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“Run!” Esposito hissed at me out of the side of his mouth.
I nodded rapidly and backed up.
Silver flashed. Blood spurted from Esposito’s throat.
I moaned and clapped a hand to my mouth as he kicked wildly to be free.
Lemaire’s fangs extended. He zeroed in on Esposito’s bleeding throat. I could practically feel his craving, like a pulsing in the air.
Run, my brain screamed, but my feet had grown roots. I was lost in horror, unable to look away as Lemaire bent Esposito over an arm, mouth open, fangs glistening. His eyes met mine over Esposito’s writhing body, and his focus shifted to me.
The glowing blue around his irises brightened. He lifted his head, that vampire-hot gaze trained on me. He was going to try and compel me. I knew it as certainly as if he’d told me aloud.
Esposito made a heartbreaking sound, somewhere between a groan and a whimper. Lemaire glanced at him again.
My muscles unlocked. I wrenched my gaze from the men and bolted back the way we’d come.
Please let Esposito be wrong. Please let there be another exit.
I tried the first door. A bedroom.
I kept going, tried the second. Another bedroom.
My breath sobbed in.
Esposito had been right. The only exit was behind Lemaire.
The door with a fire burning on the other side.
I halted, lungs heaving, and risked a look at the two men. Lemaire had latched onto Esposito’s throat. He hunched over his victim, an urbane spider feeding on his prey. Mercifully, the other man was no longer moving. I prayed he’d lost consciousness.
Behind them, the hall was filling with smoke. It’s not easy to kill a vampire by fire, but if the fire’s hot enough, it’s possible. Was this Lemaire’s doing, or part of a plan to rescue me?
Whatever. Time was running out.
I couldn’t stay here, but I didn’t think I’d get past Lemaire, even distracted as he was.
I had to try, though. I’d die if I didn’t.
Fragments of how to escape a fire flitted through my mind.
Stay low.
Cover your mouth and nose.
If you catch on fire, stop, drop and roll.
Pulling my sweater up over my face, I sidled back down the hall, knees shaking, heart threatening to beat out of my chest. Lemaire remained intent on his meal. I held my breath and kept going.
Just when I thought I’d made it past him, he flicked me a look. My stomach dropped and I sped up.
He reached out almost casually, backhanding me across the mouth. A bright pain exploded in my brain. I slammed into the wall, the breath leaving my lungs in a whoosh. The coppery taste of blood filled my mouth. Stunned, I brought my hand to my cheek, working my jaw back and forth.
Lemaire dropped Esposito and straightened, his striped tie spattered with red. He removed a silk handkerchief from his breast pocket and wiped the blood from his mouth and chin, his gaze never leaving mine.
I swallowed queasily and brought my hand down.
Blue-rimmed eyes snagged mine. “Don’t move,” he said, and hit me with a compulsion so hard I froze in the act of turning to run, one foot planted, the other knee bent, the ball of my foot ready to push off.
