“Hold,” Piscary said suddenly, his feet scraping to a halt. “I have people there now.”
An unsettled feeling of wrong tripped down her spine as she pocketed the useless charm. Piscary’s eyes were unfocused. Ellen stood by, the jealous slant to her eyes both a warning and promise, protecting her master while he was vulnerable. His breathing was faster, and it was obvious he was seeing through someone else’s eyes. Leo’s, perhaps.
Piscary’s focus sharpened, then his gaze went pupil black, chilling her when his smile tightened with anticipation. “This way,” he said, breaking into an easy jog into the dark.
Ellen was at his elbow, and after a moment’s hesitation, Trisk followed. Quen’s hand slipped from her, and he ran beside her.
“We’re going to run?” Daniel said, his jog reluctant and slow. “What about the car?”
Quen leaned close, whispering, “Cars are noisy, and we hunt.”
Pulse fast, Trisk watched her footing, glad that they were running perpendicular to the direction Piscary’s men had gone. “And this is a good thing?” she muttered breathlessly.
Quen’s teeth shined white as he smiled. “Be ready. They’re flushing them to us.” Never slowing, Piscary looked at him, surprise in his dust-eddied eyes, and Quen shrugged. “It’s what I would have done,” Quen said in explanation, and Piscary turned back to the night, satisfied.
Daniel’s panting grew loud, and worry furrowed Trisk’s brow. It was more than him spending his days in a lab. He wasn’t as strong simply because he was human, and when surrounded by those who weren’t, it showed.
“Hold!” Piscary whispered as they came out on a dark intersection. A smoldering bonfire sat at the center, the blinking streetlight above it making more of a statement than the circle that someone—probably witches—had etched before the flames. The muffled shout and clatter of rapidly retreating footsteps gave evidence that they’d scared someone off. Piscary slowly moved out into the firelight’s reach with the powerful grace and command of a lion taking over a kill.
Ellen was tight to his elbow, head swiveling as she scanned the cut the night made above the two-story buildings facing the street. Brick and mortar, metal and stone—not even a tree to relieve the downtown shops. An appliance store spilled light onto the street, the display TVs still on as a late-night comedy show played to no one.
Staggering, Daniel lurched to the storefront stoop, collapsing on it to put his head down between his upraised knees. “Are you okay?” Quen asked Trisk, and she nodded. “Hey, your smut is gone,” he added as he took her arm, and guilt flashed through her. “You didn’t call him again, did you?” he whispered intently.
“I’ll tell you about that later,” she said, pulling out from his grip.
“Ellie?” Piscary said softly, and the woman’s attention jerked down from the empty second-floor windows. “Minimize the noise,” he said, and immediately the woman jogged down the street. She gave a hissing whistle, and what were probably living vampires came out from behind closed doors and alleys. They clustered around her in the shadows, then fanned out.
The bonfire made orange shadows on the storefronts, and Piscary backed into the dark to vanish. Trisk grasped Quen’s hand, dragging him with her to leave the intersection at least looking as if it were abandoned. A thrill was spilling through her, embarrassing somehow. Not all of it was because they were going to find Kal. They were hunting. It was that simple.
“Daniel!” Quen all but hissed, and the man looked up, lips parting as he realized he was alone. “Get out of the light!”
But it was too late, and Trisk waved him to stay at the sound of shoes on the pavement. “No, don’t move!” she whispered loudly, and Daniel sank back down, pressing into the door. Tension coursed through her, and her skin tingled from the line Quen had pulled into him.
“There,” Quen murmured as Ulbrine and Kal ran down the street.
“I’m telling you, we’re being driven,” Ulbrine said, clearly struggling.
“You’re blocking the tracker, aren’t you?” Kal slowed at the edges of the bonfire’s light, clearly not wanting to pass into it.
“Of course.” Ulbrine jerked to a halt, grabbing Kal’s arm as Piscary stepped from the darkness. The vampire’s smile widened. There was no one behind Piscary. He didn’t need anyone backing him. His entourage was to comfort those in it, not him. He wasn’t just the city’s master vampire, he was the city’s apex predator. More, he was enjoying his night out, free of the restraints that a watching human might otherwise impose. What looked like a memory lit his expression.