Sloane shook her head and smoothed her dress back into place. “I can’t leave Jenner. You two go. I’ll try to find a way to keep the peace here.”
“Keep the peace?” I asked, incredulous. “It’s total chaos down there. This is what you wanted Arys to help with, isn’t it? The blood ring won’t let you out.”
“There’s only one way out. Nobody just walks away from an operation like that and lives to tell the tale.” Sloane sniffed at the air, scenting my bloody wounds. She took a step toward me, and I held her off with a raised hand. “I can smell Jenner on you.”
“Yeah well, if we all live through this night, then he can tell you all about that.” I knew that look, the flash of hunger in her eyes. She couldn’t help it. It was in her nature. “Come on, Jez. We gotta go.”
She dressed in record time. Golden hair disheveled and lipstick smeared, Jez looked very much like a woman who just had a fun-filled romp with a lover. In about five seconds, she’d be running for her life.
“Are you sure you won’t come with us?” Jez turned back to Sloane, concern heavy in her green eyes.
“I belong here, whether Jenner likes it or not. Just go while you still can.” As if it were an afterthought, Sloane pulled Jez close and planted a serious kiss on her. “When this shit is settled, we’re going to finish what we started here.”
Jez caught a strand of Sloane’s blonde hair, twisting it around her finger. “You got it.”
I would have objected to that if I hadn’t been in such a rush to get moving. Grabbing Jez’s hand, I dragged her into the hall. Several doors were now open as vampires and their willing victims surfaced to see what was going on.
We ran down the hall back to the fire exit where we took the stairs to the roof. As we rounded the landing, we ran right into a crossbow-toting blood ring member. He advanced on us with a grim smile, aiming the crossbow at my head.
Jez didn’t hesitate. She sprang forward and slammed her fist into his throat, following up with an elbow to his face then a knee to his groin. He grunted and stumbled down the remaining stairs toward us.
The crossbow went off, and I ducked, narrowly avoiding the flying bolt. It lodged in the wall behind me. I jerked it free while Jez continued her assault. The vampire was strong; he recovered quickly. He smashed her in the face with the crossbow. Her insanely high heels failed her, and she fell on the landing, almost tumbling down the stairs. I slammed him with a psi ball, immobilizing him long enough to plunge the bolt into his heart. I didn’t wait for the ash and dust of his remains to settle. I got Jez on her feet, and we surged ahead to the rooftop.
“Are you ok?” I asked, afraid to look back in case we were being pursued. So far so good.
“I’ve had worse.”
We found the fire escape mounted on the side of the building and wasted no time getting down to the ground. Jez kicked off her heels, carrying them as we descended. My lungs heaved, and a bitter taste filled my mouth. I breathed a sigh of relief when we made it down without another encounter.
We waited in the dark space between The Wicked Kiss and the neighboring building. Nobody came down after us. Leaning against the concrete wall, I focused on taking a few deep calming breaths. It didn’t work.
“What the hell happened to you?” Jez spoke in a hushed tone. She gestured to the vampire bites decorating my neck and wrist. I was glad to see she didn’t have any. Sloane was lucky.
“Do you realize how long you’ve been upstairs with her?” I whispered furiously. “Arys lost the poker game. Shit got stupid. You missed Shaz’s cage fight.”
Her eyes widened. “Are you kidding me? He won, right? Come on; tell me about it while we walk. You’ve got to get cleaned up, and we need a plan.”
Leaving Arys and Shaz behind felt all kinds of wrong.
I pressed a hand to my neck. The bleeding had stopped. Arranging my hair to hide the wounds would have to do.
Carefully, we made our way down The Strip toward Caesars. We blended easily into the thick, human street traffic. Traffic was heavy on the street as well as the sidewalks and pedways. At times, the bodies were crammed together like the mosh pit at a rock concert. Blasting them all out of my way would have taken just a thought with well-guided intentions. It was hard to swallow the urge and maintain a firm hold on my patience.
It felt like ages before we finally crossed the pedway from the Bellagio hotel to Caesars and broke free of the throng. Caesars Palace loomed large before us. It stood against the Vegas night sky, boasting of beauty, intrigue and adventure.
As we walked, I spoke quickly, giving Jez a basic rundown on what she’d missed.
“You weren’t really going to let Jenner get you off, were you?” She asked, her voice loud enough to draw the attention of a few passersby.