He tilted his head to the side, one of those weird moves that looks like a bird cocking its head. Not human at all. “I do not require the female.” He lifted his head and sniffed. The lizard poked its head out of Jack’s collar and raced around the vamp’s shoulder to the back.
Behind me the notes of the flute changed, rising an octave, now sounding like a challenge and not pure defense. At the same moment, the stench of Molly’s death magic stopped cold. Either she was dead or she was temporarily free of Shoffru’s control. “Your pet sorcerer is a nuisance. If you want the soldier back alive, bring the blood diamond to me.”
Left-handed, I threw the knife. It shot through the air and buried itself in Shoffru’s chest. Inches from his heart. The pirate didn’t react. He tossed Eli up into the air. My partner landed on Shoffru’s shoulder like a rag doll, his blood spraying across the room and onto the wall, spattering like a swan’s wing. With a loud pop of air, Shoffru—and Eli—was gone. Silence settled on the house, expectant and full of despair. The sofa rolled over, thudding on its feet. Rachael rose from a crouch, holding a wicked-sharp kitchen knife, a boning knife, maybe. She had a hand on Bliss, holding the little witch behind her. “Shiloh?” she called. When nothing happened, she called louder, “Shiloh!”
The redheaded girl leaned in through the broken back window. Somehow she had ended up outside, and she was crying. Thin bloody streaks marked her cheeks. Rachael rushed to the window and pulled Shiloh through into the room. “I’m sorry,” Shiloh whispered. “I’m sorry.”
“You panicked,” Rachael soothed. “It happens. It’s okay.”
“But I left you to die,” she wailed. “I’m a horrible mistress. I suck at being a vampire.”
I couldn’t help it. I laughed. Rachael and Bliss both shot me evil looks. Shiloh looked nonplussed for a moment and then she laughed with me. Beside her, Katie laughed too, her fangs snicking back into the roof of her mouth.
Still laughing, maybe sounding a bit hysterical, if I listened closely, I slid off the stool to the floor, landing in an ungainly pile of legs, a half scream of pain as my arm jostled horribly, and my body landing sent out a puff of air. The stool rocked up, twirled on one leg, and clattered over beside me. The gust from my fall reached Shiloh, and her nostrils widened as she sniffed. Instantly she vamped out. Tiny needle fangs snapped down on the hinges in the roof of her mouth as her eyes bled black and wide in the bloody red sclera. Not very stable, was our little, youngest fanghead. And me bleeding all over the floor.
“Shiloh?” Evan’s voice came from the side, and Shiloh whipped her head to him, sniffing. And licked her lips. Her uncle was a body full of blood that an emotional vamp might need, badly.
Without looking, Evan reached out a hand and touched Bliss’ shoulder. “Help me here,” he said to her. He lifted a flute and blew a soft, breathy note. It was a note full of compulsion, and I let myself fall into the ease and peace it offered. Magics danced across the room, to spark on Shiloh’s skin. Even Katie looked content, almost serene, and I had never seen her look that way. Never.
Shiloh’s fangs hinged slowly back into her mouth. Her pupils contracted, the sclera paling out to streaks of red and then to white. She blinked, humanity and understanding flooding into her expression. “Ohhhh,” she breathed.
And with that, I slid down, falling face-first into a dark pit that was free of pain.
? ? ?
When I woke, it was to the sound of flute music. There was no particular melody, just low notes, each seeming a hint off, followed by chirps of bird calls, piping and bright, all merging into a pleasant, easy sound, like egrets murmuring to one another as they settled into nests for the night. I was lying on something soft that smelled of female bodies and vamp and blood and arousal. I was in a vamp’s lair, in her bed. I thought about that. About moving. About how I happened to end up here. In a rush I remembered most of it. I decided that as long as they weren’t feeding off me or inviting me to join in a group . . . whatever . . . I was good with that.
“She’s awake,” Shiloh said. “Her heart rate changed.”
I grunted, but I didn’t want to move. I wasn’t hurting bad, and that almost-pain-free feeling wouldn’t last if I moved. But the music stopped and heated hands gripped my good shoulder to pull me upright. I met Evan’s eyes and managed a smile, or I intended it to be a smile, but from his reaction, I must have failed. Yeah. So much for the pain-free moments.
“How many times can you be injured that badly and survive?” he asked, almost gently.