There was an alley up ahead that cut between The Salted Caramel Ice Cream Parlour and Medea’s Magic Tricks, just to the right of the white marble sundial that was built hundreds of years ago out of respect for Tempus the Liar, God of Time.
Without another thought, she darted for the shadows between those two crooked buildings, being careful as she edged around the sundial that spanned nearly the entire width of the Avenue of the Scarlet Star. At the end of the alley, half-starved cats rummaged in an overturned trashcan, the sour odour of fish and spoiled food permeating the air. There was no one down here, and it took her half a second to realize it was a dead end.
With shaking hands, she dug her phone out of her pocket and punched in the emergency number so hard her nails almost broke. Her legs were wobbling as she looked over her shoulder at the bustling avenue, her hair catching in the necklace she always wore.
Her trackers were nowhere to be seen—for a moment, at least. One blessed moment.
A voice picked up after one ring. “Angelthene Rescue—”
“I need help,” she croaked.
“I’m going to need your location and what the situation is.”
The Avenue of the Scarlet Star,she tried to say.
But an arm wrapped around her throat from behind, and the muzzle of a gun was suddenly pressed against her temple.
The line crackled as her phone slipped through her fingers. It struck the cobbles, screen instantly cracking. “Miss—” But that was all she heard of the officer on the other end.
She stopped breathing. The walls of the businesses on either side of the alley shimmered and lurched as a low and lethal male voice hissed in her ear, “Make one sound and you die.”
—
“You’re coming with me,” said the voice, every word he spoke rich and deep. The male was so close to Loren that her hair fluttered with his steady breathing, the shell of her ear grazed with every exhalation. “You’re not going to fight me, and you’re not going to make any indication that you are being taken against your will. Do we have an understanding?”
Loren’s knees were quivering so badly, she wondered how it was possible that she was still on her feet. Maybe it was because the man holding her hostage had her pinned against his hard chest, his arm wrapped firmly around her throat. The gun at her temple hadn’t budged—and Loren still wasn’t breathing.
She tried to speak, tried to give him an answer. But she couldn’t find her voice.
“Do we or do we not have an understanding?” He gave her a warning shake, the muzzle of the gun digging into her temple hard enough to bruise.
Loren whimpered but managed to dip her head in a single nod.
And then…she thought of something.
“I’ll come with you without a fight,” she began in a strangled voice. Her lips were shaking, and her heart was punching a hole through her chest. “But only if you promise me that my friend, Sabrine Van Arsdell, will walk free.”
A pause. “What are you talking about?”
Loren blinked fiercely against the gray clouding her vision as she took in her surroundings. Just beyond the mouth of the alley—empty apart from herself and the man holding her at gun-point—people milled about the sunlit avenue, laughing, chatting, and sipping on smoothies and frozen coffees, entirely unaware of what was taking place in the cool shadows only steps away.
And within the crowd, she spotted those four black-clad figures—the woman with hair shorn to her scalp and the three men who were all old enough to be her father—scanning the faces of the people they passed. Looking for her. As if this could get any worse than having one gun pointed at her head.
But the arm around her throat stiffened. As if he noticed them, too.
As if he hadn’t known they were here.
“You bleed gold or something, girl? Why are those fuckers looking for you?” His questions had Loren’s mind reeling; she’d assumed that every person who was looking for her today was working as a group, including this one. And if they weren’t, then that meant…
Whatdidit mean? She couldn’t think. Couldn’t—
“What thefuckare you, girl?” he barked, the volume of his voice hurting her ear. “Answer me.”
“I don’t know,I don’t know!”It was the first time she had ever wondered if she was as human as she thought. Her throat burned as a sob clawed its way out. “My friend was taken last week by another Darkslayer who wanted me instead. He tried to get me to go with them, but peace officers showed up—”
“Who was it?The Darkslayer who attacked you—which circle did he belong to?”
She couldn’t move her tongue, couldn’t bring herself to answer him.
