Kara laughed. She bent lower so that she could meet Rose’s gaze. “Open the door and slide in, feet first,” she advised. “Brace yourself. It’s a bit of a drop.”
“What about you?” Rose asked. “Don’t you need someone to hold the bed so you can crawl underneath it, too? It’s pretty close to the floor, isn’t it?”
“Don’t worry about me,” Kara said with a soft smile. “I can slide through small spaces pretty easily, and,” she paused, “it doesn’t have…an effect on me.”
Rose watched her for a moment, the surprise traveling from her head to her heart as she realized the real reason Kara had lifted the bed for her—because Kara didn’t want her to have to endure the flashbacks and fear. “Thank you,” she whispered, warmth fluttering in her chest as she considered the thoughtful action.
“Anything for you, sexy,” Kara said, trying to make her voice light.
Rose opened the trapdoor and shifted on the floor, sitting upright and hanging her legs over the edge of the opening. Darkness spread below her, and for a moment, it reminded her a little too much of her nightmare, falling into an unending darkness, but then, with her sensitive eyesight, she was able to make out the outline of dirt and rocks a little way down. “Here I go,” she said nervously.
“Be careful,” Kara said. “Keep your feet beneath you, and fall straight.”
Rose nodded. “See you in a moment,” she mumbled, and then, she fell.
The cold air rushed up around her, shoving her stomach into her throat. She clamped her mouth shut, stifling the scream that threatened to spill out as she rushed toward the rapidly approaching ground. Pain splintered in her heels when she finally hit the ground. She did manage to land on her feet, surprisingly enough, but her head spun violently from the fall, and she swayed dangerously on her feet. She reached out, grasping blindly for something to steady herself on, as everything seemed to tip, and she felt her hand collide with a cold, dirt wall.
The sound of rushing air drew her attention up, toward the trapdoor that she’d just fallen from—far above her, now. She took a step back, watching with concern as Kara’s lithe body fell through the air. But she had no reason to worry, of course, because Kara landed gracefully, her long body bent forward in a half-crouch, much like she’d done the very first time they’d met—when Kara had leapt off the building to intercede in the ambush, intended for Erik, Kallias, and Rose.
Her blue and black hair had fallen into her face, messy and chaotically disheveled from the fall, and yet, it was the only thing disheveled about her, as she straightened, shaking the messy, dark hair out of her face, and pinning Rose with her piercing, blue gaze. She grinned, as if she’d just had the time of her life, falling.
“You just love to show off, don’t you?” Rose teased, her eyebrows lifting.
A cocky smirk tugged at the edge of Kara’s lips. “Of course,” she said. She lifted her feet, examining the deep footprints beneath her boots. She ran the toe of her heavy, black boot over the footprints, scattering dirt over them so that no one would notice them. Her gaze darted back up toward Rose. “The more you do it, the easier it gets. And it’s easier if you’re wearing boots, instead of…those.”
Rose glanced at her worn, Converse tennis shoes. “Really?” she gasped, feigning surprise. “You mean to tell me that my six-year-old sneakers aren’t sturdy enough for falling one hundred feet through the air? I would’ve never guessed!”
Kara chuckled at her sarcasm. “It was only about forty feet, actually.”
“Only,” Rose scoffed. She carefully stepped away from the wall. “So, when you say that we’ll face Talulah’s wrath,” she began, returning to what they’d been discussing before the fall, “what exactly does the wrath of Talulah entail?”
Kara laughed, the soft, breathless sound of her laugh echoing pleasantly throughout the dark tunnel. “Mostly just a lecture and that sexy glare of hers,” she said, mimicking that dark, sullen glare that she’d seen Talulah use quite often.
Rose couldn’t help but laugh at the expression and how strange it looked on Kara’s normally-smiling face. “Terrifying,” she said sarcastically. “Is that all?”
Kara shrugged. “Well,” she amended, “apparently, that, and her warriors shooting arrows at you…any time you come near her…for the rest of your life.”
“Yeah,” Rose said, drawing out the word, “that sounds a little unpleasant, actually.” She frowned curiously at Kara. “Is there a reason we’re defying orders?”
Kara didn’t answer that question. “I can take you back, if you want.”
“That’s not what I said,” Rose told her. “Do you want me to go back?”
“No,” Kara said honestly. “It’s easier to protect you, if you’re with me.”
“It’s easier for me to protect you,” Rose countered, “if I’m with you, too,”
A relieved smile tugged at the edges of Kara’s lips. “Then, you’ll come?”
Rose moved closer. “I think,” she breathed, “I’d go anywhere with you.”
Kara’s lips parted in surprise, and for a moment, she just stared at Rose, so many emotions passing over her face, glistening in her icy blue eyes. Then, she closed the space between them and captured Rose’s face in her hands, covering Rose’s lips with her own. The kiss took Rose’s breath, so full of passion and fire that Rose felt as if it would burn her alive, the fire spreading from her lips to every other part of her body, filling her with such a burning desire that she wasn’t totally opposed to letting Kara have her way with her right here. In the cold, dark tunnel.
But Kara pulled away, even as that same longing burned in her eyes. “We have to hurry,” she said reluctantly, “before we get caught.” She leaned against Rose, the length of her body pressed against Rose, her breath warm against Rose’s face, as she touched her forehead to Rose’s. “But for the record, I’m your warrior. If anyone is following anyone here, it’ll be me who follows you. Ask, and I will.”
Rose watched as Kara stepped back, feeling cold in all of the places that Kara’s body had warmed her. She wondered what Kara had meant by that. Had she meant it literally? Had that been some kind of declaration of commitment? But Kara—ever the enigmatic, elusive vampire that Rose knew her to be—didn’t elaborate. Instead, she spun around and began to trudge through the dark tunnel.
“Are you coming?” Kara asked. “We have quite the journey ahead of us.”
“Yeah,” Rose said, jogging to catch up with her. “I’m right behind you.”
—
The tunnel must’ve stretched for miles and miles before it finally opened up in a small storage building in Nunavut. Kara checked her phone as they headed toward the door. “My pilot’s already at the airport, waiting on us,” she told Rose.
Rose slowed as they neared the door. “Wait. We’re getting on a plane?”
“It’d be a much longer walk, otherwise,” Kara said with a playful smile.
Rose listened to the howling winds that beat against the walls of the building, feeling less and less eager to step outside with each passing minute. “Are you ever going to tell me the plan, or are you going to keep evading the question?”
Kara glanced back at Rose, an amused smile twitching at her lips, as she opened the door. Cold air rushed in to greet them as they prepared to leave. “I couldn’t risk anyone overhearing us while we were still so close to the colony.”
The frost-covered ground crunched beneath Rose’s shoes as she stepped out of the building. The brutally cold air felt even worse than she’d imagined as it beat against her skin, icy wind swirling around her body. She crossed her arms over her chest, hunching her shoulders in an attempt to keep warm. “And now?”
Kara closed the door and then turned toward Rose. “You know that the Assassins of Light have bases all over the world. One in every major city and a few in smaller ones, as well. Well, they also have a Headquarters in every country, which links those bases together,” she explained. She tucked her hands into her pockets. “Would you lik
e to guess where the U.S. Headquarters are located?”
Rose shrugged. She followed as Kara began to lead the way down an icy path that weaved through the town. “Chicago? Los Angeles? New York City?”
“Washington, D.C.,” Kara provided. Her gaze, glistening like ice, shifted toward Rose. “Now, what do you think is the significance of that location?”
Rose felt a cold wave of dread wash over her. “The government.”
“Exactly,” Kara said, as they turned onto a new street. “Now, why do you think they would build their Headquarters so close to government facilities?”
“It’s convenient,” Rose said, “if they’re infiltrating the government.”
“There are Assassins of Light serving in government positions in every major country in the world,” Kara informed her. “They’ve already infiltrated it.”
Rose nodded, her brows furrowing, as she tried to process that. “How?”
“They’ve been preparing for three hundred years,” Kara said. “With that much time, you can infiltrate anything, and this is what they were raised to do.”
Rose lifted the hood of her jacket over her head, shielding her face from the wind. She raised an eyebrow. “They were raised to infiltrate the government?”
“They were raised to deceive,” Kara said, “to make people trust them.”
“That’s how they have bombs,” Rose said. “Because of the government.”
Kara nodded. “In a sense, yes. Also, because they infiltrated the military.”
Rose blinked in surprise. “Just how many Assassins of Light are there?”
“Enough,” Kara sighed, “but their influence only goes so far. They were able to cover up the attack on the colony in Japan, but they wouldn’t be able to attack every vampire colony in the world. People would ask too many questions. That’s why the Assassins of Light need humans to declare war on vampires.”
“The meeting Aaron mentioned,” Rose realized. “That’s what it is.”
Kara nodded. “They’re appearing before Congress later this week.”
“Wow,” Rose said worriedly. She followed Kara around the corner, the frost-covered ground crunching beneath her shoes. “You didn’t like their plan?”
Kara glanced at her. “I can’t hide anything from you, can I?” she sighed. She shook her head, her dark hair falling around her face. “I told Aaron it was a bad idea to attack them outright. He didn’t listen. Humans—they’re not going to see it as us attacking the Assassins of Light. They’re going to see it as us attacking them. If we attack them outright, humans will declare war on us, anyway. On their own. Not to mention, the Assassins of Light have bombs. As soon as we attack them, they’ll counterattack. I don’t know how he convinced Talulah to do this.”
“I assume you have a better plan, then?” Rose asked curiously.
“I do,” Kara said with a smile. “I have a much, much better plan.”
Rose stared at her expectantly. “Are you going to tell me what it is?”
As the sound of someone else’s footsteps and the sweet scent of vampire blood reached their senses, all at once, Kara closed the space between Rose and herself in a fraction of a second. She slid her arm around Rose’s waist, pulling Rose back against her, and she covered Rose’s mouth with her free hand. She felt Rose’s soft, warm lips brushing against her palm, as she tried to identify the scent.
Kara frowned as she recognized the vampire’s scent. She released Rose, and when Rose turned to look at her, she rolled her eyes and shrugged. “It’s Erik.”
“Yeah,” Erik called out, his voice echoing from far away. Kara threw up her hands in frustration. “It’s just me,” he said, as he finally emerged from behind a storage building, “so try not to cut me in half with your battle-axe or anything.”
“I left it in Norway,” Kara said, her eyes narrowing, “or I’d consider it.”
Erik shoved his hands into his pockets. “So, where are we headed?”
Kara sighed, “What are you doing here? How did you even find us?”
Erik waved his hand toward the snow-covered stretch of land behind them. “We just set out walking and assumed we would run into you, eventually.”
Kara breathed out slowly, her breath falling out of her mouth like a cloud of smoke. “Erik, you oaf,” she said irritably, “someone could’ve followed you.”
Rose frowned. “Wait, you just said we. Did someone come with you?”
“Sorry about that,” Elise chimed, appearing beside Erik so suddenly that Rose nearly jumped. “I lost one of my shoes in the snow. I had to look for it.”
Erik winced a little. “I don’t think they’re happy to see us,” he whispered.
Kara rolled her eyes. “We snuck out for a reason,” she sighed. “I needed to make sure that no one from that colony followed us. But now, you’ve left, too, probably through the main exit, and who knows who might have followed you?”
He frowned. “There’s another exit? I thought there was just that one.”
“Fy faen,” Kara cursed under her breath. “You have to go back. Now.”
“What? No,” Elise said. “We want to come, too. We want to help.”
“I promised Kallias that I would help you protect Rose,” Erik told Kara.
“Don’t you get it?” Kara sighed. “You weren’t careful. What if someone followed you? If anyone finds out where we’re going, it’ll ruin the entire plan.”
“No one followed us,” Elise said. “They were all still in the meeting.”
“Are you sure?” Kara challenged. “Because I saw a few people missing.”
“You did?” Elise said, blinking in surprise. “Did they just not show up?”
“See?” Kara said. She ran her fingers through her long, dark hair. “You have your skills, but subterfuge isn’t one of them. You’re not observant enough.”
“We would’ve noticed, if someone had followed us,” Erik assured her.
“Not necessarily,” Kara said. “It’s windy, and it’s snowing. This weather affects your senses. It’s harder to discern scents, hear footsteps, or even…see.”
“But if they go back now,” Rose asked, “are they really fixing anything?”
Kara sighed in defeat, “No, I suppose not. If you were followed, we’re already screwed. We might as well keep moving now and just hope we lose them.”
“If we’re being followed at all,” Erik added. He fell into step beside her as they resumed walking. He smiled. “Don’t be so pessimistic. It’s not your style.”
“Not pessimistic,” Kara mumbled under her breath. “Just…concerned.”
—
In the distance, Rose saw a woman waiting near the plane, her long, black coat swaying in the wind. Rose squinted, trying to make out the woman’s features through the white blur of falling snow, but she couldn’t see enough of the woman to identify her. She did recognize the faint, salty scent of human blood, though.
“Careful,” Kara told them. “There are patches of black ice everywhere.”
The warning came just in time, too, because Rose almost slid when her shoe hit the first slick spot. She glanced down at her feet, watching the pavement as she walked, searching for the patches of ice that gleamed in the moonlight.
“I wish you would’ve told me not to wear high-heels,” Elise complained.
“I would have,” Kara said, “except…you weren’t supposed to come.”
Elise cocked her head to the side, her long, blonde curls falling over one shoulder, as she flashed a cute smile at Kara. “You know you’re happy to see us.”
Erik gave Kara a playful shove—that she endured without losing her balance. Rose considered that quite the accomplishment, considering how much concentration it was taking to keep herself upright on the icy pavement. “Besides,” Erik teased, “we couldn’t let you keep all the fun for yourself. That’s just selfish.”
Kara rolled her eyes. “Yeah, yeah. Just don’t screw this up, okay?”
When they reached
the plane and the woman who stood next to it, Rose realized that she’d seen the woman somewhere before. She stood several inches shorter than Rose, and much shorter than Kara, and her gray-streaked, black hair was short enough to curl around her face, barely even blowing in the brutal wind.
The woman crossed her arms over her chest and walked out to meet them. “I thought you said to expect one guest,” she called, raising her voice, so she could hear herself over the wind. She glanced at Erik and Elise. “Not three.”
“I did, too,” Kara said. She shot a pointed glare at Erik and Elise, who just beamed back unapologetically. “Change of plans. That isn’t a problem, is it?”
The woman smiled. “No, ma’am. It’s never a problem to work with you.”
“This is Susan Jones,” Kara told them, waving her hand toward the short, middle-aged human. “And Susan, these are my closest companions: my girlfriend, Rose Foster, and my two closest friends, Erik Olafsson and Elise Fontaine.”
Susan held out a gloved hand. “It’s nice to meet you,” she said to Rose.
Rose shook her hand absently. “Uh…Susan Jones? As in…the Senator?”
Susan laughed at her, even as she moved to greet Erik and Elise, as well. “Ah, a fellow American. I was starting to wonder if Kara knew any more of us.”
“Quite a few, actually,” Kara said. “I just like to keep you all separate.”
Rose leaned toward Kara. “She is, isn’t she?” she hissed. “The Senator?”
Kara smiled at her, clearly amused. “Yes, Rose. That’s Senator Jones.”
“If you’ll follow me,” the senator said, as she turned back toward the jet, “we need to leave. Besides, it’s much warmer on the plane than it is out here.”
Rose held up her hands in surrender. “You had me at warmer.”
—
“Senator Jones,” Rose said, once they were in the air, “I just wanted to tell you that I’ve read all of your books, and I thought they were all wonderful.”
Susan Jones blinked in surprise. “You’ve read all of my books?”
Rose nodded easily. “And your dissertation. I read it when I was six, and I thought it was such a great take on impoverished and disenfranchised people.”
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