world began to blur. But she could see Jax, and he was trying to fight his way closer. "Go!" she said again, quieter this time, not quite able to use her full voice.
Pandora blinked, eyelids heavy.
And when she opened them, the world was consumed by fire.
Flames slammed into her back, sending her face-first into the dirt as the other vamps toppled over with her, pushed back by the flames, tumbling as the heat forced them farther and farther away.
Protector conduits, Pandora thought as the fire licked her skin, burning enough to sting but not sinking in, not diving deep down and scorching her to her core like a punisher conduit's would. It was more like a mobile wall, pressing against all the vampires, impenetrable, shoving them away. Her world was awash in orange and yellow as she kept rolling over the grass and sticks with each new bout of fire, bright enough she had to squint to find Jax where he stood in the middle of the onslaught, completely unaffected.
His gaze found hers, flashing with relief.
"There," he called. "She's right there."
The flames receded, soaring over her head as a group of conduits moved closer, surrounding her, protecting her from the other vampires being kept away by the heat.
A man with blond hair kneeled down and touched the wounds scattered across her arms, eying the holes torn into her clothes. The cuts had already mostly healed. The puncture wounds from the fangs would take a little longer, probably wouldn't close all the way until she was able to get some blood.
"You're here for the cure?" he asked, attention snapping to her face.
Pandora eased to a seated position, muscles weak but not totally depleted. Six other conduits stood around them in a circle, creating an unbreakable ring of fire. Jax waited and watched, still standing in the middle of the raging inferno as though he didn’t even see it, gaze piercing as it held hers, hopeful and fierce. Pandora opened her mouth, but she couldn't speak, couldn't form the words.
"Look, we don’t have all day," the guy urged, attention darting to the side before returning to her. "We can’t keep this up for very long. We have to go while we have the chance. Now, do you want the cure or not?"
Pandora held Jax's gaze one second longer, wavering.
Sam's plea fluttered to the forefront of her mind.
Remember.
And, really, at the moment, surrounded by a horde of bloodthirsty vamps, what other choice did she have?
Before she could change her mind, she answered. "Yeah, I want the cure."
The conduit grinned.
So did Jax.
Her heart thudded heavily in her chest, coming alive with her words, pounding in rage, telling her, no, no, no, but she was out of options. Stay and die, or go and live and maybe wait for a chance to keep running.
"Follow me," the guy said, looking up and meeting the eyes of his comrades. "Okay, let's move."
The conduit yanked her to her feet, and as a unit of eight, they shuffled back, still surrounded by fire, the eye of a very hot hurricane. Jax followed, just outside the group, walking along the edge, never taking his eyes off of her.
Back on the road, a van was waiting, door open, and Pandora was shoved inside, forced into a seat as the conduit who'd spoken to her held his palm out and sent a wave of fire over her frame, doing his best to pin her to the seat, trapping her beneath the blazing flames. The hold was nothing compared to the one Pandora had experienced back in the graveyard, nothing compared to Kira’s power. Already, she could sense the weakness at the edges. The fire pressed against her instead of sinking painfully deep. There really should have been two different conduits locking her in place, because one roll to the side and she could slip free.
But Jax didn’t know that.
"What are you doing?" he snapped as he shoved his way inside and reached for the conduit's throat. Jax’s grip was tight, but the fire didn’t let up, even as the man began to choke. "Drop the flames."
"Listen, titan, this is our turf," another conduit said with a sneer, but this one was a redhead, and every vampire in the world knew what that meant. Blond conduit equaled protector, equaled relatively okay. But redhead conduit? That meant danger, that meant punisher, that meant fatal. He lifted his hand to show the flames dancing over his palm, sizzling with their killing heat, just waiting to be thrown out with force.
"Jax, let him go," Pandora said quickly, not at all interested in being burned alive today. "I'm okay."
Jax turned toward her, then waited for a second. She nodded reassuringly, and he released the conduit before dropping into the empty seat next to her.
The conduit kept his flames raging, not flinching for a second, even as he used his free hand to rub the now red area of his neck. "I'm not going to hurt her," he said, throat scratchy. "We need to take precautions. There've been vamps before who've tried to use this as an in, a way to break through our defenses. I'm just following protocol. She stays in her seat, no moving, no blood, nothing until she can convince the people in charge that she's legit."
While he spoke, the van lurched into motion. The remaining conduits scattered to the windows, opened them wide, and held their hands at the ready. Every so often, one would send a wave of fire from the car. Pandora would then hear a body slam back into the trees, undoubtedly a vampire trying to attack. But she couldn't turn around to see, and honestly, she was too preoccupied with the unrelenting gaze coming from the seat next to her to care.
But instead of meeting Jax's probing gaze, she looked into the conduit's fiery green eyes. "Thanks for the rescue."
He shrugged, snorting. "That might be the first time I've ever heard a vamp show some gratitude."
Pandora grinned. Yeah, that sounds like us. And then she closed her eyes. Because she couldn't look at Jax, didn't want to creepily keep staring at the conduit, and to be honest, the bright glow of the fire was sort of hurting her eyes.
"How much longer?" she whispered with an exaggerated sigh.
"About an hour. Give or take," the conduit answered, sounding amused. "You're sort of impatient for an immortal."
Pandora frowned.
You have no idea.
Chapter Seventeen
Pandora's eyelids flew open when the van jerked to a halt. Immediately, she winced as the flame
s still engulfing her flashed painfully bright. To be honest, she’d sort of forgotten they were there. These protector flames had a subtle sort of sting she’d gotten used to—totally different from the scorching heat of the fire Kira had used on her in the graveyard. But they were still alarmingly intense to her supernaturally enhanced eyesight.
Ow.
She winced against the harsh orange light, wishing she could at least stretch her muscles for a moment, but these guys were relentless. As though hearing her thoughts from before, a second conduit had joined the first when the initial danger had cleared, and for the rest of the car ride, two of them kept her pinned at all times. They took ten-minute shifts, constantly changing, so the flames never had a chance to weaken. She hadn’t had a moment’s relief since stepping foot in the car.
"Are we there?" Pandora asked, hopeful.
"Finally," one of the conduits holding her muttered, not looking at her but at the other conduit, the one who seemed to be in charge, the one who’d taken the first and now hopefully last shift in keeping her contained. So far, he’d been the only one to speak directly to her.
He glanced to the side, nodding once to his comrade. "You can let her go. I'll take it from here."
Pandora turned back to the other guy. "You heard the man. Let me go."
He shook his head, exasperated, but let his flames wither out. The head conduit maintained focus on Pandora, fire just as intense as ever.
By her side, Jax clenched his fist. He hadn’t spoken the entire time they’d been in the car, but his eyes had been intense and fuming, speaking volumes despite his silence. Feeling the firm muscles of his thigh against hers, taut and tense, Pandora suspected the car ride had been harder on him than on her. The fire wasn’t too painful, but it probably looked a lot worse than it was. And for all his teasing, Jax had never been one to stand by while Pandora was being hurt—not when they were children in the schoolyard and certainly not now in more intense life-or-death situations.
Pandora patted his leg reassuringly, but it did little to calm him.
The conduits filed out of the van one by one, but Jax remained steadfastly by her side, ignoring their signal to come with them.
Frost (Midnight Ice Book One) Page 18
