Blood Prophecy

CHAPTER 33



Solange


I was too far away to stop the Huntsmen from grabbing Nicholas, and then I had to hide from the Host vampire who was trailing them, taking up the rear guard. I followed him as quietly as I could. I’d never been this far into the mountains before so I wasn’t sure of the terrain. I finally caught the distinct glow of lantern lights and fire from the mouth of a cave a few yards up into the rock.

I heard the stomp of boots, then the unmistakable sound of running and panting. Flashlights bobbed between the trees. I scaled a shaggy pine tree, narrowly avoiding being spotlighted. I stayed where I was, peering down as dozens of hunters marched past me. I caught glimpses of military cargos, guns, stakes. Walkie-talkies burbled. I heard “Base secure” and “Operation Dawn underway” followed by “wait for the signal” I stayed still until I was sure they’d all passed by.

“Okay, that was weird,” I muttered.

I climbed higher until I could lean out and get a better look at the cave. The smell of pine resin was interrupted by blood, iron, sweat. My fangs hurt in my gums. I couldn’t see inside, but there were Huntsmen on guard detail, and human hunters as well. And when the wind died down, I could hear just fine.

Kieran.

I gripped the branch so hard, bits of the moss and bark broke off. I forced myself not to jump down and attack, to instead listen carefully until I knew what was going on. He didn’t sound as if he was in pain, only angry.

And not alone.

Nicholas answered him, and then Lucy.

I had to get them out.

I waited for what felt like a hundred years, as useless as Snow White after her bite of the apple. I strained to hear more but someone barked at them to be quiet and they fell silent after that. I could only hear the scrape of metal on metal, and someone weeping.

I didn’t have time to go for help so I was going to have to do this on my own.

I had Mom’s training, Dad’s creative thinking, my own pheromones.

And I had more than the Drake name.

I had me.

I smiled for the first time. Because there was one thing the Host wanted more than to kill Hounds and avenge Montmartre.

Me.

And if everyone insisted on seeing me as a helpless little girl, then that’s exactly what I’d be.

First I had to lure some of the hunters away, to even the odds as much as possible. I climbed down the branches and scouted the area, choosing a patch of cedar surrounded by boulders from some long-ago avalanche. I hid myself carefully and then broke a twig between my fingers. It snapped like a gunshot.

“What was that?” one of the hunters asked his companion.

“Mountain lion maybe?” he replied, sourly. “What do we care? We’re missing all the action.”

“Then we may as well do our job right,” the first hunter shot back. I cracked another twig. “I’m going,” he said. “Cover me.”

“I’m telling you there’s nothing out there.”

I waited until he climbed down far enough to be out of sight of the others before I reached out and punched him. He staggered. Lucy would be proud. I caught him before he crashed through the branches. His lip was split and he was unconscious.

After a long moment, his companion came to the edge of the overhang. “Hey, Jordan, you okay?”

A short pause.

“You taking a leak, man?” He sounded nervous now. I could smell the sweat on him and hear the sudden increase in his heartbeat. “Jordan?”

Jordan groaned. I leaned down. “Shh,” I said. His eyes fluttered back in his head. I crouched, waiting for Jordan’s friend. The tip of his rifle preceded him, sliding through the pine boughs, practically grazing my cheek. I waited, willing my muscles not to move. He stepped farther into the undergrowth, tripped on Jordan’s boot. When he stumbled, I brought the heel of my hand down on the back of his neck. He toppled like a tree. I turned him over, dragging him to lie next to his friend.

“Stay here and be quiet,” I ordered them, concentrating on my pheromones wrapping around them. “And don’t fight unless you’re in mortal danger.”

I turned back, watching the Host vampire stationed just inside the mouth of the cave move slightly. I reached for a rock, smashing it on the boulder until it split. I dragged the jagged edge over my forearm so that blood trickled down my arm. It was hot and thick and fragrant. I scattered the drops over the ground, and smeared it on the trees.

“What are you two doing?” the vampire finally called out, stepping out of the mouth of the cave. I hid myself under the overhang. I heard him sniff before dirt dislodged by his boots rained down on me. “Roman, get out here,” he barked. I could hear the bloodlust in his voice. So could the others, judging by how many of them crowded behind him. I counted four, maybe five.

“I smell a Drake,” one of them said. “Not the boy?”

“Not just a Drake,” the first vampire corrected. “Solange Drake.”

The hatred in the hissing that accompanied that statement rose the fine hairs on the back of my neck, like hackles. The sound of a long serrated sword leaving its scabbard didn’t help.

I pushed away from the protective overhang and dragged myself through the snow, making sure to leave a tantalizing trail of blood behind me. I stopped on the trail where they could see me and pretended to sag weakly.

“She’s mine,” one of them said, leaping down off the overhang. He landed a little too close for comfort. I scuttled back.

Another vampire landed next to the first.

“She belongs to all the Host,” he said.

“Kill her.”

I moved weakly, sluggishly. I wondered if adding a moan would be too much.

“No, keep her and drain her slowly.”

“For Montmartre!”

I finally allowed myself to scramble to my feet while they argued.

“Boys, boys, there’s no need to fight over me,” I called out with false confidence. They stopped, staring at me. “Want me?” I taunted, flicking blood at them. “Come and get me!”

And then I ran like hell.