I found Jamie alone in our room. He had been packing up our gear and reloading his weapons. He read the look on my face.
“What is it? The girls?” he asked.
I shook my head and sat down on the bed, pulling Jamie to sit beside me. I held his hands and looked him in the eyes. “They have been giving Ian blood transfusions since we arrived.”
Jamie looked confused. “Blood transfusions?”
“I spoke to Dr. Madala. He said Dr. Rostov started Ian on the treatment. The blood . . . James, it’s their blood.”
I could feel his fingers growing cold. He looked down at the floor. His body, pressed against mine, started shaking.
“I just left him. He’s different. I don’t know how to explain it. Dr. Madala said Ian is a pet, but Rumor intends to turn him.”
“Then we can still save him.”
I didn’t know what else to say. While I never had a sibling, I understood that it would be useless to try to stop him. Jamie helped people. That was what he did.
“Ian left the infirmary. Wherever he is, I bet Kira and Susan are there. ”
“Where do you think they are?”
“Fifth floor.”
“We can hardly just waltz up there.”
“Not unless we’d like to be dinner. But I do have an idea.”
Jamie squeezed my hand. “Now, that’s my girl.”
“I’m guessing you did rope climbing in basic training?”
Jamie looked questioningly at me.
“The dumbwaiter Kiki and I used. There is no way you and I would fit, but we can use the shaft to climb up. From our floor, we can make it . . . I think. Or we could just rappel up the side of the building, but I thought this would provide a bit more subterfuge.”
“Layla . . . this is dangerous. They might kill us. Christ, they might eat us. I should go alone. You just get everyone out of here.”
I shook my head. “It’s no worse than what we have lived through already. I promised Frenchie a long time ago I’d protect those girls. Besides, I don’t want to let you have all the fun.”
Jamie laughed and started rooting around in his bag. He handed me a pair of gloves and pulled on his as well. “Let’s get it over with.”
The hallways of the hotel were strangely quiet.
“Where is everyone?” Jamie whispered.
I shook my head.
To our luck, when I lifted the wall hatch on the dumbwaiter, we found it was still lowered to the first floor. Inside, we found the lift system made a ladder we could use to brace ourselves as we climbed up. With a nod, I climbed in and began the ascent. Jamie came after me, pulling the hatch closed behind him. The fifth floor was about twenty feet above. In silence, we climbed.
As we neared the fifth floor, I began to hear voices. People were talking in the hallway outside the dumbwaiter. My hands shook. Could they smell us? Sense us? I closed my eyes and tried to think. When I did, I heard that strange murmuring sound I’d been catching ever since I’d first encountered them. It was like I was almost hearing voices. I’d once read that vampires were telepathic. Was it their telepathy I was hearing? Suddenly, I felt crazy.
Jamie tugged my boot and looked questioningly at me.
I motioned for him to listen.
He nodded.
We waited a moment longer for the voices in the hallway to recede then pressed onward. It was a hard climb. Once we got to the top, I tried to brace myself so I could press the hatch open just a little. Jamie climbed up close to me, and we waited. Everything on the fifth floor seemed very quiet.
With a nod, I pushed the hatch open and peered outside. No one was moving and it was very dark. There were a few candles lit in the hallway; they turned everything into long shadows. I could see the end of the hall. The window there had been occluded by a large black drape, blocking out even the moonlight.
Despite my earlier boasting, I was afraid. The unthinking undead were one thing, but a calculating vampire who had our girls, who had turned Ian, was something altogether different. Raw violence eats you alive in one big swallow. Intelligent aggression was a slow, painful death.
I pushed the hatch open, slid out, and unsheathed my sword. Jamie exited behind me. I could feel the wild energy around him; he was desperate to save his brother. He held his hunting knife in one hand and a pistol in the other.
We made our way down the hall. Most of the doors were closed. As carefully as possible, I tried a door. It was locked. The hall was exceedingly dark. I could barely make my way in the large expanses of black space between the candles. It was like trying to walk around in a closet—or maybe, a coffin. As we neared a hallway, I motioned to Jamie. There was an evacuation map that indicated there were three large penthouses at one end of the floor. With a nod, we headed in that direction.
When we turned the corner that housed the penthouses, we saw light emitting from one of the rooms. From inside, we heard voices.