A Kiss of Blood (Vamp City #2)(68)

Fabian gripped her face tight, forcing her to look at him. She tensed for his shock, terrified her eyes had begun to glow—that the Slava, Jillian’s, eyes had begun to glow. But his expression revealed nothing but hard satisfaction.

“If my touch is going to make you sick, slave, then I’ll tape your mouth closed. Which would be a shame. Your mouth is just one of the things I want to f**k.”

She had to struggle not to spit in his face. All of a sudden, she began to shake as the energy built inside of her far more quickly and violently than it ever had before. A strange sensation began to bubble beneath her flesh, as if the skin were about to fly off her bones. As if she were about to explode.

The floor beneath her feet began to shake.

Shit, shit, shit.

The first blast sent them all flying a good fifteen feet. Fabian pulled her with him as he flew, and she landed on top of him, knocking the breath out of herself. She slammed her eyes closed in case they were glowing and thanked whatever guardian angel looked out for sorceresses that Fabian had been holding on to her, or she might have been the only one left standing, which would have certainly given her away. As it was, all of them had been thrown to the ground—Arturo and Fabian’s guards, as well as several Slavas.

Fabian surged to his feet vampire-fast.

“The fae,” he muttered. “He’s dead.”

Quinn blinked. He thought the blast had been Vintry’s doing? She remembered someone’s saying something about a death wind.

Easing to her feet with her eyes all but closed, Quinn waited for Arturo to find her. But the pressure inside her was building all over again, much faster than before. The second blast erupted with no warning. Again, the vampires flew. This time, however, Quinn was prepared and dropped to her knees. Maybe she’d just stay there.

Strong arms gathered her close. Arturo’s voice rang out close behind her. “That fae is going to bring the house crashing down!” She could hear the hypnotic persuasion weaving through his words. “Run!”

They did. When the third blast hit, Arturo slammed into the wall, keeping her tight against him, but protected. The plaster began to rain down from the ceiling. Pans and dishes crashed to the floor.

They were nearly to the door when the fourth hit. The windows broke. Rising, Arturo flung her over his shoulder, opened the back door, and ran.

“Keep your eyes closed, tesoro.”

“I’m trying. What about Micah?”

“He should be waiting with the mounts.”

“I’ll kill the horses, if I knock them around like this.”

“Maybe not. And we have no choice. They’re our best chance of getting out of here.”

Moments later, she was seated behind Arturo, her hands tight around his waist as her magic let loose yet again. The horses lurched, but righted themselves quickly, then took off, spooked by the sound of glass . . . or crystal . . . shattering all along the back curve of the wedding cake.

“They’ve already opened the gates,” Arturo told her. “Everyone’s fleeing.” And a moment later, they were flying across the open ground. When no more blasts came for several minutes, Quinn lifted a hand to her face, opened one eye, and saw no glow against her palm.

“We made it,” Micah said, as the two vampires brought their horses back to a walk. “Did you free your power, Quinn?”

Quinn grunted. “Something’s gotten loose, that’s for sure.” She sighed. “I don’t know. I’m not even sure how to tell.”

She’d better figure it out soon. Tomorrow was the equinox.

“This isn’t gonna work,” Jazlyn hissed.

“If you believe it won’t,” Lily replied quietly, “then it won’t. You must believe it will.” They’d escaped the castle more than two hours ago and had been crouched behind the outdoor kiln ever since. So far, no one had ventured back there, but it was just a matter of time. It was dusk in the real world, Lily was fairly certain. She’d quickly picked up the nuances of light in this place—the black of night, which turned to twilight during the day. In the in-between times, dawn and dusk, the air took on a different quality, almost shimmering. And she was pretty sure the vampires’ eyesight was just a little off at that time.

Conveniently, a Trader wagon arrived late afternoon most days, remaining at the castle for an hour or two while the Traders dropped off their goods and took orders for more, and often spent a little time in the kitchen eating and drinking and sometimes having sex with one of the slaves.

The Traders who’d come today had been inside, by Lily’s calculation, for a little over an hour and a half. And the male slaves had just been called in for their evening meal. The yard was almost empty.

If they were going to sneak into the Traders’ wagon, as was her plan, they’d never get a better chance.

“It’s time, Jazlyn.” Lily squeezed the girl’s arm. “We can do this.”

Jazlyn’s pulse leaped beneath Lily’s fingers. Lily had never seen the girl so nervous, which boded ill in a castle swarming with fear-feeding, and fear-sensing, vampires.

“You have to calm down.”

“I can’t! If they catch us . . .”

“They’ll sell us to the auction, which they’re going to do anyway. There’s no downside to this escape attempt.” Lily knew that wasn’t true. The vampires could choose any number of horrible ways to make an example of them, but mentioning that to Jazlyn now would only make things worse. “Come on, Jaz. Let’s go.”