He let me, but his hand was cold. Carefully he closed his fingers around mine.
“Are you sure nothing is wrong?” I murmured. We were now far away from the other paranormals. Just him and me. It felt right, even now. Just him and me.
He turned his beautiful blue eyes on me, but they were locked in shadow. I was afraid he would pull his hand away, and that made me grip him tighter. I would die if he did. I knew that as surely as I knew we had to defeat Malle.
“Charlotte,” he said. “I sat there last night and watched a woman who does not even know you demand your death. She threatened the lives of everyone around us just so that you would die. How could you possibly think I would be alright after that? The thought of you gone . . .” he paused and looked away. I saw the muscles of his neck work and his eyes search the darkness for the right words. I held my breath, afraid of what might come next.
“I cannot stand the idea of you gone,” he said finally. His eyes filled with pain,. “I know it might be the right thing, but I can’t stand it.”
“What do you mean?” I asked, confused. He wasn’t talking about what I expected him to talk about, which was a plan to get us out of here and kill Malle. That was all I wanted.
“You should leave,” he said. “That’s what I’m talking about. You should just go and run and not come back.”
“I cannot run,” I said incredulously. “Not while Dirr and Dacer are here and might be injured, and what about the Fang First? That’s another artifact on the wheel that Lanca had, and where is it now? Does Vital have it? I thought it was safe, but what if it’s not? What if Malle gets it?” I had hoped he would realize that this was how it had to be, but apparently he had not.
“Who CARES?” Keller cried angrily, releasing both my hands. “None if it matters if you die! Your life is in danger, and all you can think about is finding some stupid artifact and going back to Public.”
At the mention of our university I felt something break inside of me. We were supposed to return to Public after Lanca’s coronation, but now she was dead and Dirr was who knows where. The Fang was still somewhere in the mountain, but what if Malle got her hands on it? The paranormal groups were scattered at best, and possibly a lot worse. Public had gone from being my last refuge to a total unknown. Besides my close friends, I had only Keller to rely on. But I wanted an ally, not a protector. I didn’t know how to react to this new Keller, who wanted me to run away.
“I will not run,” I said, raising my chin. “Let her chase me, but I will not run. I have to make sure my friends are safe and I have to make sure the Fang doesn’t fall into Malle’s hands.”
“You have to,” he said desperately. “Just get out of here. We can take care of the rest.”
I had never seen Keller like this before, but I just kept shaking my head no.
“Is everything okay?”
The soft voice made me jump; I had thought we were alone. I turned at the interruption and saw Dobrov. His black eyes, obscured by ugly red skin, were concerned. “Sorry to interrupt,” he said. “I don’t sleep well.”
“And the rest of us slept like babies,” Keller snapped. I glared at him, but he didn’t look sorry. Dobrov didn’t look offended. He had made it clear last semester that he was used to paranormals being mean to him.
“Charlotte is right,” he said. “She cannot leave. None of us can. They have all the exits blocked anyway.”
“Who is they?” I asked.
Dobrov shrugged. “Mostly the darkness mages. Lots of the pixies wanted to fight, but the senior pixies refused to grant permission, and most of the other pixies, including your friend Camilla, refused to desert their own, so they went back to their quarters. Malle is furious, of course.”
“What about the fallen angels, the Airlees, and the other vampires?” I asked. “Did they escape?”
Dobrov nodded. “Most did. There was a lot of confusion in the hall when the battle first broke out. The smart fallen angels and vampires flew out the roof and left. I think they helped some of the Airlees to leave with them.” I nodded, relieved that a good number of paranormals had gotten away.
“Dacer?” I asked hopefully.
Dobrov shook his head. “Still no news. My dear sister would probably have let me know if he were dead, though.”
“Where is your family?” Keller asked, relaxing his stance slightly.
“They’re with the other vampire kings,” said Dobrov quietly. “They refuse to bend to the whims of a madwoman and a pack of demons.” I had a feeling that if Daisy was refusing to go along with what Malle wanted it had nothing to do with her loyalty to paranormals.
“So, Charlotte is safe?” Keller asked. “None of the paranormals are trying to kill her now? We can leave here?”
“Hardly,” Dobrov scoffed. “No, Charlotte will never be safe. Malle was right. There were very strong spells in place protecting Charlotte and many of them have been destroyed, at least for now.”
“Did Malle kill Lanca?” I said. Like Lough earlier, I could barely get the words out. “Where is her body?”
“Malle didn’t set off that bomb,” said Dobrov, his eyes cold pinpricks of fury. “Faci did. Lanca wouldn’t marry him, so he killed her. Malle just took the opportunity to get back at you for spending two years gloriously foiling her plans.”
Dobrov grinned at me as I stared at him in surprise. I hadn’t known he had it in him.
“Thanks, Dobrov. I didn’t mean to cause so much trouble. I guess it just happened naturally.”
Dobrov’s grin widened while Keller made a disgruntled noise.
“This is no time to joke,” he cautioned, shaking his head at us.
“On the contrary,” said Dobrov. “This is the best time to joke.”
“We can agree to disagree,” said my boyfriend, glaring.
“Keller, stop it,” I glared back at him. He met my angry eyes with eyes just as upset.
“Forget it,” he said. “Get yourself killed. See if I care.”
And with that he stormed off, back to the group. I could hear that some of the others were awake and moving around now and the clatter of what I hoped was plates. Dobrov’s sympathetic look deepened.
“He cares about you,” said Dobrov. “That’s why he does it.”
My lower lip quivered, but I would not cry. “Yeah,” I said. “Well, he has a funny way of showing it.”
“I can help,” Dobrov offered, his voice low and his eyes going from sympathetic to intense in a flash.
“Help with what?” I asked, taking one deep, shaky breath. “I don’t even know what to do.”
“I think you do,” said Dobrov. “You have to find the Fang. Everything after that is merely cosmetic.”
I snorted. “I have no idea what that even means.”
“It means,” said Lisabelle, coming up and giving Dobrov an icy look, “that he’s trying to get you to do something reckless.”
“Which is normally your department,” Sip added, never far behind. “But I have a better idea.”
“Oh?” Lisabelle asked, crossing her arms. “Do tell.”
“We’re all going to do something reckless,” said Sip, beaming around at us. “We’re all going to get the Fang, so that we can get out of here.”
“Why is getting the Fang going to help us leave?” Lisabelle asked. “Like, they’ll all still want to kill Charlotte.”
“Yes,” said Sip, as if that didn’t matter at all. “But we’ll have everything we need to protect with us, so we don’t need to worry about that.”
“I would really like for everyone to not want to kill me,” I added. “Just a thought.”
“They already don’t,” said Sip. “If they wanted to kill you they would be banging on the doors this very instant. It’s just the darkness mages that follow Malle, and we know how unstable darkness mages are.”
“Hahaha. Ha,” said Lisabelle. “Not funny.”
“It was a little funny,” said Sip.
“There she IS,” crie
d a frantic voice from behind my friends. “Get her, now!” I didn’t even have time to scream.
Lisabelle was the only one to react quickly enough: she turned and took the blow that was meant for me. The giant man - I could only assume he was a werewolf - came charging forward, slamming Lisabelle out of the way. As my friend went flying, the giant man changed into a giant wolf.
“I guess I wasn’t entirely correct that no one is going to try and kill you,” said Sip calmly.
The werewolf leapt, but he didn’t get far. He hadn’t counted on Dobrov protecting me or being as unbelievably fast and strong as he was. But our half-vampire, half-darkness mage friend was both. Dobrov bent left and then sprang to his right. Instead of slamming into the attacker’s side, however, he wrapped his arms around the werewolf’s middle, as if he was bringing down a great animal - as in fact he was. Together they fell heavily to the ground as I stood there watching, stunned. The werewolf gave a whimper, and at first I had no idea why, but then I realized that it was because Dobrov was using not only his arms but also his legs to squeeze the life out of the creature.
Quickly, Sip, Lisabelle, and several other paranormals who had seen that something was brewing grabbed the werewolf. It didn’t take long to shackle him while he continued to spit and curse at me. I calmly looked back at his hatred.
“How can you do this?” he panted. “Innocent paranormals will die, when it would be so easy for you to stop it.”
“Don’t respond,” Sip advised. “He’s not worth your breath.”
“And you,” the man spat. “Call yourself a werewolf and yet you’re friends with that abomination!” He tossed his head in the direction of Lisabelle and me.
“I do hope he means me,” said Lisabelle calmly. “Otherwise it would mean I had somehow been demoted to merely creepy.”
“Oh, you’re creepy alright,” said one of Sip’s brothers; I still didn’t have all their names straight so I didn’t know which one it was except that it wasn’t Sulver. “I’m impressed my sister lives with you.”
Lisabelle gave him a thin smile. “She’s more impressive than you know.”
Sip glanced sharply at Lisabelle, looking for the joke. When she didn’t see one, she merely grinned. “I’m awesome.”
Meanwhile, I went over to check on Dobrov. No one else was paying any attention to him. Even though he had just saved us from what might have been a much worse problem, touching a hybrid wasn’t appealing to most paranormals, especially one that looked as gross as Dobrov.
“Are you okay?” I asked quietly. He was picking himself off the ground and dusting off his slacks, which had been, until that moment, perfectly clean.
“I’m fine,” he said. “My sister always tells me I’m a sissy, but it’s just that I can’t fight her. In general, I like fighting. It means I can take out my anger.”
I raised my eyebrows. “Are you angry?”
He didn’t look at me but he did reply. “You have no idea.”
We were interrupted by a slamming on the door. The werewolf attack was forgotten as paranormals raced to see what new threat we faced.
In the chaos I reached out and grabbed Dobrov by the arm. His eyes widened in surprise at my tight grip, but when he looked at me he understood. I gave him one quick nod and he blinked in return.
“What is that?” Saferous was yelling, while Zervos glared around the room expectantly.
“At least you can’t blame us,” Lisabelle said to him, not even flinching when he turned his glare on her.
“I can if I want,” he said coldly.
“Oh, is that how it works?” Sip demanded. “We’re just standing here.”
“It’s only a rock falling,” said one of the fallen angels, coming back from near the door that Keller and I had brought us through. “No one is outside.”
“Why aren’t we being attacked?” I asked. “Shouldn’t they have come after us by now?”
“They’re waiting us out,” said Zervos ominously. He didn’t look very concerned about it. “We can’t stay in here forever. We barely have enough food for this meal, let alone the next one or the next one after that.”
“Won’t other paranormals come to help?” Lough asked. He was wrapped in his jacket, which had gone from an almost gray silver to a dull brown from lying on the ground.
“There aren’t any still here,” said Dobrov, relaying to the rest of us what he had been told, that most of the paranormals had left Locke.
“So, we’re alone,” I said matter-of-factly.
“Yeah,” said Keller, his voice colder than I had ever heard it before. “We’re alone against a darkness army.”
“Are there demons here?” Lisabelle asked. Her voice sounded almost eager, while the other paranormals around us gave stirs of concern.
“They’re never far away,” said Zervos. “They’re probably staying very close by to protect their investment.”
“What do you mean?” I asked. “What investment?”
“What do you think happens if you die?” Zervos asked. “They smell blood. Of course they will surround the place. Faci has helped tip the scale.”
I swallowed a lump in my throat, unable to look at Keller.
“Maybe you should take better care of yourself,” said Zervos, without emotion. “It’s not just about you.”
I stared at him. I knew that what he had said was true; of course I knew that. I wasn’t planning on doing anything reckless, except, was I? I had just grabbed Dobrov and told him to expect me. Would I go back on that after this chiding from one of my professors, even one who hated me?
Without so much as a word I turned around and walked back deep into the crypt. I had to think - and plan.
Chapter Twenty-Six
I don’t know how much time passed, but Lisabelle finally joined me. I had known that she and Sip would come eventually, and I also knew that if I planned to do anything rash, like search for the Fang or exact revenge for Lanca’s death, they would come with me. I could slip past everyone else with Dobrov’s help, but not Sip and Lisabelle.
“What’s the dealio?” Lisabelle said. Her long black hair was pulled back into a tight ponytail and she had used magic to repair the rips in her dress. The tattoo of her wand was also clearly visible. She was ready for battle.
“Who says dealio?” Sip demanded. Her eyes blazed. At her waist was tied a small knife, and her ring pulsed with unused magic.
Sip crouched down next to me. She rested her arms on her knees and braced her chin against them. “You can’t let Zervos get to you,” she murmured. “But you do need to keep yourself safe.”
I lifted one shoulder, my eyes on the ground. “I want to find the Fang First,” I said. “We’re the only ones Lanca told about it. Her dad entrusted it to her and she entrusted the secret to us, so with her gone it’s our responsibility. She knew that if something happened to her she would have us as backup. It’s what she would have wanted. I can’t let her down.”
“Alright,” said Sip slowly, gently rocking back on her heals. “We can do that . . . as long as you do it from the safety of this crypt.” She pointed to the protective rock walls of the mountain.
I narrowed my eyes. “No. It has to be me. Us. We’re the ones who know, and the protections around the Fang might need an elemental’s touch. We can’t do it from here. We have to go.”
“What if they need a fallen angel’s?” Lisabelle asked softly. “It’s not like we can enact the Power of Five with just the three of us.”
I looked at her sharply but didn’t say anything at first. Then I said, full of reluctance: “Keller doesn’t want to come. So, he won’t. We just have to hope we won’t need the Power.”
“What are the rest doing now?” I said, looking to see where Zervos, Keller, Saferous, and all the other paranormals who were stuck down there were.
“They’re having a team meeting,” said Lisabelle, pumping her fist mockingly. “Go team!”
“We have a team?” I asked skeptically. “I sort
of thought none of us got along.”
“At least you realize that,” Lisabelle muttered, leaning her shoulder against a rock. “I hate positivity.”
“You’re allergic to that and smiling,” said Sip.
“I smile,” said Lisabelle. “Just not when I’m with you. Think about it.”
“I would think about it,” said Sip, “but I just don’t care enough.”
“You two need a TV show,” I said with amusement, standing up slowly. It was time to go.
“What a mess that would be,” said Sip. “We would argue endlessly about who got first billing blah blah.”
“Like that’s an argument,” said Lisabelle. “Anyhow, we can’t think about it now because Dobrov is waiting for us over there by the doors.” She pointed, but all I saw was a wall.
“Lisabelle,” I said. “Did you have enough water today?”
Lisabelle rolled her eyes. “I’m fine. Believe me. But see, there’s a secret exit and entrance to this place, and Dobrov knows about it because he’s half vampire. Or something. He told me we should meet him over there.”
“Are we sure we trust him?” Sip asked, glaring in the direction toward which Lisabelle had pointed. “How do we know he isn’t just going to take us outside and slaughter us?”
“Slaughter you,” said Lisabelle. “I can take care of myself.”
“Don’t let the short stature fool you,” Sip cautioned. “I can be plenty mean myself.”
“Yes,” said Lisabelle. “I know.”
“How did you get him to agree to let us out?” I said to Lisabelle.
“He said that’s what you wanted,” said Lisabelle, shrugging. “And he will do it if that’s what you want.”
“So, you didn’t threaten him?”
“No, I just used my scintillating personality,” said Lisabelle.
“Really?” Sip said.
“No, that was sarcasm for ‘I threatened his life.’”
I hadn’t really looked at the walls of the crypt, but now I could see that they were fashioned from the very walls of the mountain - solid black rock, as only vampires would choose. The ceiling was close overhead and I wondered how it didn’t fall in on us.
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