A Kiss of Blood (Vamp City #2)(7)

“You are no longer safe here, cara. The Traders might have stumbled upon you by accident, as they claim, or they might have been sent to capture you, as I suspect. Others will follow.”

She lifted her gun and aimed it at his chest. “You’re not taking me back there.”

His gaze flicked to her gun with a hint of amusement.

Her brow rose. “Wooden bullets.”

His amusement fled. “I will keep you safe, cara.”

“You’ll hand me over to Cristoff again.”

“No.” He stepped forward, then pulled up on a curse as the daylight once more began to sear his skin. “I will not give you back to him.”

“I don’t believe you,” she snapped. She ought to just shoot him, shoot them both, and be done with it. Though with their vampire superspeed, they’d probably just step out of the way of the bullets.

And Mike . . . dammit, she’d thought he was her friend.

“Quinn,” Mike . . . Micah . . . said, drawing her gaze. “Arturo’s promised he’ll not hand you over to Cristoff this time, and I can assure you he won’t. He screwed himself good by taking you from Cristoff in the first place.”

“Cristoff knows it was him?”

“No. Cristoff is on a rampage to find the traitor who freed you. He can never know it was Arturo and Kassius, or their lives are forfeit. Mine, too, now. Since your memories can’t be erased, if Cristoff gets his hands on you, he’ll learn the truth. Our only recourse now is to hide you and find a way for you to renew the magic without Cristoff’s ever finding out we were involved.”

Which meant that after it was done, they’d have to ensure she was silenced. She had no illusions about what that meant though it didn’t mean they’d succeed. Still, if what Micah said was true—and having met Cristoff, she suspected it was—Arturo couldn’t let her get anywhere near his sadistic master.

She still wasn’t going with the lying bastard.

Shoving her gun in her waistband, she moved to Zack and shook his shoulder. How he’d slept through gunshots, she didn’t know. “Zack, get up.”

To her relief, he rolled over to face the room, blinking sleepily, his hair a mass of tangles, and a pillow mark on one cheek. His skin looked more gray than before, the dark circles beneath his eyes more pronounced. And his eyes . . . The whites had turned nearly silver.

“Dio,” Arturo muttered, then turned an accusing gaze at Micah. “You didn’t tell me.”

At the sound of Arturo’s voice, Zack glanced up. “What’s he doing here?”

Micah stared at Zack with a frown. “I didn’t know. I haven’t seen him in days.”

“Arturo lied about not being able to leave Vamp City,” she told her brother, acid on her tongue. “And Mike is his vampire bitch. Liars, all,” she added with disgust. “We’re getting out of here.”

Jumping from a second-story window onto a concrete sidewalk probably wasn’t the best idea, but their options were limited, with vampires blocking the only door. Then again, maybe they wouldn’t have to jump. There was a construction crew working halfway down the block. If she leaned her head out the window, and yelled, “Fire!” ten bucks said they’d bring her a ladder.

“Quinn,” Arturo said, his voice hard with warning, as if he’d read her mind. “Zack is suffering from magic sickness. He’ll die if you don’t reverse it.”

She glared at him. “Right. And of course that means returning to Vamp City with you. No thanks.”

Arturo opened his mouth as if to argue, then closed it again, his frown deepening. “How long has he been ill?”

As much as she wanted to ignore him, his worried tone had her answering. “More than a week. You told me he’d sicken if he left the area. He left.” Enough of this. She turned and lifted the sash on the window, flicking away a dead fly to reach the rusted screen latch.

Micah spoke to Arturo behind her. “You said Kassius sensed something when he bit her. That Zack has somehow gotten tangled in her magic.”

Arturo grunted. “But he has no idea what that means. Nor do I.”

“His eyes . . .” Micah’s voice rose slightly as he addressed her. “Quinn, I’ve seen magic poisoning before. If we don’t figure out what’s causing Zack’s, Ax is right. He’s going to die.”

She straightened slowly and turned to face them with a you’ve-got-to-be-kidding look. “So his leaving town didn’t cause it? That was just another lie?”

Arturo shrugged, a hint of a smile lifting one corner of his mouth. A smile that didn’t reach his eyes. “I prefer to call it a lucky guess.”

She just stared at him, the fury seething, burning. “What in the hell did you do to him?”

His expression turned serious, perhaps even puzzled. “Nothing. I do not know why he’s sick. Perhaps it was leaving the area. Perhaps it was leaving Vamp City. Perhaps it was something else.”

Damn him to hell. Lies, lies, lies. If there was any truth buried anywhere within that, how was she supposed to know? Whirling toward the window, she began prying one of the screen hooks loose.

“You would jump, cara?” Arturo asked quietly. “You will injure yourself. In Zack’s weakened state, he might not survive at all.”