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Astamur had split the castle in two. Holy shit.
I turned to Curran. The flames burned between us.
Curran took a running start.
A vampire fell off the ceiling into the fire, bursting into flames. The fire seared undead flesh. He blazed bright like a sparkler and vanished into a cloud of ash.
"No!"
Curran veered, avoiding the flames at the last second. Oh good. I exhaled.
Desandra shrieked, and then a child cried, a weak mewling sound. I glanced back. Saiman lifted a newborn boy, wet and bloody. A moment later Doolittle handed a second infant over to Aunt B. She turned. The thing in her arms wasn't a human baby. It wasn't a wolf, it wasn't a cat, it was a strange creature covered in soft scales, the beginnings of rudimentary wings thrusting from its back. The creature screeched and tried to bite Aunt B.
"Your firstborn is a wolf," Doolittle said.
The bewildered expression peeled off Radomil's face, leaving a hard ruthless intelligence in its place. "That does it," Radomil said. "Kill them all."
The Volkodavi snarled in unison. Their human skins ruptured. Flesh and bone boiled out, scales covered the new bodies, and a dozen lamassu took flight.
The flames exploded with bright orange. Heat bathed me. The castle rumbled again. Another peal of thunder rolled, dazing the shapeshifters. The crack split sideways, cutting half of the lamassu from us.
"The castle is breaking apart," Aunt B said. "We need to go."
"Not without Curran." I pulled the magic to me. Maybe a power word would work.
On the opposite side Hugh said something and staggered back, as if someone had thrust a sword through his gut. Ten to one that was a power word that backfired. I felt nothing. The flames remained unimpressed. Okay, scratch that idea.
"Kate?" Keira asked. "What do we do?"
We had to get the hell out of here, before the castle fell apart and plunged off the cliff. In the hallways, the lamassu couldn't swarm us. We'd have the advantage.
I spun to the flames.
"Go!" Curran yelled at me through the fire. "I'll find you."
There was nothing I could do to help him. I had to get our people out of there and then I'd go around and I would find him.
"I'm coming back!"
"I know!" He waved at me. "Go!"
I turned to the shapeshifters. "Grab Doolittle, George, and Desandra. We're getting the hell out of here."
"Don't lose her," Hugh bellowed at the Masters of the Dead. "Go around! Take her alive!"
"You won't touch her," Curran snarled, and charged Hugh.
* * *
I wanted to stand and watch. I wanted to know he would be okay. Instead I ran for the door. The sooner I found a way around, the sooner I could help him.
Barabas grabbed the wolf newborn, thrust him into Desandra's hands, and picked her up off the floor. Derek grabbed Doolittle out of his chair, Aunt B picked up George, and Christopher somehow ended up with the baby lamassu. They followed me.
A lamassu swooped down on us. Andrea fired. The bolt bit into the beast's eye. The lamassu spun, careened, and flew into the fire. Her body burst into white flame. The fire grew, widening the gap.
A door blocked our way. I drove my shoulder into the wood and bounced off.
"Eduardo!" I yelled.
The werebuffalo rammed the door. Splinters flew.
Another lamassu dove at us. Keira jumped, turning in midleap. A sable-black panther in a warrior form slapped the lamassu out of the air. He crashed. We swarmed it. I stabbed into the orange flesh. Keira bit into its throat, gouging huge chunks of flesh out.
The lamassu convulsed, beating one wing against the floor.
"Go!" I barked.
The shapeshifters fled past me into the hallway.
"Keira!"
She tore herself away from the lamassu, reached the door in two great leaps, and ran. I followed her.
"Kill him," Hugh bellowed in the hall. Curran's roar answered. He was saving me again. I had to find him. I'd get our people out and then I would find him.
We were on the south side, facing a sheer cliff. Flames blocked the hallway to the right. Running left, east, and then north was our only option.
A lamassu crashed into the doorway, skidding into the wall, and chased us. No room to maneuver for him or us.
Keira tried to push past me. I held out my hand. Hugh or not, I had to get my people out of the castle.
I spat a power word. "Aarh." Stop.
Magic ripped from me. It hurt so much, the world blinked.
The lamassu froze, its limbs locked. Keira dashed past me. A huge spotted bouda leaped over my head and tore into the lamassu, savaging its neck with a flurry of strikes. "Run," Aunt B yelled. "We'll catch up."
I ran and turned the corner. Four different hallways branched from the main one. Damn it, Hugh. If I survived this, I would find him and I would beat his head with a brick for building this damn labyrinth. I spun and saw Barabas's white shirt as he disappeared behind a corner to the right. I ran after him.
Keira and Aunt B caught up with me, both bloody. We galloped down the hallway. Almost to the corner.
Barabas whipped about the corner, carrying Desandra, running full speed. I threw myself against the wall. They dashed past me.
"Vampires!" Andrea yelled as she passed me.
Undead magic lashed me, swelling like a tidal wave around the corner. Damn it all to hell.
I did a one-eighty and followed them. Next to me Christopher was smiling, running with a now-human baby in his hands. "This is so fun!"
This had to be some kind of twisted nightmare.
We made a sharp left, then another, and burst into another hallway, parallel to the first one. The revolting undead magic washed over me. The bloodsuckers were coming from behind us and from the right, trying to box us in. One, two . . . Fourteen. Fourteen undead minds.
We had Desandra, who was barely conscious; two infants; Doolittle, who couldn't walk; and George, who was out like a light. There was no way we would win that fight.
I stopped and turned.
"Mistress?" Christopher called.
"Kate?" Andrea crashed to a halt next to me. "What are you doing?"
"The vampires are chasing me, not you," I said. "Go. I'll lead them off."
"Don't even think about it," Andrea said. "I'll carry you if I have to."
"I'm your alpha."
"The hell you are."
I drew Slayer across my left forearm. Blood swelled, its magic sharp. "Take our people and Desandra out of this castle. Secure the panacea. That's an order."
She hesitated.
"I know what I'm doing. Go."
