A Kiss of Blood (Vamp City #2)(86)

Then again, even the most ardent survivalist likely had little knowledge of how to live in a land without animals except for the vampires’ horses. A land where the only things that grew were dead trees.

She’d known, on an intellectual level, that food would be a problem, and had shoved a couple of slices of stolen bread into her dress pocket before she left. But she’d eaten one last night and the other this morning and was already hungry. And she was completely and totally out of food.

If she didn’t find a way to escape Vamp City soon, she was going to starve.

The earth rumbled a split second before the shaking began. The water in the creek began to roll and splash, and she backed up, not wanting to get wet. The crash of a nearby tree had her hunching protectively as her heart began to hammer with excitement and hope.

Suddenly, the heavens opened. Sun poured down in a beam of light not twenty feet away. Her heart leaped and she ran for it without hesitation, praying she’d run right through into the real world. And, hopefully, not into the path of an oncoming car.

But when she reached the light and dove into the blessed warmth of the sunshine, nothing happened. In the shadows all around her, the dead trees stood sentinel, as if blocking her escape.

Her heart plummeted, and she fought back tears of disappointment. Trying one more time, she stepped out of the sunbeam on the other side, and back into the light.

“Please, let me through. Please!”

But while the sunshine warmed her chilled body, drenching her sun-starved skin and blinding eyes too long accustomed to the dark, no door opened. And minutes later, when the light went out and she was once more standing in the dark, hope shattered around her cold, bare feet.

There was no escape. Not this way.

And if not through a sunbeam, then how? She was so hungry.

The crushing disappointment weighed on her until it was all she could do not to sink to the ground and give in to the tears. But tears wouldn’t get her out of Vamp City. And there had to be a way out.

How many times had she come to a point in a computer game where there appeared to be no way to win? She’d never given up because she’d known, if she searched long enough, she’d find it. There was always a way to win. She’d find it this time, too.

The snap of a twig had her heart rate skyrocketing. Her eyes had yet to adjust to the dark again, and the thought of something out there that she couldn’t see had her blood running cold.

Slowly, her vision began to return, and when it did, she knew she was no longer alone. Dark forms dotted the hillside, standing between the trees.

Wolves. At least seven giant gray wolves.

The blood drained from her face.

“Werewolves,” a female voice said a short distance behind her, making her jump. Too late, she realized that by standing in the sunlight, she’d undoubtedly made herself visible to anyone within a mile radius.

Lily glanced over her shoulder, not wanting to take her eyes off the wolves for too long, and caught a glimpse of a woman who looked to be close to middle-aged, at least midthirties. She wore a gown similar to Lily’s, colorless in the twilight, and nondescript. Her hair, twisted into a knot at the nape of her neck, lacked a Slava’s glow, but the belt around her waist, laden with a sword, hunting knife, and what appeared to be an old-fashioned waterskin, gave her the appearance of someone who’d been here a long, long time. As did the bow she held to her face, an arrow cocked and aimed at the nearest wolf.

Unless the Traders had snatched a survivalist off the streets of D.C., this woman was no freshie. Instinct told Lily she’d been here a while. Long enough to turn Slava, if she was human.

So if she wasn’t human, what was she?

Vampire.

Lily watched the wolves, the saliva dripping from mouths lined with sharp, deadly teeth, and wondered if they, or the woman at her back, posed the greatest threat.

“They’re starving,” the woman added quietly, as if hearing her thoughts. “And you’re fresh, tender meat. It’s your choice—stay here and become dinner, or come with me.”

Lily’s body rocked from the force of her heart’s thundering beats. It seemed she was about to become someone’s dinner. But the vampire didn’t have to kill her to feed from her. The wolves did.

Without a word, she turned and hurried toward the woman.

“She is mine,” the woman called to the wolves. Several snarled. One howled. But to Lily’s surprise, they made no move to attack. Was it possible that seven werewolves were really afraid of one vampire? And what did that say about Lily’s own chances of survival?

She supposed she was about to find out.





Chapter Twenty-Three

Quinn paced the demolished living room of the safe house, clean now, after she’d picked up the mess she’d made while practicing her magic again this morning. Using the focusing technique Arturo had shown her last night, she was able to pull the power with more and more predictability. But whether the ability to throw chairs equated to the power to renew Vamp City’s magic, she didn’t know.

She glanced at her watch as she paced. It was after one o’clock. A short while ago, Mukdalla had brought her lunch and assured her that Zack was fine, that he and Jason had been in the gym almost nonstop since dawn. Quinn supposed it was as good a way for him to spend the time as any.

The low rumble vibrating in the floorboards made her freeze. Hoofbeats.