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As it happened, that’s exactly where we wanted to be, but not that way. “I’m sure this is just a misunderstanding,” I said. “We’ve only just arrived to the camp and were assigned to the children’s barracks. Matri said she didn’t have enough uni—”
“I do not care. This is not how things are done.” She was already reaching for the phone.
“Wait!” Zed said, leaping forward.
Billy sprung around with a hiss and flashed a large set of fangs. Zed froze, his hands raised to show he meant no harm.
“Do not move.” Her voice was low and mean, filled with deadly promise. She turned back around to grab the phone.
I grabbed the pole off the wall and swung it around. Zed ducked just as the hook sliced the air above his head. I ran and pushed all my weight behind the pole and thrust it toward Billy’s back.
Just as the tip made contact, she turned. The point bounced off her shoulder blade and glanced across the broad plane of her back. Because of the length of the pole, I didn’t have the luxury of turning quickly. Spinning back around took forever, and by the time I managed it, Billy was ready for me.
She came at me with a snarl of fangs and fists.
“Carmina!” Zed yelled.
From the corner of my eye, I saw a flash of movement as he moved to help, but I was too preoccupied with the knuckles slamming into my cheekbone to feel relief. The pole fell from my fingers as I stumbled back.
Vampires are stronger and faster than any human. They live incredibly long lives as long as they get enough blood to heal their wounds, but they are not immortal. I had to remain calm enough to wait for my opening and quick enough to stay alive.
Billy swung again, but this time I was ready for her and ducked. Air swished by my face. She grunted as Zed attacked her from behind. His distraction gave me enough time to grab the pole again. The wood cracked over my knee, which made the pole a much more manageable length for close-quarters combat.
By the time I stood upright again, Billy was tossing Zed like a sack of laundry. I swung the pole around my head and cracked it across the side of her face. Her head spun and a fan of blood flew across the desk. She stumbled to the side as her hand went to her broken jaw. I spun around again to increase my momentum and this time, thrust the tip of the hook straight up under her chin. The soft skin gave easily and the pole slid home inside her skull with a sickening crunch.
Her black eyes widened and a wet gurgle came out of her bloody mouth. When gravity took over, it was like watching a tree fall.
My hands were shaking. I told myself it was because I’d been gripping my makeshift weapon so hard, but that didn’t explain the nausea or the creeping sense that things were going to get a whole lot worse before the day was done.
Ignoring the adrenaline hangover, I went to help Zed up. When he rose, he winced and favored his right leg.
“Is it broken?” I asked in a clipped tone. I didn’t have time to play nursemaid. We’d made a lot of racket killing Billy, and if we didn’t get moving we’d lose our window.
“Twisted,” he said. “It’s fine.” But when he took an experimental step, he hissed. “Shit.”
“Hold on.” I ran to Billy’s body and removed the keys that were clipped to her waist. As I opened the cage, my mind was scrambling to form a new plan. There was no way Zed could limp into the main building. Not only was it impractical but it would also destroy our ruse that we were favored workers. Vampires would never allow an injured human to take on such an important responsibility. They would be too disgusted by the display of human frailty to allow it in the main building.
Inside the cage, I realized my other problem. Not only had I broken the pole that had been used to reach the special uniforms, but what was left of it was currently impaled in Billy’s skull.
Looking up, I realized that if I stood on my tiptoes, I could just reach the hem of the closest red uniform. I looked around for something to use. Billy’s chair lay on its side just beyond the door. I ran over and pulled it into the cage. After that, it was a simple matter to get what I needed.
“You only got one,” Zed said. There was accusation in his tone and his eyes were bright, like he was ready to fight. I realized he thought I planned on leaving him there.
I shook my head. “Change of plans.”
“We discussed this—”
“Stop,” I interrupted. I grabbed the laundry cart that sat just inside the cage and pushed it out. “Get in.”
He paused and his eyes went from angry to surprised. “I’ll be damned.”
I smiled. “I’ll cover you with extra uniforms.” I flicked a glanced toward the dead vampire. “But first we need to hide her.”
* * *
Ten minutes later, we locked the cage behind us. Inside, another laundry cart held my old clothes and Billy’s body. If we were lucky, no one would come along looking for her before we were on the train.
The fabric of the red uniforms was finer than the rough, beige material of the old one, but it felt itchy and constricting. “You okay?” I said in an undertone to the cart.
