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At least, I assumed so, although I didn’t wait around to find out. If a bomb hadn’t stopped him, that wouldn’t either, not for long. I ran for the door, not screaming for Ray because I figured he was long gone by now.
Or rather, I did until he ran into me coming back inside.
“What the—”
“Aughhh!” he said, which didn’t explain anything, and then I looked over his shoulder and saw a bunch more tiger-tatted guys, which did.
It looked like they’d been loitering out front, smoking cigarettes and waiting for their buddy to finish trashing me. Now they were standing around with those cigarettes hanging out of their mouths, since clearly my survival hadn’t been in the game plan. And still might not be, because there were five of them and while I doubted they were on Scarface’s level, they were masters. And, right now, that would be good enough.
“Um,” I said creatively.
They didn’t say anything.
I licked my lips, trying to think. And finding it really hard for some reason. Maybe the same reason I was all but swaying on my feet.
“What is wrong with you?” Ray hissed, because we weren’t presenting much of an intim
idating front right now.
“Missed dinner,” I muttered, hoping I hadn’t skipped out on my last meal. And the one before that. And the one before—
“What?”
“I didn’t eat.”
“What difference does that make?”
“I’m not like you. I can’t recharge by feeding off of someone. I need food.”
“I know that! When was the last time you ate?”
“Yesterday?”
“Yester—why the hell didn’t you eat?”
“We had to go buy condoms, remember?”
“And you couldn’t grab something on the way out?” he said hysterically. “I’m gonna die because you couldn’t grab a sandwich?”
“No, you’re going to die because you wanted a snack. You could have stayed home.”
“Well, excuse the hell out of me! The Senate didn’t feed me, okay? I hadn’t eaten either, in like two weeks! And what was I gonna eat at the house? All you have is fey and part fey and they all taste like shit. And their blood doesn’t even do any—”
“May I say something?” one of the vamps asked politely.
The voice was cultured, with a faint British accent. It sounded a little odd coming from a guy with white-blond hair done up in eighties punk spikes, a leather jacket with more zippers even than mine and eyes so pale they looked blind. If he was going for disturbing, he was right on the money. But I guessed he was pretty important, because Ray’s grip on my wrist had suddenly turned painful.
“Sure,” I told him.
“This contest, it is between you and the Exalted Zheng-zi. We are not here to interfere.”
“Really.” Good to know. Well, possibly good. “So…why are you here?”
“For the traitor.” Those colorless eyes swiveled to Ray, who probably didn’t see them because he was busy trying to hide behind my back. “Give him to us and you may go.”
“He’s lying,” Ray said rapidly. “Zheng’s going for a Senate seat. He’s not gonna let this go. He can’t. You made him look bad and he can’t afford—”
“Silence!” the other vamp hissed, and there must have been some power behind it, because Ray made a little hiccuping sound and shut up.
