Chapter Twenty-Five
ROUX
I brought up the rear of our little group, cursing Grepper the whole way. He’d acted as though giving Gen her father’s painting was such a magnanimous gesture, but I wasn’t buying that. He would probably enjoy watching the vampires hunt us down once he’d dealt with Celeste.
Meanwhile, we hurried through that concrete block the warlock called home. The austere hallways felt more like tunnels, an effect enhanced by the slanted walls.
“I bet some architect won a prize for designing this place,” Gen muttered, leading the way around another blind corner.
Danielle nodded proudly. “He did. It was on the cover of magazines and everything.”
Her tone suggested she somehow shared in the accolades when all she’d done was sleep with the architect’s rich client, a man four times her age.
She should count herself lucky that Grepper hadn’t offered me the choice of Danielle’s life or the painting. I would have taken the painting and run, principles be damned.
I scowled. Okay, probably not, but I would have been tempted.
Still, it proved one thing. Gen and I might be opposites in a hundred small ways, but we were on the same page when it came to the important stuff.
A match made in heaven, my tiger hummed.
Yes, but we had to make it out of here alive first. And if we did—
When, not if, my tiger snarled.
— and when we did, I vowed to make her mine.
But first, we had to evade those vampires.
Gen pushed through a big steel door, and we jogged through a subterranean garage illuminated by eerie green lights.
The place was the temperature of a refrigerator and filled with two perfectly aligned rows of four cars each.
I rushed past the first two, then slowed to gape at the next pair.
One was the vintage Porsche 356 we’d seen earlier, and the other, a 911 that dated back to the 1960s, judging by the chrome trim and short wheelbase.
“It’s like the goddamn Batcave,” Gen muttered, rushing on.
“You should see the rest of Kurt’s collection in Zurich,” Danielle said, chalking up another nonachievement. I ought to have pitied her, but all I felt was contempt.
I did, however, feel a little awed by the cars. Grepper even had a 1950s Porsche Roadster down there — one of only sixteen ever produced, if memory served. I paused to admire the two-piece windshield and hammered aluminum body.
“Roux!” Gen hissed.
I hurried on, chagrined.
Gen peered out the high window in the main garage door, then shook her head. “Dammit. The driveway is full of vampires.”
I couldn’t see out the windows in tiger form, but I could sense the vampires out there.
“Rear doorway…rear doorway…” Gen searched around. “Where the hell is the rear doorway?”
She looked at Danielle, then scowled. Of course, Grepper’s mistress of the month had no clue. So beautiful, yet so damned stupid. I couldn’t see the appeal.
“Oh! Here!” Gen called a moment later, pointing to a niche partially concealed by a floor-to-ceiling cabinet that housed Grepper’s tools.
I didn’t covet Grepper’s woman, but those tools…
It took everything I had not to stop for a closer look.
The floor of the next hallway sloped up while the ceiling sloped down, crushing in on us like jaws. Gen paused at the solid steel door at the end, then sniffed the air.
I did too. Nothing.
Slowly, she turned the knob and peeked out. Frigid air sliced through the gap, along with a burst of snow flurries.
“Four vampires,” she whispered, easing the door shut. “Searching the yard.”
My mind raced. If we waited, would the vampires pass or would more join them?
Gen glanced back toward the garage, then shook her head, and I agreed. No turning back now.
She slid her father’s painting into the inside pocket of her jacket, then gripped Danielle by the shoulders. “Okay, listen, and listen good. I need you to stick close to me. Very close. Do not say a word, and do not make any noise. If you do, you’re dead. You get that?”
Danielle bit her lip and nodded.
Still, Gen pressed on. “I mean it. If push comes to shove, I won’t hesitate to leave you behind — and believe me, death by vampire is not a good way to go.”
Danielle paled, nodding again. Rich warlocks might be to her taste, but vampires were definitely not.
Gen turned to me next, whispering, “You stick close too. No heroics.”
I let out a low snarl, not at all on board with that plan.
“Trust me,” she repeated, so fiercely, I nearly stepped back. “I have a plan, but it will only work if you stick close.” Then she grimaced. “And if it doesn’t work… Then you can try heroics. Not before. Okay?”
Not at all okay, because tigers and proud soldiers led from the front. But we were out of options.
Okay, I agreed. But if things go south, you need to run.
While you fight to the death? she retorted.
That was pretty much the plan. And it would be worth it to ensure she survived.
Gen rolled her eyes. How is death a better plan than “Stay close and don’t make noise”?
Just a backup plan, I promised.
She shook her head. Believing in me is better.
I took a deep breath, then nodded. I believe in you.
She turned to the door, frighteningly resolute. She listened for a moment, then glanced back at Danielle. “Like I said, stay close, and don’t make any noise.”
When she nodded, Gen eased the door open and headed out into the blizzard.
Fucking Grepper. Apparently, he could manipulate weather too.
Arctic wind stung my nose, and I squinted into the darkness.
There, there, there, and there. Gen pointed at four vampires fanned out around the yard.
I’d only spotted three. So, wow. Points for her night vision. Part of her mixed shifter ancestry, perhaps?
What she did next came from the witchy side of her family, though. I stared as she melted into the shadows by the door. Literally. One minute, she was there, and the next, she was gone. Danielle’s front side vanished too. Her back wavered like a mirage, then disappeared as well.
I said, stay close! Gen hissed into my mind.
Stretching my nose as far as I could, I stepped forward.
My nose tingled, then my ears and face as I eased through a wall of darkness.
And, oh. There was Gen, with Danielle huddled behind her.
The space around them was pitch-black, and the world beyond grayer than before, as if we were peering out through a dirty lens.
Closer! Gen urged.
I glanced back. My head and shoulders were within Gen’s bubble of darkness, but the rest of my body was in the gray zone that marked the outer world. I pressed forward, making myself as small as possible.
Watch your tail, dammit. Gen gestured.
My tail prickled as I yanked it in.
Slowly, I realized what Gen was doing. She hadn’t found a dark area to hide in. She was casting it. The air around us warmed and wobbled as she wrapped shadows around us like a cloak.
A very lumpy cloak, she muttered. Do you have to be so big?
I hunched, telling myself I was a soldier cramming into a foxhole instead of a guy hiding behind a woman.
And Gen was right. Stay close and don’t make noise was a better plan than taking on four vampires.
And as for heroics…a good soldier knew when to lead and when to trust the skill sets of others.
And what a skill it was. Forget camouflage, face paint, and under the cover of night tactics. Gen could wrap shadows around herself and around us.
She shuffled forward, paused, then rushed toward a tree. My fur tingled, and the shadows stretched, reaching their breaking point. Another step forward, and the feeling eased again as we reached a thicker pool of shadows under the tree. So, the more natural shadows Gen could draw on, the better.
“Stop. Shh!” One of the vampires whipped around.
We froze.
All four vampires looked in our direction, though none focused on our precise spot. So, whew. Gen was doing a damn good job hiding us.
But she couldn’t hide our scent. I steeled every muscle in my body when one of the vampires sniffed the air and stepped closer…closer…
Shit, Gen shouted into my mind.
Hold still, I whispered.
But he’s getting closer! she protested.
Danielle, I noted, had her eyes squeezed shut. Not an effective strategy, but at least she didn’t scream and give us away.
Hold still, I told Gen. But be ready to move, fast. I glanced around. See that big pine? Go there.
I said, no heroics, she retorted.
Call it diversionary tactics, I rumbled back.
As the vampire approached, I crouched, then leaped for his throat. Shouts broke out from the others, but surprise was on my side, giving me a head start — something I sorely needed to kill the vampire then retreat into the forest and double back to the shadows of the big pine.
As a tiger, I knew all about blending in. But, whoa. Gen was nowhere to be seen.
In here, Gen called into my mind.
I looked around. In where?
Her camouflage was that good.
Three more steps, then turn right.
I did as I was told and — oof! — bashed into Danielle.
“Watch ou—” she complained, but Gen slapped a hand over her mouth.
I whirled, checking the vampires. It was uncanny, the switch from the crisp, clear view I’d had “out there” to the washed-out, view out a dirty window of Gen’s shadow. Not that I was complaining.
The vampires gathered around their fallen comrade. Within seconds, his body turned to ash that was whipped away by the wind.
Good riddance.
“Spread out,” one vampire ordered the others. “He can’t be far.”
I wasn’t, but we were upwind now, which meant we could slowly inch away from the villa. It was awkward as hell, moving while mashed up against each other to fit within the shadow Gen cast. But I would take that over being out in the open.
We crept steadily along until Danielle slipped in the snow and yelped. The vampires whipped around, eyes shining blood red.
“Over there.” One pointed slightly left of us.
“No, over there,” another countered, pointing higher up.
“Wait,” one of the vampires called, flaring his nostrils. “I smell someone. Not just that cat. There’s a woman too.”
Gen froze.
“With very alluring blood,” the vampire added a moment later.
The other two whipped around, eyes glowing.
“How alluring?” one asked, coming closer.
Gen dug her fingers into my fur. I nudged for her to keep moving. Slowly.
The first vampire huffed. “Better than that bitch in Auberre who refused to talk.”
Gen froze, and I barely bit back a snarl. Did he mean Claudette?
“Where? I don’t see anyone,” another vampire demanded.
“She’s out there,” the first confirmed.
I bared my teeth, ready to tear all their throats out and avenge Claudette. But getting Gen to safety was my priority.
Don’t even get me started, she barked. Those bastards killed Claudette!
It’s time to escape, not exact vengeance, I hissed.
Maybe we can do both, Gen shot back, flooding my mind with an entire battle plan. Then she paused. Can you do that?
The wind and snow intensified, making the vampires hunch and turn their backs. This was our chance to escape.
Forget revenge, I urged Gen. We need to get out of here.
She shook her head fiercely. They killed Claudette.
My gut roiled with conflicting emotions, and I finally nodded.
All right. But the minute I call a retreat, you retreat. Understood?
She nodded, practically baring her teeth at the vampires.