A Kiss of Blood (Vamp City #2)(17)

Quinn released the breath she hadn’t even known she was holding. “Good. That’s good.”

She took a bite of lasagna, but Zack’s gaze fell to his own plate, his hand turning a soft roll into a hard ball of bread.

Slowly, he looked up again, staring at nothing. “The first time I saw her, she was standing in the upstairs window with a load of towels or sheets or something. The second time, she was in the kitchen carrying a bucket and a mop.”

“So they were using her as a housemaid.” Quinn didn’t voice out loud her fear that the girl had been used for far more. For far worse. Many vampires were depraved in the extreme. The way Zack was mangling that roll told her he was thinking the same.

“Zack, why didn’t you tell me you saw her?”

For several moments, he didn’t respond, didn’t act as if he’d heard her. “I don’t know.”

When he failed to expound, she suspected that was the only answer she was going to get. In his defense, he probably didn’t know why. She remembered how down on himself he’d been after they were reunited. How Arturo had told her he blamed himself for not being able to save the women he cared about.

And what if he had told her he’d seen Lily right after they’d escaped Vamp City? Would she have tried to go back in after the girl? The thought of it weighed on her like a pile of bricks. Selfishly, she was glad she hadn’t been forced to make that decision.

Until today, she’d suspected Lily was somewhere in Vamp City, but she hadn’t known for sure. Now she did. If Arturo could spring Zack from the gladiator camp, he could find a way to get Lily out of Castle Smithson. And he would. Because they were partners now, God help her.

The next time she escaped Vamp City, it would be with Zack and Lily.

She just hoped there was a next time.

Lily Wang slid her hand across the gold satin sheet, smoothing it across the modern mattress, satisfied that there were no bloodstains. She moved quickly, efficiently, silently, as she changed the sheets in the upstairs bedrooms . . . bedchambers . . . of Castle Smithson, as she had every day since her capture. Changing the sheets, working in the bedrooms at all, was a tricky proposition. She’d yet to be caught, yet to be raped. At least that she knew of. With the vampires’ ability to enthrall and steal memories, it was always possible she’d experienced things she didn’t remember.

But she was nothing if not prosaic. If she didn’t remember, and had been left with no injuries, then nothing had happened. Period.

The trouble was, if she stayed here long enough, something would happen. It was just a matter of time, she knew that. She’d already been bitten several times. That was unavoidable in a coven . . . kovena . . . of vampires. More than once, she’d been grabbed from behind as she walked through the halls, doing her chores. It never took long and didn’t hurt. As much as she hated to admit it, the sensation of vampire sucking was actually kind of pleasant . . . except when the vampire pulled out messily, dripping blood onto clean towels, and she had to send them back to the laundry.

For the most part, though, she was a shadow, moving through the halls silently, drawing little or no attention. And she intended to keep it that way. When the time was right, she’d move silently right out of this castle, out of this hellhole, and find her way home.

Her parents were frantic at her disappearance, she knew that. And she’d missed all of her classes for weeks. She’d have to reenroll next semester, which meant graduating a semester late. And if she did that, Galaxy Gaming might rescind the offer of employment they’d made to her. And to Zack.

Zack.

Pain slammed into her at the thought of him, making her gasp. The tears she’d so far managed to keep at bay burned her eyes. She tried so hard not to think of him, but he was with her always, his presence steadying her, giving her strength. Even though she knew he was probably dead.

Poor Zack.

The first time she saw him in the yard behind Castle Smithson hauling a wheelbarrow full of bricks, she’d felt such a tangle of emotions—joy, shock, regret, despair. Somehow, he’d become one of the missing, too. Eventually, days after he’d arrived, he’d caught sight of her and called to her. And the hurt in his voice when she’d hurried away, ignoring him, still cut her to the quick. But she knew what happened when vampires thought two slaves cared about one another. The pair became the sadistic vampires’ new favorite playthings.

Zack had only ever thought of her as his best friend, but he was as loyal as they came and would have suffered if they’d hurt her in front of him. Her feelings for him went far beyond friendship and had since the first day he’d smiled at her. She loved the redheaded loon. And she’d been terrified that the vampires would see it.

So she’d ignored him. And the next day, they’d sent him to the gladiator camp to be prepared for the Games. In a computer battle, Zack could beat anyone. But in real life, with real swords?

The thought of him in that arena, facing a deadly opponent, was almost too much to bear.

She pulled the satin coverlet over the bed, then replaced the colorful pillows. Top sheets and blankets were never required on vampire beds since the bloodsuckers didn’t sleep. Beds were for two things only—sex and feeding. Often at the same time, from what she’d seen. And heard.

Picking up her dwindling pile of clean sheets, she slipped out of the room, heading for the next. She was halfway down the hall, when a man appeared at the top of the stairs. A vampire with hunger in his now-white-centered eyes. And he was staring right at her.