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The whole exchange had taken maybe thirty seconds. Everything had gone to shit that fast, and I didn’t have time to think before two vampires who looked like faculty entered the room. “We heard-” the female one started to say.
They took in the scene then, baring sharp teeth and hissing at me.
“It was The Coven,” I said, taking a step back. Of course, I nearly tripped over Victor’s disembodied head, which probably didn’t help the heightened tensions.
“Go get Vladimir and Ana,” the woman said, advancing toward me.
Three more vampires appeared while I backed away from the woman. I could’ve taken her, I was sure, but I didn’t want to dig the hole deeper. I still needed to find a way to get Sylvie out of this place. Killing rebel vampires was not going to help me accomplish that.
“Just fucking listen,” I said, holding my palms up. I’d transformed them back to my human hands, but they were still covered in blood from the vampires I’d swiped. It pissed me off how perfectly it had all played out for Lazarus, and I had to grudgingly give the man credit. There was a reason the Cleaners had the reputation they did. “Lazarus was here. He wants you to think I did this. Why would I want to kill your Prince?”
One of the new vampires who had entered spoke. His lip was curled and he was circling to my side, pinning me in the corner of the room. “You hate our kind. Everyone knows it. We tried to warn Victor not to trust you, but he wanted to mend the tensions. Look what that got him.”
“It. Wasn’t. Me,” I growled.
The vampires circling me spread out, and I saw the only opportunity I might have. I tried to dash through them, but I wasn’t fast enough to make it unscathed. The four of them all lashed out. Vampires were stronger than they looked, and their fingertips dug into me like claws as I passed. I’d nearly made it to the door when they got a hold of me, keeping me from moving. I had no choice but to fight back. I did my best to keep it from being lethal.
I threw my elbows, fists, and knees until they decided it wasn’t in their best interest to keep holding on.
I’d added a little blood to the collection by the time I staggered back into the hallway, but the alarming majority of it was my own.
I burst into my room and found Sylvie waiting anxiously by the door. “Slight complication,” I said.
31
Sylvie
Riggs looked like he’d taken a bath in blood. “Slight complication,” he said.
“You were gone like two minutes!” I shouted. “What happened?”
My eyes fell to his sides, which were glistening with fresh blood. His shirt was torn in several places like he’d been in a fight with a pack of lions.
“Grab your medicine,” he said. “Victor’s dead. It wasn’t me, but it sure as hell looks like it was to the four vamps that just walked in on me playing soccer with his head.”
“What?” I demanded.
“Pills!” Riggs said, rushing over to help me scoop them into a bag, which he quickly shouldered before taking my arm and leading me toward the door.
I was in the hallway before I knew what to think and we were stumbling toward the stairs. Night had fallen and the mansion was quickly filling with students heading to classes with books in their arms. Most of them stopped to stare at Riggs’ bloody form, but no one tried to stop us.
We made it down the stairs and out the front doors before I saw Vladimir and Ana Black coming toward us.
A small contingent of students and faculty had followed us out front and were now forming a semi-circle behind us.
“Hold on,” Riggs said loudly as the two vampires approached. “None of this is what it looks like, Lazarus wants-” Riggs was standing beside me one moment and the next he was gone.
I blinked, turning my head in confusion. Ana Black was in front of me and Riggs was on the ground several feet to the side clutching his chest. Vladimir was on top of him, but Riggs was barely managing to hold the shorter, stocky vampire’s hands from his throat.
“Fucking wait,” Riggs choked. “The Coven wants this.”
Ana snapped her fingers. “Wait, Vladimir. I want to hear his story.”
Vladimir got up and brushed off his elegant coat. “If what they say is true, then I want to kill this bastard with my bare hands. That’s our boy he murdered.” Vladimir took a step closer, fists clenched like he was about to slam them down on Riggs who was still struggling to stand.
Students were whispering excitedly, like this was all some sort of game.
The gravity of the situation wasn’t lost on me. My life and the life of everyone I cared about hung on the next few moments. On the whims of two vampires who were probably hundreds of years old with motivations I had no hopes of guessing.
