Cold Blooded

“No.”

“Thank goodness for small favors,” I muttered. It hung about fifteen feet above me. I glanced around. Okay, we come at it from a run, kick off from the altar and grab it. We have to tear it off in one jump. My wolf barked her agreement. I jogged back to the corner and took off, springing to the edge of the marble near Naomi’s feet and leaping, reaching it easily. My hands closed around its pointy ears and on the way down I cranked like I was twisting the top off a jar and the chunk of marble gargoyle head snapped off in my grip.

I half expected it to yowl at me and come to life, but it didn’t.

One small win in this sea of insanity.

I hit the ground on the balls of my feet, landing in a crouch. Here we go. I rushed around to the back of the platform where the hole was, because it seemed like the logical place to drain the gunk out.

Naomi hadn’t moved at all. Not even so much as a twitch.

It was hard to look at her. She was gaunt and spent, like a real corpse. We better be able to bring her back. Let’s drain this thing and get it over with. I squatted, angling both my arms back, my wolf fueling me, and swung the marble gargoyle, snout first, into the bottom of the altar.

There was a massive crash as the face hit structure, stone on stone.

The altar cracked—a teensy bit.

Damn, someone had to have heard that. We have to move faster. Several pieces of the gargoyle had broken off on impact, but it had worked to our advantage. Now there was a nice sharp angle protruding from the head. Smash the pointy part into the fissure.

Unfortunately, now the Screamer knew exactly what we were trying to do—take his only ride to freedom away. The altar started to rock and jump like a seismic tremor. Blood splashed out of the hole and cracks I’d made. Yuck. We need to finish this now. I reared back and smashed the sharp angle into the crack with all my strength. The gargoyle face exploded on impact, sending shards of marble everywhere, but it was enough to split the altar open like a broken dam.

Blood flowed everywhere like a torrential river, gushing all over the mausoleum floor. I sprang too late. Blood saturated my leggings and dripped down my legs. Okay, that’s completely nasty. I moved farther out of the way, right as a terrible trembling vibration started to build from inside the altar. A low, creepy moan hit the air a second before a shout from outside the crypt filtered through the main door.

We were out of time.

I bent over and scooped Naomi up in my arms and sloshed through the blood coating the floor, still flowing out of the marble housing at a rapid rate. I bounded for the trapdoor, trying not to slip. If the Screamer became corporeal, whoever was outside would have their hands full.

Better them than us.

“Close the hatch behind me,” I yelled to the only ghost left. I had no idea if it had stuck around. “Are you strong enough?”

“Yes.”

The opening wasn’t big enough to jump through with her in my arms, so I maneuvered her to a vertical position and lowered her down the earthen steps, angling her over to the side as much as I could. Then I jumped down next to her. Once there, I hoisted her carefully over my shoulder and started to move, not pausing to see if the ghost was doing its job.

I flew down the steps. Right after my feet hit the dirty tunnel floor, the wrought-iron door behind me slammed shut and all the ghostly voices returned.

“Must free us now.” Fingers grabbed at my arms as I ran.

“Feed the vampire. She is dire.”

“The Strigoi is angry.”

Ghostly hands prodded me, shoving me off balance. “Hey, back off!” I yelled, still racing through the tunnels. “You didn’t stay and help, so I’ll get to you when I can. Right now I have other priorities to deal with.”

After two more bends, it was time to stop.

I laid Naomi carefully on the ground and brought my wrist up to my mouth. I was in my human form again and ripping through my skin with my dull teeth was going to hurt, but it would save time. This is going to sting like a mother, I told my wolf. Brace yourself. She sent a jolt of adrenaline through us as I tore through my flesh. “Gahhh,” I cried as I bobbed my wrist in front of Naomi’s mouth, rubbing the flowing blood between her lips.

After a moment she moaned.

“Thank goodness. Naomi,” I said, “I need you to feed.” In the next breath she clamped on to my arm, sucking furiously.

“You must free us now.”

“The earth trembles.”

“The battle is coming.”

These guys weren’t going to leave me alone until I fulfilled my end of the bargain. “I need you to deliver us safely back to the mansion,” I said through a clenched jaw. Naomi was pulling hard. “And then I’ll try my best to break whatever barrier is holding you in, just like I promised.”

Naomi’s eyes began to flutter as a loud crash sounded behind us. I wrenched my neck around to investigate the disturbance, but the tunnel was curved and I couldn’t see.

“They come.”

“You must hurry.”

“Come on, Naomi,” I urged, infusing power into my words. “You need to wake up. We are short on time and need to vacate the area.”

Her eyes blinked open.

She unlatched and sat up quickly, appearing a bit stunned. “Ma Reine, what,” she stammered, “…what are you doing here?”

“I’m breaking you out of Cryptville. But there’s no time to explain right now. Can you run?” I asked, pulling her up before she could answer.

“Of course,” she said without hesitation as she stood. She looked composed and ready. “Your blood has fortified me. All aftereffects are gone.”

We took off.

So far vamps could go from incapacitated on the brink of true death to moving more easily than any supe I’d ever come in contact with. Naomi had already proven that after the winged devils attack and I was thankful for it.

“Naomi,” I called over my shoulder as we ran. “Please forgive me for making you come back here. It was a rash mistake. I put you in danger, caused you harm, and I’m so sorry.”

“I do not believe you made an error in judgment sending me here,” she answered, her voice firm. It surprised me enough to slow down.

“You can’t be serious,” I said. “They tortured you and fed your blood to a Screamer. It was a disastrous decision to send you here without a plan or to think Eudoxia would see reason. I made a huge mistake.”

“Non,” she replied, “I believe I am here because fate deemed it to be so. I do not begrudge the outcome. I have waited too long, and been through too much, to question what my future holds.”

I thought about that as we continued to run. Fate played a huge role in supernatural lore. Most believed they had a fated path. I knew my father did. He believed his being Alpha had been no accident, and I tended to agree with him. With the Prophecy recently uncovered, finding Rourke, changing Ray, it was likely fate had played a role in everything I’d done so far. But Tally had recently told us Maggie couldn’t predict time as an oracle because choices affected outcomes. If the outcomes were set, choices wouldn’t matter. That meant there was wiggle room, or more than one path set for each person. Maybe, in the end, no matter which path you chose, you always came back to your fated destiny. Or maybe you didn’t. “When I think about the role fate plays, it makes my head hurt,” I said. “It’s a complicated labyrinth of possibilities, all of them seemingly muddled and unclear.”

“Indeed,” Naomi answered. “But I believe your path is true, and you will continue to make the right decisions