Chapter 30 JERICHO
JERICHO
Evan’s eyes are lethal as he passes me, making my stomach sink. He must’ve figured out what this room is. Or more specifically, how I knew about it.
It was a shitty thing to do, bringing him here, but it’s the only room I knew well enough to get us inside. I just had to hope no one else was using it.
Thankfully, it’s empty. The air is stale and stuffy, like the room hasn’t aired out in weeks.
Screams tear down the hall. We chase after the wolves just in time to see a towering male vampire lunge.
They collide with a wolf midair, tumbling to the ground in a swirl of teeth and claws.
Another wolf leaps in, clamping its teeth around the vampire’s throat. A second later, the vampire goes limp.
Evan’s steps falter, his gun still poised to fire. “Thank God they’re on our side.”
“Come on,” I say, nudging him along.
As we make our way down the long corridor, I look in every room, holding my breath in fear we might run into Foxx.
When we reach the media room where a large television is set up with a few couches, we get a few curious looks from the humans sitting in there, but none of them attempt to get up from the couches.
I want to tell them to get the fuck out of there. To run like their life depends on it—but I need to find Foxx first. He’s our main goal.
The closer we get to the stairs, the cleaner the rooms become. A few have beds and dressers, but not much else. And none of them look or smell like Foxx’s room. Is he living upstairs then?
We take the stairs leading up to the main floor.
My palms are clammy against the metal railing, my mind burning with ugly memories.
The last time I'd been here, I was a newborn vampire.
Freshly turned and consumed with thirst. I attacked someone on the stairwell—a woman?
Fuck, I can barely remember. I just remember another vampire ripping me off her and tossing me outside. Where I found another victim.
That one hadn’t survived.
Heat blooms in my chest, inching out down my arms toward my hands. Fire crackles under my skin like molten lava, threatening to burn anything it comes into contact with.
Evan coughs, yanking his shirt up over his nose. “You’re gonna give us away, babe.”
“I know, I’m trying.”
Not that it matters. Foxx probably already knows we’re here since the wolves are running loose.
I really could’ve used another month to practice my powers, but we didn’t have time. Not when so many people are dying.
Stay calm, Jericho. You don’t want to hurt the wrong people.
Two wolves sprint past us when we reach the main floor, and a man on a computer stops what he’s doing to yell, “Hey, you know you can’t shift in—” He trails off when five or six more wolves whiz by, ears pinned to their heads and growling low. At the sight of their massive size, his eyes get wide.
He reaches for the radio clip on his left peck, but I snag his wrist and command, in a deep, smooth voice, “You’re going to forget all about us and lock yourself in a storage room.”
The man ceases his struggle. “I’ll lock myself in a storage room,” he repeats.
“Tell me where Foxx is.”
“I don’t know. I haven’t seen him all night.”
Tossing him aside, I continue on. The lights and music ahead tell me we should be coming up on the back corner of the dance floor pretty soon.
When we reach the end of the hall, Evan and I stand to the side to survey the room. Ivy’s wolf circles around Evan, guarding him.
A tiny, blue-haired woman sprints in front of me, carrying a tray of drinks. She clearly hasn’t noticed the fight about to break loose or else she wouldn’t be hauling a drink order. Her slim-fitted dress matches the company’s electric blue logo.
“Where’s Foxx?” Evan demands.
The woman whips her head around, gaze zeroing in on my hands, which are glowing red and smoking.
That's when I recognize her.
“Your boss!” Evan snaps. “Where is he?”
She points to the bar. “He’s not my boss! But last I saw him, over there.”
Evan starts to head in that direction but I stop him, saying, “Are you Willow?”
The woman’s eyes get impossibly wide. “Y-yes?”
Evan and I exchange a look.
“Stay with us,” he says. “We’re friends of Kaine’s. We’re here to help.”
She seems relieved, yet she shakes her head. “I’m trying to help the humans!”
“What humans?” he asks.
“He has a dozen of them locked in a room upstairs.” Her eyes flash a supernatural midnight blue.
Willow isn’t human. She’s a vampire. Had Kaine turned her?
My stomach sinks. Fuck. What if I drained her to the point of death, and Kaine’s only choice was to turn her?
Someone screams, “We’re under attack!” and the people nearest us break into a frenzy. Shouts erupt through the building as people begin running for the exits. Straight toward us.
I yank Evan and Willow, pinning them to the wall as people scramble by. The glasses she was holding shatter on the ground, creating a slippery mess. A few people fall to the floor and get trampled.
When the crowd reaches the door, they push against it, pinning those at the front.
“Open it!” someone shouts from the back.
“I can’t!”
They try again, pushing and pounding on the door, but to no avail. It doesn’t move an inch. Panic spreads through the crowd. Evan and I stand pressed against the wall, our feet getting stepped on every few seconds.
How the hell am I supposed to find Foxx in this mess?
Evan leans in to say something to Willow, who nods then pulls away into the crowd. Evan follows.
“Evan!”
“Find Foxx!” he cries. “I’m going for Orem!”
I curse, fear gripping me by the throat.
God damn it. Why can’t he just stay close like I said?
Yet deep down, I know he’s right. We need to find Orem to break the binding spell on the doors, or else all of these people are going to get hurt.
I could create a portal, but there’s no way we would get all of them through fast enough, and certainly not without Foxx noticing.
I shove past the crowd, inching my way along the wall until I’m free.
A wolf yelps after being caught between two vampires. Without thinking, I raise my hands and throw two fireballs at the vamps, hitting them square in the chest. They must be wearing protective clothing because the fire bounces off them, extinguishing as soon as it falls to the floor.
The closest one hisses when he sees me. “Amir, it’s him! That’s the phoenix!”
They both turn their attention to me, eyes gleaming as if given a prize. I try to remember their gifts but come up short.
The wolf who had been bitten lunges for one of the vampires, knocking it to the ground and sinking its jaws into the side of its neck. With one quick jerk, the vampire goes limp.
I send a second round of fireballs at the other vamp, aimed higher toward their throat. One makes contact with their skin, igniting and killing them instantly. More people scream in panic, scrambling to get away.
The wolf looks at me with gratitude before turning and snapping at a vampire who was trying to feed from a human. The vamps are in a frenzy. No holds barred.
I look around, hoping to spy Evan somewhere in the crowd. Please let him be okay.
A flash of blond hair catches my attention, but it’s not Evan’s. Foxx is slithering behind the bartenders like a coward trying to get to the exit.
“Foxx!” Between the noise and the size of the crowd, my voice doesn’t carry far.
I shove at two men trying to get closer to the bar. When they don’t move, I leap into the air and land on the nearest dance stage. The male dancer scrambles away, whimpering, but I turn my attention back toward the bar.
I can’t let him get away.
“FOXX!” I shout again, cupping my hands around my mouth.
My sire turns to scan the room, then freezes. His confusion turns to rage the moment he sees me.
“You!” he roars. “You’re behind this?”
“You won’t get out of this, Foxx,” I say. “The place is surrounded. It’s time you stop hurting people!”
He shoves at another employee, trying to get by.
Raising an arm, I aim a fireball at the wall of liquor bottles behind Foxx.
The shelves collapse on impact sending over three dozen bottles crashing to the ground.
Flames erupt from the alcohol, casting bright blue and green hues above the crowd.
Terror-filled screams dominate the small space.
People shove harder toward the exits, causing a deadly blockage by the doors.
Foxx shoves the nearest employee aside, then another, and another, inching his way closer to the door.
Out of sheer desperation, I shoot two more fireballs across the room, each of them hitting the wall above his head.
Glass shatters on impact, and I watch in horror as flames lick up the side of the wall, fanning out over the crowd in a whoosh of smoke and embers.
The wood shelves ignite, leaving mere seconds before even more alcohol bursts into flame.
Fuck.
“It’s open!” someone cries.
I glance back at the door as people cheer and shuffle toward the exits. My fire must have broken through the binding spell. Good. At least they can leave now.
When I turn around, Foxx is dangerously close to the exit. “Foxx!” I shout, but he’s already gone, slipping through the crowd in a flash.
“FUCK!”
Immediately, I begin scanning the crowd for Evan when the scent of blood hits my nose. I look down and am taken aback by the sight.
The young dancer who I’d startled when I’d jumped up is still here, trying desperately to get away.
He can’t be more than twenty-two, and has a look of pure terror on his face as he claws and scrambles against the hardwood.
He is dressed in black designer underwear and a sheer top, and his blue eyes are outlined with charcoal eyeliner.
But none of that is what catches my attention.
It’s the metal shackles around his wrists, cutting into his skin and making him bleed.
I hold my hands up in a placating gesture, but it only seems to terrify him more since they’re still smoking. He screams and pulls at the chains, tears streaming down his face.
“P-please, d-don’t!”
“I won’t hurt you,” I say.
I reach for the chain on the floor and yank, but it doesn’t budge. I try again, and still nothing. A tingle of electricity vibrates through my palms, crackling against my heated skin. When I look closer, I see a bluish hue embedded into the steel of the shackles.
Shit. My vampire strength won’t do any good if the steel is infused with magic. I need Red. He’ll be able to break the spell and free this guy.
“I’m going to get you help!”
“Get away from me!” a woman shouts nearby.
I look up to see Willow aiming a broken bottle of liquor at a wolf. Not just any wolf—Ivy. Ivy is snapping at her, teeth bared.
“Ivy, don’t!” I shout, making her jump. “That’s Willow! Kaine’s friend!”
Ivy pauses, glancing between me and Willow, her tear-streaked face riddled with confusion and fear.
“Where’s Evan?” I ask Willow.
“I don’t know!” she tells me. “He was following me and then—ahh!” She screams as another wolf runs by. “He ran off when the fire started.”
I look around, my stomach twisting into knots. The chaos is starting to die down now that people are leaving, but I still don’t see him.
“Evan!” I shout, making a few people jump. I scan the crowd, my stomach sinking into a pool of dread when I don’t see him.
“EVAN!”
When no one answers, fire churns in my chest.
WHERE’S MY MATE?