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“Maybe he thinks Ras’ll help him. Or maybe he’s been holding out. He’s old enough to have advanced to second level if he’s ever gonna do it. Maybe he didn’t tell anybody, ’cause that would have made Mircea watch him a whole lot closer. He could’ve been waiting for a chance to break with him but didn’t dare move without a big-time ally.”
“Which he now has.”
“Looks that way. So, partner, whaddya wanna do?”
“What exactly are we up against?”
Billy Joe sighed theatrically. It was the sound he makes when he knows I’m not going to like what he has to say. “Two dark mages, five vamps here and fifteen others spread around the area, and at least six are master level. Oh, and eight norms armed to the teeth.”
“What?!”
“Well, whaddya expect? Vegas is one of Tony’s strongholds. And more will be coming—I saw another half dozen norms and eight or nine vamps in the basement. As soon as they figure out that you’ve been sighted, they’ll be along. This place is about to get very busy.”
I sat there, stunned. “We’re screwed.”
“That’s the consensus. The plan right now is to have Tomas grab you and fly outta here, while Louis-César and the mage stay behind and try to slow everybody down long enough for you to get away.”
“That’s suicide!”
“Yeah, and the worst part is, it probably won’t even work. We’re surrounded, darlin’. Ain’t no way Tomas is gonna make it past all of them.”
“Shit.” I thought for a second. “What about reinforcements?”
I was interrupted by Louis-César yelling in my ear. “Mademoiselle, can you hear me?”
I jerked away before he could touch me. “What do you want? I’m kind of busy.”
He looked at me oddly, but he moderated his voice. “You have to go now, mademoiselle. I am sorry, but we cannot give you more time to recover.”
“I’m not going anywhere. Tomas will never get past a gauntlet like that and you know it. Two black knights, six masters and at least fourteen other vamps? Come on.”
I found out what Louis-César looked like when someone had rattled his cool. “How can you possibly know what we are facing?”
“Her ghost servant told her,” Pritkin said, and I noticed that he was back on his knees, concentrating on the rapidly evaporating shields.
“You can see Billy?” I was surprised. Very few people could.
“No,” Pritkin said through clenched te
eth. His jaw was tight enough that the small muscle on the side stood out. “But I was told what you can do. At least, some of it.” Sweat ran in rivers down his face, soaking his shirt, and he looked at me desperately. “If you have any more tricks, I suggest you use them. I can only slow the process; I can’t stop it.”
I sighed. Why did I think I was going to regret this? “Give me a minute.”
I went back inside to find out if Billy Joe had any bright ideas. He did, but I didn’t like it. “I can’t possess the mage ’cause he’s warded against me. But you’re far stronger in spirit form than I am, ’cause you’re alive. If we could duplicate what happened—”
“No! No way am I possessing anybody else! What if I can’t get back? What if I get stuck? Come up with something else.” I hadn’t enjoyed being Louis-César and I definitely didn’t want to find out what the inside of a dark-magic user felt like.
“I don’t think you’ll get stuck. He’s a mage. Once you get in, you ain’t gonna have much time before he forces you out. But you won’t need that long. If you can distract him for a couple minutes, I’m betting our three heroes can deal with the vamps.”
“Three against twenty? Don’t you think that’s being a little optimistic?”
“You just don’t wanna do this.”
“Damn straight.”
“You got a better idea?”
I swallowed thickly. There had to be an alternative. The Senate had sent three powerful operatives merely to drag me back from Dante’s, so they wanted me pretty badly. When we didn’t come back and nobody reported in, they were sure to send reinforcements, but there was no way to tell how long that would take. “How far away is sunrise? Maybe we can hold Tony’s guys off until they have to duck for cover. Louis-César should be able to handle a little sun, and I know Tomas can.”
