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I turned to the succubus, feeling inexplicably sorry for both of them. “Can you lead us to Karvanak’s hideout? We have to rescue my boyfriend.”
She stared at me for a moment, then nodded. “I’ll help you. The hideout’s in south Seattle, not far from here.”
Her voice was weary, and I had the feeling she’d seen too much over the years. She didn’t seem cut out for the life into which Hera had thrust her.
“You’re taking a great risk,” I said.
Fraale shrugged. “I don’t care. If Karvanak kills me, then he kills me. It’s not like I’ve got a family waiting at home. I can’t go on; if I help him, I help brutalize his victims. I can’t live with that.” Though she spoke to me, her gaze was fixated on Rozurial, and I realized that she still loved him.
“Then we’d better get moving,” Menolly said. “Is there an underground exit to this place or—” She stopped, holding up her hand. “I smell someone familiar.”
“Karvanak?” I asked.
“No,” she said. “It smells like—”
“Holy shit!” I let out a shriek as a door to my right opened and a vampire suddenly grabbed my arm. Wearing a simple black T-shirt and blue jeans, he yanked me to his side, his grip far too strong for me to break. I struggled, but he held fast. Menolly hissed, her fangs extending as the vamp sank his teeth into my shoulder.
I instinctively pulled away, and my skin ripped under his pit bull-like vise, but the vampire must not have been expecting me to fight him, because he let go, and I stumbled away, my neck bleeding from the puncture wounds.
Before I could move, Menolly was on him, and they were fighting. She hurled him to the floor, but not before a second vampire entered the hall. The new vamp looked older, and he reeked of power. He stared at Menolly, and she froze, returning his gaze.
“You belong to the Elwing Blood Clan,” she whispered, warily circling him.
My touchy-feely vamp, who had already taken a good bruising and was obviously no match for my sister, took one look at the pair and slunk away toward the stairs. Smart man, he was. But as he reached the staircase, it occurred to me that one word from him would likely have the whole house down on us. I grabbed Roz by the arm and pointed.
“We have to stop him.” I was set to run, but Roz held onto my wrist.
“You go upstairs bleeding like that and you’re as good as drained and dead. Nope, I say we make tracks. Not only will he set up an alarm that will bring out the vamps, but he’ll alert Karvanak.”
Meanwhile, the vampire who was circling with Menolly let out a hiss. “Traitorous bitch. You killed our sire. You turned on your own bloodline and broke the oath. I’ll see you in hell before I let you out of here alive.”
With a leap, he was on her. Menolly managed to break away, and she lashed out with her foot, driving her stiletto into his chest, sending him thundering into the wall behind him. Unfortunately, she didn’t hit center on his heart.
He let out a low roar and lunged for her again, this time taking her down. I wanted to rush in, to stop them, but I wasn’t stupid enough to try. They were both in full form: fangs out, eyes bloody red, their inner demons unleashed. If I tried to pry them apart, I’d be torn to shreds. As they hit the floor, the hallway shook, and I could hear commotion coming from up the stairs.
I frantically motioned to Roz. “We have to leave!”
Roz took one more look at the stairway, then yanked open his duster like some crazed flasher. The gleam of metal from a dozen different weapons hanging from loops inside his coat shimmered in the dim hall. He pulled out something round and threw it on the floor next to the fighting vampires. Immediately, the stench of garlic filled the corridor.
Menolly and her attacker broke apart, both gasping. Roz took the opportunity to shove another one of the garlic bombs into the open mouth of Menolly’s rival, and the vamp began to scream as the fumes poured out in a surge of white smoke. Zach and Roz grabbed Menolly by her underarms as Fraale motioned toward one of the side halls.
“There’s an exit this way. I’ve been down here before,” she said.
As we raced through the labyrinth of passageways, my neck continued to ooze, and doors began to open. Brilliant-eyed vamps watched as we fled, hungry looks on their faces. From inside the rooms, I caught glimpses of half-clad men and women, languorously draped over beds and divans, their chests bare. Blood spattered down a chest, over breasts, as moans drifted out. Agony, ecstasy, it all ran together here at the Fangtabula. But no one gave chase—at least not right away. We managed a few moments’ head start before we heard shouts from behind us.
We were almost to a small stairwell leading up to a metal door with a big red Exit sign overhead when the first wave descended. By that time, Menolly had managed to recover from the garlic, and she turned, blocking the way, Roz by her side. Zach and I were behind her, and Fraale was behind us.
A group of about ten vampires were headed our way, led by the one who had attacked me. Menolly’s opponent was there, too, steadied by another of his brethren. One of the vamps was the hostess I’d seen near the bar. She stepped forward, and I groaned.
The woman had obviously been a bodybuilder while alive because she was built like a brick house: huge boobs and biceps, tiny waist, quad muscles way too big for comfort. To make it worse, she stood a few inches taller than me. Dressed in a pair of fringed white pants that laced up the sides and a cropped Hooters tank top—which she amply filled out—her mile-high stiletto cowboy boots were covered with orange rhinestones. Long blonde hair drifted down her back, and she looked like she should be sporting a California girl tan, but she was as pasty as the rest of them. She smiled, her fangs extended. In an offhand thought, it occurred to me that pale pink lipstick wasn’t really her color anymore.
“You’ve just worn out your welcome,” she said, staring at my sister.
“We’re on our way out,” Menolly said. “Let us leave, and we won’t cause any trouble.”
The Amazon vamp eyed my neck and licked her lips. “Too late.” She lunged toward me, trying to dodge between Menolly and Roz.
Menolly let out a low growl as she head-butted the chick and drove her back a few paces. Meanwhile, Roz pulled out a string of what looked like firecrackers. He lit one end and threw it into the crowd. As the crackle of gunpowder went off, another smell infiltrated the hallway, and once again, the pungent scent of garlic rose thickly.
