Page 40 of Tainted Blood

Samas roared, and the table I was hiding behind was hit by a body breaking through the wood and slamming into me. I found myself under Ka, who groaned as he tried to get up, only to fall back on me. I could smell how much blood he was losing.

“Ka, you’re wounded,” I said, getting out from under him. He was trying to roll off me at the same time, which was a boon. I looked up as a shadow passed over, seeing that Samas was now only a few feet away, his back to us. He was massive now, his head nearly reaching the ceiling, and no longer looked remotely human.

I slowly put a hand over Ka’s mouth, looking to make eye contact with him. He nodded, understanding the situation. He was missing an arm at the shoulder and somehow ignoring the pain to keep silent. Samas sniffed, then snarled at the group trying to get around him again. Alexius was motioning, keeping his hands low, but I knew he was trying to direct people who could see. I saw the moment he realized I was there, his eyes going wide, turning from his natural dark brown to red. Samas looked back at us, and I knew he had seen Ka and me.

Oh, shit.

A moment later, someone jumped on Samas, knocking him away better than Kamose had been able to do. I grabbed Ka’s good arm, hauling him up as Samas lunged for us, fighting against whoever was holding him. Racing for the door, I glad that Ka was able to move himself. I shoved the door open with my shoulder this time, and it broke off its hinges as we got into the hallway.

“Everly, keep running!” Alexius screamed as Samas roared in the lounge. There was a crash, and I knew he was back in the fight.

I was pulling away from Ka to go back in. There had to be more people I could help escape. Except an arm wrapped around my waist, lifting me off the ground, and pulled me away from the room.

“Don’t fight,” Ka snarled before taking off down the hall. He didn’t release me as he kicked open a door and shoved me into the suite Alexius and I shared. I turned to see him picking up Aelia with his remaining arm and bringing her in as well. He forced her body toward me.

“Pick a room and we’re getting in it. Now,” he snarled, fighting to close the door again.

I took Aelia to my bedroom, through the main room and into the bathroom, putting more doors between us and the monster in the building. Ka followed, closing each door behind him. Once we were all in the bathroom, I sank against the wall.

“I have to help,” I mumbled, staring at the closed door.

“You’ll sit in here with me, silently,” Ka growled. “I’m going to pass out any moment…” Sure enough, he swayed and slowly slid down the wall, putting his hand over his bleeding shoulder. “Damn. It’s slowing down…”

I reached out for a towel, putting it in his hand, but he shook his head.

“It’ll… be fine.” He closed his eyes and stopped breathing.

I sank to the floor. I knew if I left and headed for the lounge, I could accidentally bring Samas here to kill both of them.

Do I accept that I helped them, or do I try to help more people and risk them?

I had an idea. The lounge wasn’t the only way to the downstairs. There was the staircase at the end of the hall.

I snuck out quickly, Ka now completely unconscious like Aelia. I checked the hall, hearing the fighting still going on, but none of them were in the hall. Even if they weren’t winning, the other vampires were keeping Samas in the lounge, and that was something.

They have to win, though. Alexius can’t lose. He just can’t.

Finding the stairs I needed, I ran up them as I thanked whatever lucky stars I had. I knew how security worked, and I knew how unlucky I could have been. That staircase could have been locked to keep everyone in the basement, but I didn't know the intricacies of Isaiah's security. At the top, I found myself in a wing I had only seen briefly during Isaiah’s tour of his country estate. I ran down the hall, finding other vampires from the basement in the entryway. The smell of blood was overwhelming.

“They won’t let us leave,” Conall growled as I approached. “The entire building has been shuttered and closed. We couldn’t escape with our lives even if we wanted to.”

I looked around, seeing no humans anywhere. They were all probably evacuated or hiding in safe rooms.

“That’s to keep everyone from getting out before the situation is resolved, including the situation himself,” I explained.

“You think I don’t know—”

“Conall…” There was a pause as a woman groaned in pain. “Stop being cowardly,” a woman snarled from a corner. I saw Sheba there, holding her abdomen.

“What happened?” I asked her, stepping closer.

“I got… got hit,” she managed to say, giving me a rueful smile.

“Her back is broken, and we’re hoping her insides… stay inside her,” Julia explained. Lyra was hovering a few feet from her. “But we can’t help her. We need fresh human blood for her, a lot of it.”

“We wrapped her abdomen, and now we wait,” Lyra murmured.

“Aelia and Ka have both been wounded as well. I got them into a room downstairs. Why aren’t any of you hiding in a room or something?”

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