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I reached behind me, pulled out the key fragment, then held it up. I had no idea where the camera actually was, but I had no doubt Hunter could see the sharp bit of concrete.
“That,” she said, “is not quite what I was expecting.”
“It’s a piece of the shield on a coat of arms,” I said. “It is the key.”
“Of course, I only have your word on that.”
“Ask Myer what was at the last location before I attacked her. She’ll confirm we were inspecting a coat of arms.”
Hunter was silent for a moment, then said, “Very well, please proceed into the elevator.”
I did so. The twin doors closed with a hiss, and darkness settled like a cloak around me. I had no doubt it was meant to unnerve me—and in that, it was succeeding. But in the utter blackness, the Dušan shifted the knife, her sharp nails digging into my skin as she slithered up my arm, around my shoulder, then down my spine. As the elevator began its descent, the knife’s cold stone pressed against my skin and the Dušan’s tail whipped back and forth.
Both knife and serpent were ready to fight.
As the elevator dropped, so, too, did the temperature. The air became heavier, laden with the scents of earth and foul water. Hunter’s lair really was deep underground.
The elevator finally slowed, bouncing slightly as it stopped. The doors hissed open but didn’t really reveal anything. The ink was as dark outside as it was inside. I flared my nostrils, drawing in the scents of this place. A fresh mix of jasmine, bergamot, and sandalwood lingered in the air. Hunter was here.
“A little light wouldn’t go astray,” I said, not immediately moving from the elevator. “We wouldn’t want me tripping over and losing the key, now, would we?”
“Oh, decidedly not.”
Her reply was dry, but she nevertheless switched on a light. It threw out a cold blue glow that barely made a dent against the deeper shadows of the place, but it at least revealed the flagstone flooring beyond the elevator as well as several worn leather sofas. Hunter herself remained hidden, though her scent was coming from the left. Which probably meant she was actually standing to my right.
I stepped into the room, then stopped. The light barely touched my toes, leaving the elevator behind me wrapped in darkness—but only for a moment. The doors soon closed and the elevator left. Trapped, I thought, as my heart accelerated and pinpricks of sweat broke out across my skin. Never a good thing when faced with a vampire, let alone this vampire.
Kill bitch, Amaya said, ever practical, solve problem.
“Now,” said bitch continued, “deposit the key on that coffee table.”
Her voice was coming from the thick darkness beyond the small, slightly raised seating area. I could vaguely see the outline of a desk, but given the shadows, there was no hope I’d ever see her. This darkness was her friend, not mine.
Can lift, Amaya said.
Not yet.
Amaya muttered something I didn’t quite catch, although I didn’t really have to understand it to know she was not h
appy with the delay. She wanted to fight, to destroy; it was a sentiment that was apparently echoed by the Dušan, if the ever-increasing force and speed of her lashing tail were anything to go by. Only trouble was, Hunter’s hearing might be sharp enough to pick up the slight slap of flesh against flesh.
But even as that thought crossed my mind, the tail movement stopped. It was the first clear indication I’d had that the Dušan could understand me.
Dušan, I think it’s time for you to leave my skin if you can. Hide in the shadows near her, but don’t do anything until I say.
The Dušan immediately slithered down my left leg, its sharp little claws making my muscles twitch with fleeting pain. Then it was gone, skittering away into the deeper shadows that hid Hunter.
“You won’t get this key until I get confirmation that Rhoan is safe.”
“Dear girl,” Hunter said, voice condescending, “you are down here alone, without any of your protections. Do you really think you can survive my wrath for more than the second or two it will take me to retrieve the key from your cold, dead grasp?”
“A second or two is all I need to destroy the key and ensure you never get your nasty little mitts on it. Are you willing to take that chance?”
She seemed to consider me for a moment, as if weighing whether I was bluffing or not, but it was something I felt rather than saw.
“Fair enough,” she said eventually. “We will play it your way for now.”
There was a faint click; then brightness flared across the darkness, catching me by surprise. I blinked rapidly, and my pulse rate accelerated yet again when I realized that I was seeing a security screen—one that was split into four panels, two of them showing an unfamiliar building and lobby area, and the other two revealing very familiar figures. Quinn and Riley were in one, guarding what looked like a pile of bodies, and Azriel in the other, approaching a slowly rotating sphere of blue light.
