Again, no answer.
Taking a deep breath and another step, this time directly behind him…I hit his head hard with the butt end of my gun. He groaned, his body falling, unconscious. Swiftly, I put the gun away, lifted him over my shoulder with my Shifter strength, and raced through the building. I ran outside to the Hummer, gently placing him on the passenger seat. I went back for Antonio. He went on the back seat. I heard sirens in the distance, and I muttered a litany of obscenities as I ran back into the building for Cahal. He groaned when I threw him over my shoulder, but he didn’t wake as I ran from the building. The sirens were almost on us, and I haphazardly threw Cahal on the back seat too, his head banging against the other door as I quickly stuffed their legs in before slamming the door.
Nervous sweat beaded my brow as I jumped onto the driver’s seat, turning the car on, hearing Bonnie and Clyde growling in the back. I didn’t have time to get Vivian’s body, and I didn’t even want to think about the ramifications of that yet. Quickly reversing, I kept my lights off, but let my eyes flare in the darkness. I saw the flashing headlights less than a block away, so I cut the wheel to the right, praying the place had a back entrance.
It didn’t.
I made one.
Bumping over the curb into the next parking lot, I heard multiple Com police car tires squealing to a stop at the ice-cream parlor. I kept the gas pedal down, zigzagging through the parking lot of a grocery store, also exiting their back entrance — they had one —before driving onto a main thoroughfare. Destination unknown.
No one following us, I dug my phone out, having to try three times before I got the numbers right, my hands were shaking so badly.
Elder Merrick answered on the fourth ring. “Hello? Lily?”
God love caller ID. “I have a situation.” The words were flying. “I need your input.”
“Talk.” His voice was dead serious.
“Here’s what you need to know. Vivian was just killed. Cahal is passed out. I knocked Ezra out when he went Vampire crazy. Antonio had a…Mage fit…of some kind, I’ve never seen happen. He glowed, screaming, and then started convulsing before he passed out. I’ve evaded the cops, but I had to leave Vivian’s body behind.” I took in a huge breath. “What I need to know is, what the fuck happened to Antonio, and is Ezra going to be Ezra when he wakes up, or Ezra-Vamp-crazy?” I knew what Cahal would be like.
There was a long pause, then a heavy sigh on the other end. “I’m going to skip past the fact that all fucking five of you were together while you’re searching for the Prodigies, and get to what you need to know for the complete clusterfuck of a situation you’re in.” Thank you. “First, Antonio was having a vision. The more powerful the Mage, the harder the visions hit. He’ll be out for — at least — a day and when he wakes up he’ll want his book. Second, Ezra was reacting as any powerful Vampire reacts when a loved one dies — his predator took control — but when he wakes he should be fine. You know what Cahal will be like when he wakes up and realizes his mate is dead.”
I nodded. “Okay, okay. I can do this. I just need to find a place far enough away that no one will hear their screams when they wake up.” My head continued to bob, a hysterical laugh bubbling, my eyes darting everywhere. “It’s fucking Vegas, after all. They’ll think this shit’s normal.”
“Lily,” Elder Merrick barked. “Calm the fuck down.”
Panting, I giggled. “Queen Ruckler.” Another breathless snicker. “What a fucking Queen I am.”
“Lily, you’re about to have a mental collapse. Take some calming breaths.”
I shakily took one in through my nose, my hands trembling again as I whispered, “She was his mom, Merrick. I told her to go into that back room. When she died doing what I told her to do, I couldn’t even retrieve her body for a proper burial.” A sob escaped. “I can’t fucking believe this.”
“Shh,” he hushed softly. “I know. I know.” He sighed. “Tough decisions can make or break a person. You won’t break. Just keep breathing, Lily. That’s the only advice I can give you right now that will help this pass. Just keep breathing.”
“Okay,” I whispered, doing as told, even as a river of tears drenched my cheeks.