“Jenner.” Arys’s word was barely audible.
I looked at Jenner with his one eye swollen shut and stake protruding from his middle. Part of me was perfectly willing to walk away and let the f**ker burn. He was the one who had made himself a foe from the moment we’d landed in town. He’d pissed off the blood ring and withheld that information from us. I had no reason to save him. Except Arys. Jez awaited my decision. She shrugged, fine with it either way. Jenner rolled his one good eye toward me, knowing damn well his life was in my hands.
“Fuck.” I shot a glance toward the horizon, and my panic grew. “Fine. Let’s hurry.”
Together Jez and I tore the stake free, almost falling on our asses when it burst out of the ground. We each grabbed a nail and yanked it from a hand. Even with our superhuman strength, carrying the weight of an injured vampire was not easy. Every step we took caused them further agony. The limo looked so damn far away. Could we make it in time?
“Come on,” I urged Arys on. “We’re almost there.”
Every anguished sound that came from him was like a knife in my gut. Sure, I’d seen Arys take a few hits but nothing like this. Perhaps part of me hadn’t believed it was possible for him to be anything other than the dominant force. Seeing him so close to death had awakened a new kind of terror in me.
I could feel the rising sun chasing us to the car. I urged Arys along, caring more about his overall safety than his current level of injury. He could survive being impaled through the stomach. No vampire could survive the sun.
A horrible memory flashed through my mind. I’d watched one of the blood ring vamps die by sunlight, and I’d never witnessed a nastier vampire death. The thought spurred me on, giving me the extra strength I needed.
We reached the limo as the warm glow broke fully over the horizon. The UV rays hurt my eyes, so I wasn’t surprised when both vampires cried out. I flung the back door open and shoved Arys inside, stepping back to allow Jenner through. Jez slammed the door shut, and I sank to the ground, leaning against the back tire.
“Thank you, God,” I whispered. Panting and repeating my prayer of gratitude, I realized that tears rolled down my face.
“Should we go inside? Might be something worth swiping in there.” Jez extended a hand, which I gratefully accepted.
“If we make it home, I’m going to stay in bed for a week,” I declared.
“If? No, you mean when. When we get home. Which we will.”
The house was just as derelict inside as out. Nobody had lived there for a very long time. There was little evidence of the vampires who had claimed it, so they weren’t total idiots. We picked up a crossbow, half a dozen bolts and a gun with wooden bullets.
I had no use for guns. Jez inspected it, shrugged and said, “Why not? It’s not like customs let us bring our own weapons through.”
I got into the back of the limousine with the guys while Jez took us back to Caesars. They splayed out in the roomy backseat across from one another. I knelt on the floor in front of Arys, afraid to touch him for fear of hurting him.
“Why did you shut me out?” I hadn’t meant for those to be my first words to him after such an ordeal, but his isolation had hurt me. He tried to touch me, and even though the wounds in his hands had already begun to heal, he was simply too weak. I leaned in closer and carefully held his hand to my face.
“I had to,” he said, wincing with each word. “Didn’t want you to feel it. I was afraid I’d take you with me.” What it felt like to feel him die, that’s what he meant. Like he had felt Harley die when I killed him.
Guilt slithered in among my many emotions. Our bond was deep enough that, as a mortal, his death could take me down too. Then I’d be here as a vampire without him. The thought was horrifying.
“Don’t ever do that again.” My voice broke, and I rested my forehead against his. I didn’t want to ask, but I needed to know. “Where’s Shaz?”
Arys shook his head, defeated and ashamed. “They have him. He’ll go to the highest bidder. Eventually.”
“What?” I sat back on the floor in shock. The blood ring had Shaz. If they knew he was one of Harley’s killers, then there’s no telling what kind of hell he would go through before they killed him. “Do they know who he is?”
“Oh yeah,” Jenner chimed in with a groan. “They know. And they’re looking for you.”
Chapter Twelve
“Do they know we’re here?” Jez asked through a mouthful of chicken. “Is it safe to sleep?”