Frost wouldn’t suspect anything. I knew what she planned to do to you guys. She’s been trying to find a way to get rid of you, Sloane, since you got here. Had the Council ultimately ruled in your favor, she would have found a way to override it and execute you anyway . I knew I had to stop her before that could happen, and being on her good side was the best way to go about doing that.”
My brows raised; even Paris looked impressed.
“Sorry I doubted you,” I said, smiling . E ven that hurt. Truth was, I still didn’t know if I should fully trust him, but he had created a great diversion. T hat had to count for something.
“I w as coming to bust you guys out,” Rook went on, “ but I see you’re way ahead of me . Come on. We need to move fast.”
He turned and started sprinting toward the far end of the hall, where another door was. Pitching the spent gun to the side, Paris and I followed after him . I scowled, annoyed. Every footstep rattled my sore jaw, sending knives of pain throughout my neck and the rest of my face.
Rook paused before the door, swiping his badge. It swung open –
And there stood five flabbergasted guards.
We all stood there, frozen .
“Captain…?” one of them asked, and then Rook cut him off with a punch to the temple that sent him crumpling to the floor.
“He’s been glamoured!” one of them shouted, raising his gun.
I almost snorted but held back. All the better if they thought I was somehow controlling Rook. Rushing forward, I kicked one guy in the stomach, sending him flying into another. Behind me, another guard went for his radio , at which point I spun around and kicked it out of his hand, following up with a palm strike to his jaw. His eyes rolled back as he dropped his gun, stunned, and I swiped it up and struck him hard across the temple with the butt. His limbs slackened and he fell to the ground atop his buddy, unconscious.
Gunshots fired a little fa rther down the hall, and Paris cursed, ducking and all-around trying to stay out of the way. When the noise stopped, the ceiling was shredded.
So were the cameras.
I grinned. Nice move, Rook.
As I prepared myself to face the remaining three guards, I paused, seeing two of them had already been subdued. “Honestly,” I s aid, looking at their crumpled forms. “Did you not leave any for me?”
“Oh, there’s one more for you, s weetheart, ” someone said behind me, right before I heard a gun cock. “Drop your weapon.”
Setting the gun down, I raised my arms and slowly turned around, coming eye to eye with the barrel of a revolver. The last guard’s helmet was off. He looked young, maybe in his twenties, and the look he gave me could have melted flesh.
“You think you’re above the law, hunter,” he hissed. “But you’re wrong. You’re more worthy of death than any of us.”
I wondered if he would feel that way if he knew I had saved him from a slow, excruciatin g death at the hands of a super- virus that would have turned his lungs into soup. His eyes flicked to my right wrist; the sleeve of my sweater had come down, revealing the tattoo of a black cross etched into my skin, the symbol that marked me as a member of the vigilante vampire hunting group known as the Black Cross Guild.
Behind me Rook froze, his faces perfectly composed and his eyes blank, though I could sense the nervousness rolling off him. He m ust still be going with the “glamour” act.
The wheels of my mind spun, frantically t rying to come up with a p lan , when something thumped the guard in th e back of the head and he slumped forward. A tall, dark-skinned girl stood there, her dark brown hair hanging in perfect ringlets around her delicately featured face. A smirk worked its way onto her lips as she watched the guard go down, one hand on the hip of her white lab coat, the other still holding the pistol she’d used to knock him out. Beneath the coat, she wore a tight-fitting, black cocktail dress.
While relieved to not
My brows raised; even Paris looked impressed.
“Sorry I doubted you,” I said, smiling . E ven that hurt. Truth was, I still didn’t know if I should fully trust him, but he had created a great diversion. T hat had to count for something.
“I w as coming to bust you guys out,” Rook went on, “ but I see you’re way ahead of me . Come on. We need to move fast.”
He turned and started sprinting toward the far end of the hall, where another door was. Pitching the spent gun to the side, Paris and I followed after him . I scowled, annoyed. Every footstep rattled my sore jaw, sending knives of pain throughout my neck and the rest of my face.
Rook paused before the door, swiping his badge. It swung open –
And there stood five flabbergasted guards.
We all stood there, frozen .
“Captain…?” one of them asked, and then Rook cut him off with a punch to the temple that sent him crumpling to the floor.
“He’s been glamoured!” one of them shouted, raising his gun.
I almost snorted but held back. All the better if they thought I was somehow controlling Rook. Rushing forward, I kicked one guy in the stomach, sending him flying into another. Behind me, another guard went for his radio , at which point I spun around and kicked it out of his hand, following up with a palm strike to his jaw. His eyes rolled back as he dropped his gun, stunned, and I swiped it up and struck him hard across the temple with the butt. His limbs slackened and he fell to the ground atop his buddy, unconscious.
Gunshots fired a little fa rther down the hall, and Paris cursed, ducking and all-around trying to stay out of the way. When the noise stopped, the ceiling was shredded.
So were the cameras.
I grinned. Nice move, Rook.
As I prepared myself to face the remaining three guards, I paused, seeing two of them had already been subdued. “Honestly,” I s aid, looking at their crumpled forms. “Did you not leave any for me?”
“Oh, there’s one more for you, s weetheart, ” someone said behind me, right before I heard a gun cock. “Drop your weapon.”
Setting the gun down, I raised my arms and slowly turned around, coming eye to eye with the barrel of a revolver. The last guard’s helmet was off. He looked young, maybe in his twenties, and the look he gave me could have melted flesh.
“You think you’re above the law, hunter,” he hissed. “But you’re wrong. You’re more worthy of death than any of us.”
I wondered if he would feel that way if he knew I had saved him from a slow, excruciatin g death at the hands of a super- virus that would have turned his lungs into soup. His eyes flicked to my right wrist; the sleeve of my sweater had come down, revealing the tattoo of a black cross etched into my skin, the symbol that marked me as a member of the vigilante vampire hunting group known as the Black Cross Guild.
Behind me Rook froze, his faces perfectly composed and his eyes blank, though I could sense the nervousness rolling off him. He m ust still be going with the “glamour” act.
The wheels of my mind spun, frantically t rying to come up with a p lan , when something thumped the guard in th e back of the head and he slumped forward. A tall, dark-skinned girl stood there, her dark brown hair hanging in perfect ringlets around her delicately featured face. A smirk worked its way onto her lips as she watched the guard go down, one hand on the hip of her white lab coat, the other still holding the pistol she’d used to knock him out. Beneath the coat, she wore a tight-fitting, black cocktail dress.
While relieved to not
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