Page 20 of Fated In Blood

He wouldn’t stay down long, maybe five minutes, tops, enough time for me to clear the castle and reach the edge of the grounds. I tasted the tang of blood as I stepped over him and went through the door. Alone.

Fucking alone. Fury built as I imagined leaving my sister here, a vampire’s pretty plaything, and I made myself a promise.

They would all die for what they did.

Every last one of them.

The Historical Registry of Homes kept very thorough records, including the original blueprints of this house, and I’d studied them for hours, mapping out various escape routes from the castle, including the multiple sets of servants’ stairs.

I’d thought I’d be taking Angel with me, but right now, I’d be lucky to get back to my car and out of this town alive.

I took the stairs two at a time. Bosch would be on his feet in a matter of minutes and following my scent. Even in his injured state, he’d be fueled by rage, and I wouldn’t stay ahead of him for long.

Halfway down I fumbled my last explosive device out of my pocket and set the timer for two minutes. Enough time for me to clear the door at the bottom of these steps and get onto the grounds.

At the very least, Bosch would have to go around another way; at most, the explosion would kill him and be another distraction to buy me time. But this castle was old, the timbers rotten, so there was a chance the whole wing might collapse, and my sister was still up there.

My sister, the vampire.

I slapped the device onto the stone wall and kept going.

The dark side yard was teeming with guards and enormous dogs, moving back and forth across the grounds, noses to the ground. Flashlights cut through the night like blades, and I wound my way through the bushes, then crept out onto the grass, wishing I wore something besides this blue dress.

But I wasn’t completely defenseless.

I still had one knife remaining in my thigh sheath—Bosch was a fool for not patting me down earlier—two ash slivers and two syringes of silver oxide. And three hundred feet of ground to cover until I reached that drop-off into the park.

The explosion blew past me like thunder, tossing me to the ground, huge chunks of rock crashing all around me, carving divots out of the manicured grass. And all of a sudden, I was in the worst place possible as every guard and dog rushed toward my position.

I dodged through reeking black smoke and blocks of stone until I reached some sort of walkway, following that toward what I hoped was the edge of the property. Behind me one of the dogs bayed and I looked over my shoulder, stumbling when I saw what pursued me.

That wasn’t a dog.

I flattened myself to the grass and stayed perfectly still while two hulking forms sped past me, noses to the ground. I’d never seen anything like these creatures. Built like tanks, their legs were oddly jointed, clawed feet digging deep into the turf with every step, powerful bodies covered in thick, leathery skin. But their faces…I sucked in a panicked breath and the closest one stopped dead.

Fuck. I scuttled backward on my hands and knees, fumbling at my thigh sheath, sweaty, shaking fingers slipping off the syringe until I finally pulled it free. The monster thundered toward me, head low, teeth…Oh God, I’d never seen anything like those teeth.

At the last possible second, I rolled to the left and plunged the syringe into the thing’s leathery shoulder as the creature sped past, ripping the vial from my hand and damn near severing my finger. I didn’t wait to see it go down, just dug my bare feet into the thick grass and raced for the edge of the grounds, gaze fixed on the dark line of trees beyond the stone wall.

Shouts went up and the ground thundered beneath me as the guards gave chase. I pulled my last syringe, grasping the plunger in my hand, ready to stick the first thing that got close. The stone wall grew closer and closer. I could hear the river down below in the park and sucked in a searing, sobbing gasp.

One second the way before me was clear.

The next, Bosch was there.

I crashed straight into him, bringing my hand down in a perfect arc to shoot him full of silver oxide. He blocked my attack with a powerful blow that snapped my wrist, the blast of pain locking my knees. I went down, tumbling over and over across the grass until I came to a stop.

Something wet dripped onto my face and I cracked open an eye.

One of the monsters caged me between those enormous legs, curved talons inches from the side of my head, saliva dripping from its fang-encrusted mouth as the beast sniffed me over, flooding my lungs with rancid, disgusting breath that made me gag.

“Move so much as a muscle and I will order him to devour you while you’re still alive.” Bosch chuckled. “They like to start with your liver, which I hear is extremely painful.”

Yeah, I had no contingency plan for monsters the size of an elephant.

None whatsoever.

12

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