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"There's only one way out," I said. "Get back into the alley we came in through. Shoo Jaime and Rose someplace safe, then find a spot as far down as you can."
"What about you?"
"No way I'll get down that fire escape fast enough." I prodded him toward the exit, still talking. "There's a window around the corner. I'll watch from there. Don't attack if you don't absolutely have to. We'll follow them for a bit."
He swung through the window onto the fire escape.
I grabbed his shoulder. "If we have to fight Hull, remember what I said. Stay out of sight for a bit. Let me draw his fire, wear his spell power down. He won't kill me."
Nick hesitated--I knew he didn't like the idea--but he nodded and left.
Control
I FOUND MY WINDOW AND CRACKED IT OPEN, NOT SO much so I could hear--I'd hear through the glass just fine--but so I could yank it open and jump through. A second-story leap was easy enough for a werewolf. It wasn't something I cared to do when I was pregnant, so if I had a choice, I'd return to the fire escape.
Nick barely made it to a hiding place before Zoe and Hull turned the corner. As they headed into the alley, Hull slowed, chin going up as his nostrils flared. Damn! The alley would still smell of Rose.
After a moment's hesitation, though, he kept walking. Rose's stink must have been faded enough that he just dismissed it as a stray "bad smell." He'd ordered Rose to stay at the hotel, so that's where she'd be.
"I should call," I heard Zoe say. "Let them know we're on our way."
A shiver raced up my spine. Them? Oh, God, there were more supernaturals involved. Of course there were. Zoe had a whole network of contacts here. When Hull promised to let her in on the "deal," she'd probably offered the services of others.
Did this mean those others already knew about the babies? I fought a prickle of panic. Handle the immediate threat first.
I'd missed Hull's response, but it must have been something like "Don't bother calling," because she took her cell phone from her purse and waved it at him.
"This little box?" she said. "Great modern invention. Means I don't even need to stop walking. No time wasted."
"Do you really think they need any disruptions right now? Why else would they have sent me?"
Sent him? Was Hull working for someone else?
A figure appeared at the end of the alley. The bowler-hatted man, coming up behind them.
Zoe stopped. "Why send someone at all? Why not just phone?"
Hull shrugged. "Perhaps they couldn't find your code...your numbers. They don't tell me such things. Now, please, we have to hurry--"
When Zoe still didn't move, Hull sighed and turned to her.
"This is hardly the best place, but you're going to be difficult, aren't you? No matter. I take my opportunities where I can find them, and I can't ignore a chance at my last ingredient."
It hit me: Zoe thought we'd summoned her, using Hull. Why wouldn't she? The last time she'd seen us, he'd been in our care.
I remembered Tee telling Zoe she was in danger.
The rare ingredient. The one Rose said Hull had come to collect.
As I grabbed the window sash and threw it open, the bowler-hatted man strode toward her, a huge butcher's knife in his hand.
"Zoe!" I screamed.
At my shout she turned, but too late. The zombie swung, and the knife cleaved into her throat. She wobbled, eyes wild. Then she fell.
The zombie yanked the knife out of Zoe's neck, then looked around. Dimly I realized I'd given myself away. I stumbled back from the window, getting out of his sight, my gaze still fixed on Zoe. She lay on her back, head almost severed, held on only by her spine. My nails dug into my palms as I watched her, and willed that torn flesh to mend itself. It didn't.
In the woods, Hull had crowed about his luck, how he'd happened across not only me, but that rare final ingredient for his immortality experiment. A semi-immortal vampire.
