Deathtrap (Crossbreed #3)(45)

“Can you see him?” I asked, slowing to a stop.

“Worry not, lass. You’re in capable hands.”

A draft blew past me, and when I reached out into the void, Christian was gone. I just knew that fanghole would run ahead and leave me behind!

I flashed but quickly stumbled, unable to see. Suddenly, an idea sprang to mind. With a simple shift in concentration, I channeled my energy to my fingertips. Blue light leaked out like tiny cobwebs caught in a breeze. It provided enough light for me to see a raised platform on the right. The Mage probably took this route to flash, and if so, there was a chance he was long gone by now. I climbed on and created a steady stop-and-go pace. It worked well enough that I finally caught sight of Christian standing at a fork in the tracks where the tunnels split.

“Shhh,” he said, cocking his head and walking to the right-hand tunnel. “I can’t hear the bastard.”

“He knows a Vampire is following him.”

“Even if he stopped, I’d be able to hear him panting like a dog.”

“Maybe he’s holding his breath.” I jumped down, and when my feet hit the tracks, I pointed to the right. “He went that way.”

“You can’t even see which way that way is.”

“No, but I can feel his energy.”

Christian seized my hand and moved so fast that I had to flash to keep up. Vampires could slip through shadows like liquid, and at some point, we’d ended up on the platform to the right.

“Stop! You’re making me dizzy.”

When he let go, I lost my balance and tipped backward. Christian locked his arm around my waist, and I clutched his neck and pulled myself tight against him. He slowly moved me away from the edge, and my cheeks heated from the intimacy of that small act.

“He’s that way,” I said, pointing at a door.

Christian released me. In a split second, he ripped the door off the hinges and it landed on the tracks. Artificial light pierced the veil of darkness, and we ascended a short stairwell.

Out of breath and falling behind, I realized the Mage’s energy was waning as the distance between us grew.

Christian reached another door and flung it open.

Once outside, my legs gave out like jelly trying to hold up a horse. I fell in the snow, my side aching and lungs burning. Tiny flakes of snow swirled overhead, and I blinked up at trees, which led me to believe we were in a park.

“See him?” I asked, out of breath.

“Footprints,” he said. “Get up. He’ll be heading where there isn’t any snow.”

“This wasn’t in the brochure.” When I stood up, I wiped my mouth, which was still wet from my nosebleed. The bones in my nose were probably shattered, and the last drop of light from the sun, which I could have used for healing, was now gone.

Once again, destiny screws me over.

Because of the lampposts, Christian wasn’t able to shadow walk. I had to hand it to the Mage—he was smart. He could have run off into the darkness, but his tracks were right beneath the light, which would slow Christian down and keep him off his tail. I’d used up too much of my core light with not enough in reserve to continue flashing.

I straightened my nose and winced from the sharp pain. “Who bombs their own apartment?”

“Someone who’s hiding something,” he said, not out of breath in the least. Christian strode forward, his eyes alert. “If you’re going to blow up your house to ’80s music, at least pick a song like “Burning Down the House” to put on your playlist.”

“Maybe that would have been too obvious.”

“The shitebag who broke in was his partner, to be sure. And you can saunter on for giving me a scrubbing brush as a weapon.”

I laughed and weaved around a park bench. “It was either that or a spoon.”

Christian leapt onto the wall that served as the entrance to the park. He turned in a circle, his eyes narrowing as he cocked his head to the side.

I remained absolutely still so as not to make a sound, though my beating heart was probably a marching band in his ears.

Christian finally sat down on the highest part of the wall. “He’s long gone.”

I scaled the short part of the wall and up to where he was sitting. “What makes you say that?”

“Tracks disappear by the main road, and we wouldn’t be able to differentiate his from the others. The clubs are in full swing, so better we stay away from the night crowd.”

“Why? Don’t I blend in now?”

He glared up at me. “You look like a bloodsicle. I’m sure every Vampire would line up for a lick.”

I kicked the snow off the ledge and sat beside him, our feet dangling ten feet off the ground. “Viktor’s going to kill me.”

“Why’s that?”

“My phone’s in my coat pocket.”

He looked down at me. “Where’s your coat?”

“In the apartment. I liked that coat too.”

He sighed. “You won’t be alone in the flogging. My phone fell out of my pocket during the scuffle.”

I swept back my tangled hair. When I noticed the bloodstains on my fingertips, I wiped my hands on my jeans. “Now what?”

Christian leapt off the wall and looked up at me. “We find a place to lie low for the night.”