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“You’re my baby,” he said against my ear. “Let me call you that.”
My arm hooked over his shoulder, and I gripped his wrist as he pinned one of my legs back. The last man who called me that made a fool out of me, didn’t deserve to call me that in the first place. But this man did. “Okay.”
* * *
“Baby, get up.”
My eyes stayed closed, still dead asleep.
“Clara. Now.”
The danger in his voice made my eyes snap open. That was when I smelled it—the unmistakable aroma of smoke. I sat up and saw Cobra was already fully dressed in his armor with his sword at his hip. “What’s happening?”
“I hear twelve heartbeats nearby. They’re frantic, like they’re running or fighting.”
I rolled out of bed and hurried into my closet, throwing on clothes. My armor was there, pristine white like pearls, and I pulled it on before I grabbed my sword. When I returned to the room, Cobra had his blade in his hand with his eyes on the ceiling.
“We need to leave.”
“That’s exactly what they want us to do.”
I started to cough, the potency of the smoke too much for my lungs. “If we stay here, we’ll die.”
Cobra moved forward and stepped into the hallway, but instead of going to the main entrance, he moved to one of the windows. He slammed his elbow into it and shattered it into pieces. “Come on.” He gave me his hand and helped me over the edge. It was a ten-foot fall to the balcony below, and I made it without losing my balance. Cobra dropped down a moment later. “Follow me.” He moved around the balcony toward the front, but the fire had burned it through, creating a massive gap between the two different parts. The drop below us was twenty feet, and while he might survive that as a vampire, I wouldn’t as a human.
He turned back to me. “I’m going to throw you.”
“I can make the jump—”
“It’s twenty feet.” He got on his hands and knees. “Run and push off my back. You aren’t going to hurt me, so give it your best.”
I thought I could make it without the help, but it would suck to be wrong. “Alright.” I scooted back then sprinted, running and stepping up onto his back before I pushed hard, flying across the divide and barely making it to the other side. I grabbed on to the edge, dangling over the chasm below.
“Pull yourself up!” he shouted from behind me. “You can do it.”
I ground my teeth as I pulled myself up and over the edge.
“Attagirl.”
I pushed to my feet and backed up so he could make the jump, but then I spotted the enemy behind him. “Cobra!”
He turned at the right time, seeing the Ethereal soldiers coming at him. There were three, all wielding their blades with deadly precision.
Cobra unsheathed his blade with record speed and deflected the first sword. He kicked the other Ethereal back and then dodged the attack aimed at his neck. It all happened in the blink of an eye, and then he wielded his blade against all three opponents.
Before I could jump back across to help, I had my own assassins to deal with. Five of them came at once, all intent on putting me in the ground for the decision I had made. It hurt that Cobra had been right, that my own people could be so barbaric.
I pulled out a dagger and threw it into the neck of the first assassin, then caught the blade of the next. I couldn’t handle four men at once, but I did my best to block and evade their weapons. Otherwise, I’d lose an arm or my neck. The flames cast light in the darkness for me to see their movements, and while I kept up my defense, my energy was draining quickly. One of them got their blade on my armor, and my vambrace popped right off. The other one caved in, pressing hard into my forearm and making me wince. With my guard down, their blades sliced across my stomach. My armor took the brunt of it, but it still knocked the wind out of me.
“Clara!” Cobra’s horrified yell came across the chasm.
I hoped he was more worried about himself than me. I rolled out of the way of a deadly blow to my neck and got to my feet, but someone tugged me back and I fell down once again. Then I saw their black-and-red armor, looking like glowing embers against the backdrop of the flames. Kingsnake took on two by himself, slicing down the middle of one and then decapitating the other, as if it took no effort at all. Viper destroyed the other two, pushing one down into the chasm and then snapping the neck of the other.
Kingsnake yelled across the gap. “We got her!”
Cobra kicked his opponent into the chasm then looked at me. “Baby, are you alright?”
“I’m fine,” I said, still out of breath.
