I bared my fangs in his face. “Sing yourself,” I hissed and thrust my free hand up, jamming the pocket knife into one crazy black eye.
Psycho vamp screamed and reeled away, clutching his face. I sprang from the wall and rushed for the door, but I hadn’t taken three steps when the vampire’s scream turned into a chilling roar of fury that made my hair stand on end. Fear made me quick. I reached the exit and lunged through the opening, dropping my blade and spinning around to push it shut. I saw psycho vamp racing toward me, his face a mask of rage, fangs bared, eyes bloody and murderous, and shoved hard on the door. It groaned as it swung shut, and I wrenched the wheel to the left, sealing it tight as a thunderous boom echoed from the other side.
My arms shook as I grabbed my katana and backed away from the door. It was strange; I felt my heart should be pounding a mile a minute, my breath coming in short, panicked gasps. But of course, there was none of that. Only the slight tremble in my arms and legs showed how very close I had come to death again.
Another hollow boom against the steel door made me wince. How long would it be before psycho vamp got out? Could he get out? If he did, he would be coming for me, no question about it. I had to put as much distance between me and murderous psycho vamp as I could.
I took another step back, turned to flee, and ran into a body in the hallway.
“Kanin!” I nearly fainted with relief, putting out my arms to steady him. Kanin staggered back a step, leaning heavily against the wall. He looked even paler than usual, and his shirt was stained with dried blood. His own. “You’re hurt!”
“I’m all right.” He waved me off. “It’s old. I’ve already fed, so don’t worry about me.” His eyes scanned the hallway, narrowing to slits. “Did Sarren come down here?”
“Sarren? You mean psycho vamp with the messed-up face? Yeah. Yeah, he did.” I jerked my thumb toward the steel door, just as another thud echoed down the hallway, followed by a desperate screech. “Friend of yours, Kanin? He seemed very interested in peeling my skin off.”
“You’re lucky to be alive,” Kanin muttered, shaking his head, and I thought I heard the faintest note of admiration in his voice. “He surprised me last night. I didn’t think he would find me here so soon.”
“Are you all right?”
He shook himself, pushing off the wall. “We have to get out of here,” he continued, staggering away. “Hurry. There’s not much time.”
“You think Smiley can get out of there?” I glanced back at the door. “Really? It’s like two feet of solid steel.”
“No, Allison.” Kanin looked back at me, his face darkening. “Your friend went to the authorities this evening. He told them that two unauthorized vampires are hanging around the old hospital grounds. The Prince’s men are coming. We have to move now.”
I stared at him in horror, hardly believing what I’d just heard. “No,” I said as he turned away, walked back down the hall. “You’re wrong. Stick wouldn’t do that to me. That’s the one rule everyone understands—we don’t sell each other out to the bloodsuckers.”
“You are a bloodsucker now.” Kanin’s voice echoed back, dull and weary. “And it doesn’t matter. Someone tipped them off, and they’re on their way. If they catch us here, they’ll kill us. We have to get out of the city.”
“We’re leaving?” I hurried after him, feeling my stomach twist. “Where are we going?”
“I don’t know.” Kanin suddenly slammed a fist into the wall, making me jump. “Dammit,” he growled, bowing his head. “Dammit, I was so close. If I only had a little more time…” He smashed his fist into the wall again, leaving a gaping hole, and I shifted uncomfortably. It occurred to me that whatever he’d been looking for, whatever he had been researching all this time, was lost. Either he hadn’t found it, or it wasn’t here in the first place. Weeks of searching, reading endless files and documents, all for nothing in the end.
And then everything—the research, the hospital rooms, the crazy vampire with a vendetta against Kanin—clicked into place. And I felt like an idiot for not realizing it sooner.