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"No. I can't leave." I pushed at Marcus. "You have to leave. If I leave, they'll think I had a hand in it and ruin the whole point of this."
"If you come with us, then it won't matter if they know," he argued with a growl. His head tipped up toward the ceiling. "There's movement up above. We have to go. Now."
I pulled my daggers free, leaning back into a fighting stance. "I said, no. I'm going to do what I came here to do. You go. I'll think of something." I chewed on my lower lip for a second, and then without warning, I slashed out with my blade, slicing Marcus on the arm. "Bite me," I urged him when I, too, heard voices.
"What? I don't think this is the time."
"Ugh, I don't mean like that. Just bite and run. That way they think you attacked me. If they find me here unharmed and you gone, they'll know I did it." I leaned my head to the side and stepped up to him. "Hurry, now."
Marcus gave me an unsure look. I was pretty sure he was regretting that kiss now, but he did as I asked. As quick as lightning, he struck my neck, biting me but not taking any more blood. With a brief caress of my cheek, he murmured, "Antoine really is going to kill me now," before he disappeared up the stairs.
There was a startled sound above, but there must not have been many hunters up there because there wasn't much of a struggle. Ignoring what was going on upstairs, since Marcus could handle it from here, I used my daggers to tear the sleeve of my shirt and dug into the bite to make some of the blood trickle out. Throwing one dagger across the room, I dropped to my knees and eased down onto my front, chucking my other dagger a few feet away so it looked like I'd been trying for it.
The door to the basement burst open and the pounding of feet made me close my eyes and relax onto the ground. I played dead like my life depended on it, which it did.
"Fuck!" a growling voice yelled as they came down the last few steps to where I lay. "Vincent’s going to kick our asses."
A hand touched my back and I groaned. "Hey, she's alive!" the person above me called to their companion. They rolled me over and looked me over. "Looks like he didn't take that much blood from her."
"What was she doing down here?" the other voice asked with a hint of disbelief and annoyance.
"Doesn't matter, we better get her to the infirmary before she bleeds out," the first guy said before arms slipped beneath me, picking me up. The person holding me smelled like salami and goat cheese, a toxic combination that made me hold my breath.
They carried me up the stairs and into the kitchen. A sharp inhale told me Tristan had come into the room. "Piper! Fuck, Bishop, what happened to her?"
"You know this woman?" Bishop, the guy carrying me, questioned. "We found her down in the basement. The creature has escaped." The suspicion in his voice was clear, but to my relief and surprise Tristan stuck up for me.
"You don't think she let him go, do you?" Tristan snarled, no longer the big teddy bear guy he'd shown me earlier. "She's bleeding and unconscious, for God's sake!"
"It could be a trick." Bishop tightened his grip on me. "She shows up a few days before the vampire, and now he's missing? I don't think so."
"Why don't you make sure she doesn't die first before judging her," Tristan argued, his arm going under me as well. "Here, let someone who actually cares if she dies, take her to the infirmary."
“Here’s her daggers.” The other voice from down below said.
“Thanks,” Tristan grunted.
"I have to make a report to Vincent," Bishop declared, far happier about that task than keeping me alive.
Tristan held me tight, and a jerk in his shoulders signaled his nod. "Do what you have to do, and I'll do the same."
They parted ways, but as Tristan carried me toward the infirmary, other hunters whispered as we passed by. Tristan only held me tighter and lowered his voice to say, "Don't worry, Piper. I got ya."
On one hand, it was really sweet of Tristan to look out for me. On the other, I felt like a total jerk for letting him take the heat for me when I did indeed let Marcus out. Unfortunately for both of us, I didn't have a choice. It was him, or me and mine. And while Tristan was a nice enough guy, I'd do worse than throw a maybe not so innocent guy under the proverbial bus to keep us safe.
