Page 61 of Queen of Darkness
What the hell did we do now?
Chapter Thirty
“We need to head back,” Aaron said, his dejection mirroring my own.
He looked frustrated, and who could blame him? We’d come so far, right to the edge of Madrigal, our target all but in sight, and now we were stymied. Unable to proceed, thanks to the extreme paranoia of the queen. It sucked.
“Is there no other way? No secret passage we can take?” I asked.
“No.”
I looked up at the curt reply. “Hey, this isn’t my fault. I’m trying to explore our options here, okay?”
Aaron hissed, but not at me. “I know. I’m sorry, Jo. I just thought … I thought things were finally going to change, that’s all. That we could make a difference that I’ve longed to make for centuries. To see it so bluntly denied isfrustrating.Still, I should not have taken it out on you.”
His hand reached out to squeeze mine. I squeezed it back. There was no need to hold grudges simply because he was upset. I was, too.
“Anyone else have any good ideas?” I asked the rest of the team as they lay on their backs, rifles held across their body, at the ready, just in case.
“We could cause a distraction,” Fred said. “Try to draw attention to another part of the city. Create a path for you two to get to the palace.”
“That would be suicide,” Aaron said, gently refusing the offer.
“He’s right. We’re not letting you get killed just so wemightsucceed. Thanks for the offer.”
“Don’t mention it,” Fred said, relieved. “I didn’t much want to do it anyway. It was just an idea. Really the only idea.”
“Yeah,” I said grumpily, staring across the roof at the ropes we’d used to climb up. The exhilaration of being strong enough to pull myself up the two stories was long gone by now. Crushed by the overwhelming sense of failure. “We’d need a bigger diversion anyway. A much bigger one to get through all that.”
“Too bad we can’t use Fred’s ego,” Dave said, injecting some levity into the moment as we all chuckled.
I continued to stare at the ropes, my eyes unfocusing as I furiously tried to come up with something,anything, that would let us continue.
“Shit,” I mumbled to nobody in particular. I didn’t have any good suggestions either. It was like Aaron had said. We had to turn back.
“Let’s get out of here, rethink our strategy,” Aaron said, pointing at the ropes.
“Yeah, I think you’re right,” I said, just as the rope on the right twitched. “Did you see that?”
“I did,” Aaron hissed, snapping his fingers.
The team rolled to their knees in a heartbeat, weapons up and aimed at the ropes.
A face appeared over the edge of the roof. The vampire’s eyes went wide, just as four of the six rifles fired. There was an explosion of blood, and they dropped out of view.
Shouts went up from below.
“He wasn’t alone,” I cursed. “Damn. We’ve been found. Aaron, we need another exit, now.”
“We’ve been spotted,” Alexi said. “Six buildings over. Five-man team. They heard the gunfire.”
I looked over my shoulder in the direction Alexi indicated and cursed like a sailor. I could practicallyseethe shockwave as knowledge of us spread through the city.
“We’re going to be in alotof trouble in a few minutes if we don’t get a move on right away,” I said. “Can we just take out the vamps below the ropes and go back the way we came?”
Pieter rushed to the corner of the roof, stuck his head out over the edge, then yanked it back real quick as a flurry of what appeared to be crossbow bolts shot through the air.
“Would not recommend,” he said gruffly, unfazed by the close brush with face impalement.
