Page 316 of Dragon Slayer

Liam screamed, and the fire went out, and Vlad dragged him in close as a lover, chest-to-chest. He ducked his head and bit the mage’s throat. His arm was badly burned, Fulk saw, but the prince paid it no heed.

The humans snapped out of their stupor. Some shouted, others cowered.

Fulk didn’t wait around to watch the rest of the binding. It was nothing like his own, kneeling quietly on the floor while Val petted his hair and called himsweetheart. Val was the gentle brother, in his own way – as gentle as a vampire could be – and Vlad had given Fulk and Anna to him. Vlad might be vicious, but he could be kind, too.

Fulk turned and fled, sprinting for the garage, and his Anna, and freedom.

~*~

“Hello, boys. Mind letting me through?”

Someone had shut off the alarm – a bad sign – and two more guards awaited them at the entrance to the tunnel. They’d scented them from around the corner, and Anna had said, “I’ll get them.” Her knife was stashed away in her boot, and to all appearances, she was just an unarmed, petite girl with a baby face. She wondered how much these two goons knew about werewolves.

Enough to be nervous, apparently. They made a good show of drawing themselves up, rifles held across their chests –rifles. No longer just handguns, but full assault gear. Their faces set at stern angles, looking down at her over the bulk of weapons and tactical vests, she could nevertheless scent fear on them.

A scared human was a more aggressive human, usually. But also a human who made mistakes.

“What for?” one of them asked.

“No one’s allowed through the tunnel after hours,” the other said. “You know that.”

“Well, Ido…” she drawled. She aimed for cute, hip cocked, big smile plastered on. She’d never been good at charming anyone, though; she firmly believed the only reason Fulk had ever taken a shine to her was because he thought her hissing-cat routine had been endearing somehow. “But. I figure that’s just so none of the scientist guys can go running outta here with a buncha vampire blood and research notes, right?”

They went goggled-eyed. If the guards had been told about the existence of immortals, none of them seemed quite ready to believe it yet.

After a moment, the first one cleared his throat. “I’m afraid our orders stand. We can’t let you through.”

She sighed. “That’s a real shame, boys.” And she launched herself at them.

They reached for their guns, but she was already within their defenses. She grabbed one by the wrists, gripping tight, tighter than any mortal girl could have, and kicked off from the floor, twisting, catching his friend in the jaw with the heel of her boot. He fell back against the wall with a grunt. She swung around behind the other, and karate-chopped him in the back of the neck. He flinched, dropped down to his knees, and that gave her the chance to whip the knife from her boot and bring the hilt of it slamming against his temple. Hard. He fell, unconscious. And as his friend scrambled, she took him out the same way.

She straightened, and saw the others crowded together in the hallway. Mia looked numb. Kolya looked…the way that he always did. And Val had a hand on the pommel of his sword.

“We could have helped,” he lamented.

“That’s not your job. Come on.”

He hesitated, looking down at the fallen guards. “Couldn’t we just…”

“No.” Anna turned and started down the tunnel at a jog; thankfully, she heard the others following.

The tunnel itself had existed in the duke’s time, though then it had been a narrow, dark passage hewn into the earth and lined with stone, big enough for two to pass through it with shoulders overlapping and heads ducked beneath the low ceiling. Once the Institute moved in, modern equipment had been used to expand it. Now three could walk abreast, with room on both sides, and the ceiling was a standard eight feet, laced with wires and cables that ran electricity to the caged lights set at intervals. It ran under the conservatory and sloped slowly down, and eventually emptied out into an underground parking garage where a bevy of unmarked SUVs, sedans, and Humvees crouched on cold concrete.

“You don’t actually think they’ll let us drive out of here, do you?” Val asked from behind her.

“That’s the plan,” she tossed back over her shoulder. “Have faith.”

“Yes, well…you’ll forgive me if I have my doubts.”

Anna huffed to herself and lengthened her stride. It felt good to run, even if now it was for the wrong reason. Her wolf, already straining to be let loose, wanted desperately to drop to all fours andreallyrun. To streak through trees, and leap creeks, and meet the wind with open mouth and joyful, lolling tongue. If they got out of here –whenthey got out of here – she and Fulk were long overdue for a shift. Maybe even a hunt…

All such fantasies jolted to a halt when they entered the cavernous garage and were met by a lone figure. A red-haired woman in a green dress, arms down at her sides, still as stone. The smell of ash rushed to greet Anna; she’d always wondered if her sister had smelled like that from birth, and if it was only her turning that had allowed her to scent it. Humans claimed they couldn’t sense it.

All her bubbling energy drained away. Her fledgling hope. “L-lily?” She’d expected more guards, a few more heads to bash. Maybe, if Fulk hadn’t shown up yet, she’d even let Val have a drink from one of them. But for some naïve reason, she hadn’t thought the final obstacle would be her own sister.

She should have. But she was stupid, and always would be when it came to her own flesh and blood.

Lily stared, calm and cool, her face like porcelain. “I’m sorry,” she said, without even a hint of emotion. “I can’t let you leave.”

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